Hello folks, I have been doing some reasearch over the past few days, and I have determined that I am going to attempt to do a "set" of small FRNs. For now, I am going to work on getting one example of each denomination, from each issue. In time, I will work on adding each of the districts, for each issue. Meaning, if I am somewhere and see two different districts from one issue, and a same district from a different issue, I will purchase one of each issue, regardless of the district. But I plan, in time to work on all the districts too. Hey...I am 24, I have plenty of time to work on it By issue, I mean series. IE 2003-A and 2003, for example. Of cource, if I can nab them from circulation, I will For now, the entire collection has been pulled from circulation...Soon...either next month at CoinFest, or next year when I have more money to spend on my hobbies, I will begin purchasing older issues. I feel that I can, reasonably, build a complete set of issues up to and including the $20. A truly complete set, of each district, might not be as easy, especially the older issues. Above the $20, that probably won't happen...on my limited income, I never see anything higher then $20s, and I can't afford to set them aside that often, let alone $50s, and I have not handled a $100 bill in more then 5 years. I do have two 50s, and both of those were birthday gifts from my mom. At times I've been VERY close to spending them, but I have been able to resist that urge so far, and I hope I always do, hopefully it won't get that bad again where I start to feel that it might be better served to spend them instead of keep them for my collection. Of cource, if it does, I won't be adding any new currency to my collection for a while! I think those days are done though so I am happy about that! For reference purposes, I will provide the districts here: A1 = Boston B2 = New York C3 = Philadelphia D4= Cleveland E5 = Richmond F6 = Atlanta G7 = Chicago H8 = St. Louis I9 = Minneapolis J10 = Kansas City K11 = Dallas L12 = San Francisco OK, here goes! Sorry some of the scans are crooked...Oops! 1976 B $2 1976 K $2 1981-A A $20. I found this in circulation last year, my best non-star circulation find to date. Almost a repeater, too! 1996 G $50 1999 L Star Note...this was my first star note! I got this in change at the Hobby Town USA in Toledo, Ohio last year. I was more excited about getting this then the items I went in to purchase! In fact, I don't even REMEMBER what I purchased, and it was less then a year ago! (I also traded a dime for three wheat cents in the take a penny tray!) 2001 G $20. Off center, while most don't consider it an error because it's not off the note in any places, it's the closest thing to an error I had found at that time. I later found a $1 with an ink spot in the date, that was not added later. (It's under the date, if that makes sence) 2003 L $5 star. Another circ find. Too bad it's in such bad shape... 2003-A D $2. Got this from the bank. I just got this 2003-A K $1 this week, I went on a trip to Lake George, my favorite place, and when I came home, this note was sitting on the floor. It appears that it was going to be taken along and spent, but fell and nobody noticed, and when I saw how nice condition the note was, it moved into my collection!
Here's that error I talked about above. The excess ink is clearly "under" the date, I have no doubt whatsoever that it was applied the same time the date was by the BEP. Here's my other $50. My mom gave me this for my 20th birthday, which was in October 2004. This note would be PERFECT without the minor crease at the top right, I believe those are referred to as teller folds. This $20 was found the very next day after the $5 star above. Too bad there is metallic pink paint on it This $20 Star is from a different district but the same series as the previous. This was the second star note I ever found. I saved this 2006 E $5 because it was in great condition. One of the first notes I saved just for the sake of saving it, it wasn't otherwise special...the beginnings of a collector, perhaps...except I can't remember what order I found it and some others in! This 2006 $10 was saved for the same reason the previous $5 was. Recently I got 40 consecutive $20s. The bank must have opened a pack recently...I couldn't afford to save all 40 of them, so I chose one for my collection. I chose this one for the 3434 in the serial number. I have some other notes that I don't have scanned, either...I will scan then in and then either edit the main post or post them as a reply... What do you all think? I know to most currency collectors, this would probably be considered spending money but to me, it is the foundation of my entire collection. I'm not going to stop collecting them if people don't like them, so I would like some honest feedback...thanks!
Billy, let me first say that collecting anything has 1 and only 1 rule - make your own rules, and collect what you like So if your current collecting methods is how you want to collect - nobody here will tell you its wrong! IMHO there is nothign wrong with collecting todays notes first - todays notes are tommorrows yesterdays notes right? That means if you start today, and collect every series for the next 20 years... 20 years from now, you will already have the series everyone else didnt collect. confused yet I too collect circulating currency, and try to keep any and all stars, and try to do as you said in the higher denominations. For the 1's and 2's, i try to collect the entire range of series, district ect. I only do it with the 1's and 2's because they are relatively cheap to aquire in high grades - except for the limited issues. So it really doesnt matter if anyone thinks to themselves that what you have is just spending money to them. It doesnt matter because its YOUR collection not theirs So keep collecting how you see fit, and let the joy of how you collect bring you many smiles
seems like you have a great start so far. as DJ stated you collect what you like. thats what makes it fun. i wish i started collecting at your age. lol not that i am that old now in time you will be able to decide what path you want to go in. just be careful it can be addicting but in this case i dont think that is to bad. also feel free to ask any questions that you have. there are many knowledgeable people here on all types of currency US and world notes. good luck with your new pastime:thumb:
Thank you guys! Yeah, I've never really cared what other people thought of me...if you like me, that's great, awesome...but if not, oh well, I don't loose any sleep over it And my collecting is the same way...I collect what I want to collect, weather or not anybody else likes it. Actually, I'd be happy if nobody else collected what I do, the prices would stay low. LOL. One thing I've always said: The stuff that is happening now (stuff being all-encompassing) is history in the making! Curreny notes and coins may not be too historical now, but in 50 years, they sure will be! That's the way I see it anyway...and I still plan to be collecting then. I hope anyway! Sure, the things that are historic now are unquestionably historic...but everything was new at one point...I like to feel like I am getting in on the ground floor with the new issues, and that I am preserving a little piece of history for the future...
