TWENTY-SIX YEARS AGO

Twenty-six years ago, while cashing a check, I was given two crispy, non-circulated $20 bills (series 1996). What would be the present value of these two bills? I also have one $20 bill (series 2004) non-circulated.

 

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I think the present value would be face value.
Twenty Six year old coins are only worth face value unless there is something quite special about them.

 

26 years ago? Series 1996?

2020 - 26 = 1994

 

Welcome to Coin Talk @Steve7975
Are you able to provide photos ?
And, we understand non-circulated but use the word uncirculated.

 

As noted by our fellow enthusiasts, unless there is something significant about the bills, they are worth face value. If you have an LCS nearby, you will probably find that they have a myriad of bills, in various conditions, available for sale. You might be shocked to find a common Series 1934 $20 bill in very good condition selling for $22...and that includes the vinyl sleeve it's stuck in.

 

From time to time I'll go to my Credit Union and get a truly uncirculated, batch of 100 bills still in the BEP strap and store those away.

You'll see on eBay people trying to sell a 100 note batch, parts of one or even a bundle for more than face value. I don't know how they even break even after fees and stuff.

It's not very rare, it becomes just the knowledge of where and how to get uncirculated notes.

 

If 1996 is old, I’m really really old.

 

... old as a horse ....

 

Thank you everyone. This information is very helpful. Wen I got these bills, I thought this uncirculated money would increase in value in a relatively short period of time. Well, it turns out, I'm not a coin collector and I never wanted to be one. Now I feel like I just found $60 sitting on the sidewalk. In the wallet it goes.

 

As a collector of paper money I can assure you that those bills you set aside from 26 years ago are worth $20.00 each unless they have some nice rare error thst you didn't mention.

Also, the math doesn't work out. 26 years ago would be 1994 and you stated these are from 1996. Nevertheless, they are worth face value.

 

You are correct about the math. I should have stated "series 1994".

 

No such thing as series 1994...

 

You did it again. Lol. I'm sure you mean 1996.

 

Just because it might be old doesnt make it valuable, one of the many
misconceptions people have on paper money.

 

There's a problem with Federal Reserve Notes - their value NEVER outpaces inflation.

In other words, if you had a $20 bill from 1996, it had the 2019-equivalent buying power of $32.

However, value of the $20 bill in 2019 is actually $20. So, you've effectively lost money by storing it away, and not putting it in a savings account, or buying $32 worth of stuff with it.

Will Federal Reserve Notes EVER become valuable? Most likely not.

Now if you're talking bills with blue (silver), orange (gold), brown (Hawaii), yellow (North Africa), red (legal tender), then they DO hold value.

But, dark green FRNs are forever stuck at face value.

 

The real uncirculated stuff is still in the straps ... and it smells like money, and has this certain feel to the paper that you don't feel in most clean "change" bills. Ooh, so good.

 

For the most part, this is accurate but there are exceptions. Try finding an uncirculated 2017 $1 Minneapolis replacement note. These are currently running 100-200 times face value.

 

you've held those twenties too long - the $60 of buying power in 1994 is now just $33.60 - hurry and spend those things before they're worthless

 

Face value at the end of the day thousanads of them are saved either by collectors, sitting in bank vaults for years or in ol grampa's safe.

 

Yes, I inherited a stack of $1, $2 and $5 bills dated from 1934 to 1981. The 1981s are new, fresh and crisper than potato chips. The older notes, sadly, have fulfilled a fair amount of their economic duty in circulation. Apparently, a now sadly late relative put them aside years ago thinking that they would someday be worth a mint. Well, instead, the poor relative lost a lot of value. I can't imagine what $2 probably bought in 1934, or even in 1954. Today, it barely buys candy. Now I just look and them and wonder what they sacrificed for setting these things aside. I plan on keeping some of them, but all I can really do with the rest is spend them. And apparently quickly, before they lose even more value.