What's it worth?

I found a late 1920's $20 bill on ebay, from a bank in my home town. It is not in great condition (they say VG+), but is "payable in gold." My main reason for wanting to buy is because it is from my home town. What would an average price be for these? I would hate to post a link, and it get snatched up

 

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i would say that lately they haven't been doing very well if it is the type i am thinking off it will sell around 30-35 in that condition!!

 

They are asking for almost $300!

 

For my small hometown, a 1929 National $5 note sold for $400 which blew my mind!

 

I was watching some of them the other day, on ebay and prices were going between 30-40 they were in that grade but i have seen some very rare, not often the best thing to do would be to do research on past sold notes from your town!!

 

I depends on what "bank" the note is from. Values can vary greatly.

 

I guess the thing is, what if you can't find anymore from your town? I offered $100 for this one, and it was immediately turned down.

 

Wait, what kind of note are we talking about here?

If it's 1929 National Currency, with a brown seal, it won't say "payable in gold". If it mentions gold, it has to be a 1928 Federal Reserve Note, with a green seal. (Or a Gold Certificate, but those wouldn't have the name of a bank on them.)

Federal Reserve Notes are only issued by the twelve Federal Reserve Banks. If your hometown is a city big enough to have a Federal Reserve Bank, you don't have to worry about notes from that city being scarce; there are plenty to go around!

If you *are* talking about a 1929 National (which aren't payable in gold), then there were a great many different banks that issued them, and some are literally thousands of times scarcer than others--so nobody's going to be able to give you meaningful advice if you don't tell us exactly which bank issued the note.

 

I could have sworn it was payable in gold, but I just went back and looked closely, and it just says that the bank will pay to the bearer on demand.. but not gold. It is a small town, local bank bill from 1929. It is for a bank in KY. Are there any websites that talk about the rarity of these?

 

Small town notes prices will be random with premiums. It really depends on the residence of that town or people who want that town for one reason or another who collect and how much they are willing to pay.

 

Kinda what I figured. To most people, this note is not worth much at all, but to a very few, it could be worth a lot. I really want it, but not sure if I want it almost $300 worth! They also have a $10 note from my town, and want closer to $900 for it. Yikes

 

Here's a beginning. I didn't read very far, so not sure values are given for specific notes:

http://www.nationalcurrencyvalues.com/National-Currency/Kentucky.aspx

 

The Freidberg Paper money book has lists of national currency seperated into large and small size notes, of course those are just notes that have been entered into the system there might be a whole lot of notes still hidden away here and there.

 

the lower the serial # the better

 

Sign up for an account at Heritage Auctions. Search for the name of the town in the closed auctions and see what those, if any, went for.

 

Don C. Kelly has a pretty good selection of Kentucky notes, too. His prices on the 1929 notes from various banks range from $50 to $1750. Maybe he's got a note from your bank?

 

He has a nice selection, but none from my town. Thanks for the link though!