The local gold store has uncirculated Series 1963 $2 red seal bills for $9. Looking at ebay, the cheapest Buy It Now circulated note in rough shape is about $6 and the cheapest uncirculated is $16. It is an advantage to buy local because I can see the bill in person before I buy it and don't have to rely on pictures and because there is no shipping cost other than the gasoline from driving to and from the store. Good value, fair price, or poor deal?
Not a bad deal in today's market, as long as the notes are actually uncirculated. If they have gem centering, even better. About 2 years ago I bought 6 consecutive 1963 $2's for $8 each + $5 shipping. I thought that was a pretty good deal and haven't been able to find anything since. In anything under VF they aren't worth more than $3. But CU to Gem notes should bring a return of at least that much.
That's funny, a couple of years back I sold a few lots of sequential '63 $2s for what struck me as an underwhelming amount of money. A bunch of runs of 4, 5, and 6.
The market changes and evolves. Entry level notes like these have been climbing in price due to the entrance of new collectors after the media frenzy about fancy serial numbers on the new $100's.
I saw some of the bills in the display case. I'm no expert at grading paper money, but to my eyes they were in virtually perfect condition. I think I'm going to go buy one tomorrow just for the hell of it.
You are looking for the margins to be of equal thickness on each side of the note. Bad alignment will disqualify a note for 'gem' grades (65+).
A perfectly centered note of impeccable condition could grade 68 and bring $100. A 69 possibly $250. A 70 grade would be worth $500+. Two companies offer a reliable grading service: PMG and PCGS. If you post a scan we can probably tell you if it's worth the cost to submit it or not.
You twisted my arm. I'll go pick one up on Monday. I'll post a picture, and if they are indeed worth more than $10 I'll buy all of them and resell them. This is a gold/silver store and they may have no idea what paper money is worth.
Here are some pics of the bill. It's a United States Note. Does it have gem centering? I really have no idea what gem centering is.
It does have gem centering, but not superb gem. Gem just means the margins are even. If it doesn't have any other flaws that are hard to see in the photo, it might grade a 65 out of 70. To get higher (superb gem is 67 and up), the margins should be just about perfect. On your note, the right margin is just a tad too small to get a superb gem grade in my opinion. It's not worth the cost of getting them graded, but definitely worth the $9 asking price.
