500x $1 Dollar Bills in Lucite...

I was looking through shopgoodwill when I saw $56 starting bid for 500x $1 bills in lucite. Is there any way of getting these out of the Lucite? I don't know... I just find it strange somebody thought this was a good idea in the first place.

https://www.shopgoodwill.com/auctions/500-US-1969-One-Dollar-Bills-Encased-in-Lucite-38673055.html

 

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Neat paperweight. I would honestly not be surprised if only the top and bottom few notes were real, and the rest just blank paper.

 

Well... now I must buy it to find out!

 

Yeah, the paper looks the same though.
Interesting!

 

If you think there are actually 500 singles in that Lucite... buy it. I'll buy it from you when you're done for $2. In other words, face value... cause there ain't $500 in there.

 

It's a monetary example of Schrodinger's cat. You don't know if there's $500 in there until you cut it open somehow. It both simultaneously exists and doesn't exist until it is opened up and observed.

 

I'd be astonished if it was more than 2 bucks. It looks like a novelty paperweight that probably sold for $10 or $15 when it was new.

 

I once worked for a company that made those. There is only two dollars in that lucite block. The rest of the pack is just plain paper. You can not salvage those two one dollar bills as they have absorbed some of the lucite when it was poured into the block.

 

Here is a description from an old Ebay listing
Quote - " $500.00 Acrylic Paperweight
You are bidding on a "$500.00" Paperweight. The bills are encased in crystal clear Acrylic. The five bundles of 100 one dollar bills look authentic but only two are real.

You will be proud to display this conversation starter on your desk or in your home.

Thanks for Your Bid " closed quote

 

Looks like an ink transfer on that top bill.

 

Nope, I bet the lucite absorbed into the paper making it translucent. As if it absorbed oil, the paper loses opacity and you can now see the ink from the opposite side...

 

Reality... that's no fun.

 

I wonder if the donor wrote off $2 on his taxes or $ 500 cash donation yeah it's tax time.

 

Ink transfer always looks like you are seeing the other side of the bill.
The reverse should be as opaque as the obverse, yet you can only see the top horizontal bar from the other side and the rest of the note does not show thru.

 

I get a feeling shopgoodwill's auctions are a very circular market. Anything I might possibly be interested in I can find on ebay for far less than people are bidding there (with quite a bit more protection from damaged goods). The purchases probably go straight to a hoarder's pile. They sit there until that reality tv show and/or family come around to clean up the house. They go back to goodwill and the process is repeated.
It's kind of disappointing goodwill did this as now a large portion of the better items aren't available in store.

 

Well, someone now thinks it is worth a bid of $101. Plus shipping, plus handling fee. I think someone is going to be very disappointed.

 

I wonder how Goodwill respond to a lawsuit when they clearly say it is 500 $1 bills but the buyer find it is not.

 

No, the sad thing about small stakes borderline rip-offs is that the person who is at a loss will probably be too ashamed to ever admit to it. ...that's not even the worst I saw while going thru the listings. From what I can see, the listings are done either regionally or by-store. Thus there appears to be a broad range of different approaches.. some of which are completely unethical at the least.

 

Hello all, Meow knows this is an old post but Meow has something to add in regards. Meow has come into paw with one of these today. Meow has studied it closely and can say by just using simple logic that this is nothing but $2 incased in acrylic. At least the one Meow has, has a bill with a serial number ending with one to at least to seem a hair more convincing than the one pictured here.
OK, So it does look pretty darn real. But with a 1969 series bill on the front in crisp condition, it would look like it was made in 1969 or the 70s. Meow looked up inflation numbers and see that from 1969 to present a dollar is worth 7 times less. So at the time of making, the brick was worth nearly $3,500 in todays spendable value. There is no way there would be a commercial application for such a thing. A novelty to place on a desk that could buy third of a new car makes no sense.