# What are these markings on these old US bills? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 19, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043 "2016-10-19T17:45:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043/1 "2016-10-19T17:45:52Z")
I haven’t seen bills this old before. What’s the significance of the bank markings on the fifties and hundreds? Weren’t these issued by the US Treasury? The Citizens National Bank of South Bend The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond One of the fifties has Gold Certificate on it. What’s the significance? The bills have large D or E’s printed on them? The twenties have the normal seal and look familiar. It’s interesting how different these bills look. They must look very odd to young people accustomed to the new US bills with anti counterfeiting printing. Are there any restrictions on using these old bills? Could I just deposit them if I found a similar stash in my parent’s estate? My mom is still alive but someday I’ll be faced with this. She has emergency bills tucked away in different parts of the house. I doubt it would total more than a few hundred dollars. Maybe a bit more. Cool story. [https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/2008751/this-family-just-found-a-hidden-suitcase-under-the-floorboards-when-they-were-doing-up-their-old-house-and-youll-never-believe-what-was-inside/](https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/2008751/this-family-just-found-a-hidden-suitcase-under-the-floorboards-when-they-were-doing-up-their-old-house-and-youll-never-believe-what-was-inside/) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043/2 "2016-10-19T17:51:54Z")
In good condition those may have collectors value. Yes, they are all legal currency, but dont spend them until you check. In the past, various banks issued bills under license. In theory a Gold Cert could be redeemed for gold. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043/3 "2016-10-19T17:56:29Z")
The South Bend notes are [National Bank notes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Bank_Note) which were issued by nationally-chartered banks. The idea was to replace the unreliable and inefficient private banknotes issued by thousands of different banks with a single system that was overseen by the federal government. (This is where the mysterious Comptroller of the Currency gets their title from.) The National Bank Note program was ended in the 1930s as the Federal Reserve took over the duty of issuing paper currency. [Gold certificates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_certificate) were issued by the US Treasury and redeemable for actual gold. They haven’t issued any more since 1933 when gold specie were recalled by the federal government. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043/4 "2016-10-19T18:02:21Z")
All of them are legal tender and could be deposited or spent at face value, but National Bank and Gold Certificate notes, at least, will have extra value to collectors. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043/5 "2016-10-19T18:09:10Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > In theory a Gold Cert could be redeemed for gold. Gold certificates WERE redeemable for gold until 1934. Between 1934 and 1964 it was actually illegal to possess a gold certificate. Since 1964, they are legal tender and can be spent for face value, but they cannot be redeemed for gold. Of course they may have a higher value than face value as collectors’ items. [Cite from US Treasury](https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Currency/Pages/edu_faq_currency_sales.aspx) –Mark ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043/6 "2016-10-19T18:15:04Z")
It sounds like this was somebody’s life savings. The bills coming from various periods of time. The 1930’s for sure. Maybe even the 1920’s. They were wrapped in newspaper from 1951. Thank you for the information. Fascinating bit of history. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043/7 "2016-10-19T18:48:59Z")
[This](https://kagins.com/product-tag/the-citizens-national-bank-of-south-bend/) will give you somewhat of an idea of what the South Bend one could be worth. Keep in mind those are retail values and probably not what a dealer/collector will pay for your note. The Federal Reserve notes are pretty common and not worth much over face value unless in pristine uncirculated condition. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043/8 "2016-10-19T18:55:55Z")
The D’s and E’s just designate which Federal Reserve bank the notes came from. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043/9 "2016-10-19T19:28:44Z")
I just talked with my mom and she said my dad had some silver certificate notes. I’ll have to remember that when I go through his stuff. It would be easy to cash these bills accidentally as a regular bill. You have to look carefully at the printing on the top. [https://goo.gl/images/OP2UWA](https://goo.gl/images/OP2UWA) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043/10 "2016-10-19T23:05:58Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I haven’t seen bills this old before. > > One of the fifties has Gold Certificate on it. What’s the significance? Does it _really_ have the exact words “gold certificate” on it? ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043/11 "2016-10-19T23:10:36Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Does it _really_ have the exact words “gold certificate” on it? There’s a picture of it at the link. (Yes, it does.) ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043/12 "2016-10-20T09:30:25Z")
The real question is, will the bank compare them against a banana to be sure if they are the right size ? (the radio station here read this story out and then said “Why bother with the banana, its useless at telling us the scale !”.) ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043/13 "2016-10-20T14:50:13Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > The real question is, will the bank compare them against a banana to be sure if they are the right size ? > (the radio station here read this story out and then said “Why bother with the banana, its useless at telling us the scale !”.) I’m more amused that the Sun seems to think an old lunch box is a “suit case.” Maybe for a gnome. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043/14 "2016-10-20T17:00:07Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > The real question is, will the bank compare them against a banana to be sure if they are the right size ? > (the radio station here read this story out and then said “Why bother with the banana, its useless at telling us the scale !”.) What story?😕 ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043/15 "2016-10-20T18:21:35Z")
I’m assuming the story the OP linked to. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043/16 "2016-10-20T21:33:00Z")
Nice find. All US federal reserve notes or Treasury notes are obligations of the Treasury or Fed etc, and thus technically legal tender (apart from any collector value, which may be significant) although it would be difficult to maybe find someone to take them because they are so different in appearance as well. Nice problem to have. I read an apocryphal tale years ago online, about a guy whose friend was tearing down an old farmhouse. He ran into him in the parking lot of a convenience store, the guy summoned him to his car, opened the trunk and said he had an absolutely huge stash of cash that he’d found inside a wall. Said the guy drove away and never saw or heard from him again. The older notes “horse blankets” issued by individual banks would have collector value but I don’t believe they could be spent at face value. The Federal notes were standardized in their current size in 1914 and all of them afaik are technically spendable. It would be “fun” to spend them at one level, or pay debts especially, just on general principles. Silver certificates have an interesting history. By the early 1960s the spot price of silver approached $1.29, the point where it became a loss for the government to redeem certificates for silver dollars, stored in large hoards in banks across the country. Lavere Redfield was one character who didn’t trust banks and drove around the country cashing in currency for mint bags of silver dollars. He would then drop them down a coal chute behind a false wall in his basement, accumulating over $100,000, and were sold for years to collectors. It became profitable to convert currency for the silver dollars based on their collector value because no attempt was made by banks or government to account for special collector value, a kind of arbitrage. Eventually the government ran out of silver dollars to exchange and was reduced to providing 1 oz bags of silver shot, and finally repudiated the silver certificates altogether by 1968. Their were some GSA auctions of remaining government hoards of Carson City, NV coins. Large denomination notes ($500 and $1000, $5000 etc) ceased production in the 1940s and were withdrawn as they came into member banks by the late 1960s as part of “drug trafficing” efforts although they are not technically unlawful to spend. They have considerable collector value and trade at a premium to their face value, i.e. a $500 note in decent condition may cost $600 or $700 to purchase. When those notes in the OP were stashed, $20 had considerable purchasing power, equivalent to factor of ten compared with today roughly. It would be interesting to know the story of what happened. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043/17 "2016-10-21T00:52:01Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#): > > The older notes “horse blankets” issued by individual banks would have collector value but I don’t believe they could be spent at face value. they still have legal tender status and can be spent for face value. > [@common tater](#): > > The Federal notes were standardized in their current size in 1914 and all of them afaik are technically spendable. the current size banknotes were first issued in 1928, not 1914. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043/18 "2016-10-21T05:05:14Z")
Ah, thanks Samclem, maybe it was 1914 when Federal Reserve notes were first issued, was confusing that. Would civil war era “Greenbacks” be (technically) spendable? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043/19 "2016-10-21T11:31:20Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#): > > Ah, thanks Samclem, maybe it was 1914 when Federal Reserve notes were first issued, was confusing that. > > Would civil war era “Greenbacks” be (technically) spendable? yep on the greenbacks. yes also on 1914 for first fed notes. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043/20 "2016-10-21T13:26:09Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#): > > Large denomination notes ($500 and $1000, $5000 etc) ceased production in the 1940s and were withdrawn as they came into member banks by the late 1960s as part of “drug trafficing” efforts although they are not technically unlawful to spend. They have considerable collector value and trade at a premium to their face value, i.e. a $500 note in decent condition may cost $600 or $700 to purchase. That’s not true - there’s no law against spending a $500, $1,000, or $5,000 bill > [@US Treasury](#): > > What denominations of currency notes is the Treasury Department no longer printing? > On July 14, 1969, David M. Kennedy, the 60th Secretary of the Treasury, and officials at the Federal Reserve Board announced that they would immediately stop distributing currency in denominations of $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000. Production of these denominations stopped during World War II. Their main purpose was for bank transfer payments. With the arrival of more secure transfer technologies, however, they were no longer needed for that purpose. **While these notes are legal tender and may still be found in circulation today** , the Federal Reserve Banks remove them from circulation and destroy them as they are received. (bolding added) > **[Front page | U.S. Department of the Treasury](https://home.treasury.gov/)** > > U.S. Department of the Treasury You may have difficulty finding a store that will accept them, but it’s not illegal. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-markings-on-these-old-us-bills/769043.md?page=2)