Dollar bill, gold reverse?

Factual Questions
1

Howdy–

I have just finished indulging a bit of nostalgia, to find that I am missing an artifact of my youth:

When I was in my late-teens/early twenties, I worked retail, and would from time to time come across some strange money. Intrigued as I was by variety, I would usually buy this stuff out and take it home and collect it.

Recently, I got thinking about the numismatic oddities that I had collected over the years, and got out my repository to look over the bills and coins that I had accumulated.

There is one missing.

I wish to know (if possible) how much it was worth. I know of two people who knew about my cash stash, and were capable of lifting what they thought was worth taking, but I didn’t catch either one of them at the time.

What I would LIKE to know is if a particular bill was worth enough money to be pissed off about (not that it will likely do any good now…it’s a closure thing).

It was a $1.00 Federal Reserve note (I don’t remember the series, but I’m thinking 1953 for some reason). It looked just like a normal $1.00 American Federal Reserve Note, except for one variant:

The design on the back (which was the same as on every other $1.00 bill) was YELLOW (actually sort of a dark yellow/non-metallic gold) rather than GREEN.

At the time, I thought it had just been exposed to the sunlight, or something (thus bleaching the green out of the ink); but its mysterious disappearance from my collection makes me wonder if it was either a rare currency, or an even rarer printing error, thus making it a very valuable bill.

This is, of course, a frustratingly moot question at this point, since I CANNOT FIND THE BILL.

Still, I’d be interested to know what anyone could tell me about this item. I’ve hunted the internet a bit, and have learned that the reverse side of American currency hasn’t always been green, but I couldn’t find any reference to gold ink on the back side.

Anybody want to depress me with how much it would be worth if I still had it?

Thanks awfully…

2

My God! That bill could have gotten you into Wonka’s chocolate factory!

3

One Dollar. You’re awfully welcome.
I’ve been around since before you were born and I have never seen any US currency with anything but green ink on the reverse side.

4

It could well have been a misprint.

I browsed the webiste of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, but it doesn’t seem to handle the issue of misprinted currency. I’d suggest asking a dealer or collector in numismatics, or consulting a catalog that indicates collectors’ prices. You should get one at a good library.

5

Dijon Warlock, I had one of those yellow-back bills, too, when I was young.

I am recalling that it was a U.S. dollar used in the Phillipines, before the Phillipines gained independence. That’s from memory, though … I’d prefer to get a cite for you from somewhere.

6

I’m (probably) even older than you. I’ve never seen a Rolling Stones concert. Does that mean they don’t exist? Of course not.

7

Not the Philippines, but Africa for WWII was a Silver Certificate, which looks a bit different than Federal Reserve notes (the borders on the front are different, and there’s no Federal Reserve seal). The Treasury seal was indeed yellow, but the back was still green.

If it was a Federal Reserve note with a colored back, my first assumption would be that it was exposed to a chemical treatment (outside of the Bureau of Engraving) that turned the green to yellow. Value (as said before): $1.00

For example, look at this e-Bay listing: http://cgi.ebay.com/1963-1-BARR-NOTE-with-YELLOW-reverse_W0QQitemZ8326086178QQcategoryZ3415QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

8

Thus far, Google is running dry.

9

Gold certificates had reverses that were printed in that color but I doubt you would confuse it with a federal reserve note.

10

The Philippine dollar is a mental red herring, I believe. It seems that Philippine money was pesos even pre-1946.

I did find a mention of someone who had a 1935 Silver Certificate $1 bill with a gold ink reverse. Nothing to sink our teeth into yet, however.

11

There were United States Notes as well as Federal Reserve Notes and Gold or Silver Certificates. Don’t recall the colors on the reverse of US Notes.

12

I can tell you 100% that the reverse of that note didn’t leave the BEP that way. It had to have been bleached. We see this kind of note in our coin store about once every two months.

13

Hi folks–

Thanks for the responses (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is still playing locally. If I still had this bill, I’d take it to the theatre and see if I could get a free popcorn).

No, it wasn’t a gold certificate or anything else strange like that, just a regular Federal Reserve note like we’re all used to seeing (I’ve browsed some currency collection websites, and realize that backs were printed in different colors for one reason or another…I just couldn’t find any references to yellow/gold ones).

It torks me off a bit that it’s gone, because there were other odd bills in the same place: silver certificates (with blue serial numbers), treasury notes (with red serial numbers), etc. This is the only one that is missing, which led me to believe that it might be worth the most, due to its odd color.

I know samclem is numismatically inclined, so I’m willing to take his word on this. My question at this point is: Why would somebody bleach the back of a dollar bill?

14

I should note for the record that this is exactly what my bill looked like. Again, I don’t remember the series, but the back of the eBAY bill and mine are identical.

At least whoever stole it didn’t get a big return on their investment.

That’s something, anyway.

15

Stripper forgot to take it out of her undies before doing a wash?

16

That’s a 1963–did you mean 1963 when you said 1953? IIRC most singles up to that time had been silver certificates, and the $1 FRN didn’t appear until '63 when it became clear that the silver certificate would have to be phased out.

17

My guess is always that it went through the wash, folded in half in a pocket. We also see people come in with Fed. Res. notes with the green seal and numbers on the front gone. So it went through the wash with the front showing. Yours went through the wash folded over with the back showing.

18

Yeah, it could have been a 1963 (hey, that Ebay guy has my bill!). I was just going from memory, and it’s been quite a while since I had it out to look at.

Folded and washed…ah, well. It’s just as well it wasn’t a printing defect worth a small fortune, then.

19

Come to think of it, also, in 1953, FRNs still had the “will pay to the bearer on demand” clause just under the portrait, and the one in the picture doesn’t. Do you really think that’s the exact same bill that you had?

20

The first $1 Federal Reserve Note was issued with a date of 1963.

The OP lost her $1 Fed note. It HAD to be dated 1963. Period.