My mom just found a small stash of hidden money in US dollars. She is not sure of the date, but they are all of the old design and probably from the 80’s. I know those are still valid and I see them with some frequency but is there a set date for them to expire?
U.S. Federal Reserve notes never expire. They’re still good. I doubt they’re old enough to be of any interest to collectors, so just go spend them, or put them in your savings account, whatever.
*** Ponder
Notes that were US Silver Certificates did expire - in one important sense. Such notes were redeemable for silver coinage (a $1 SC would get you a silver dollar). But in 1963 Congress decided to end this, with redemption ending in 1968.
Although such bills say that the US promises to pay silver to the bearer on demand, after June 1968 this was no longer honored. Today, such bills are treated the same as bills of the same denomination that don’t include this promise.
Knowing my mom, she will just put them back and find them again in 5-10 more years.
And, for the record, these are worth more than face value as collectibles… on the order of 5X depending on condition.
Any U.S. currency or coinage is legal tender . . . but sometimes that’s not a good thing. When I was a kid my father had some 19th-century silver dollars. One day I stole them, and spent them on toys and candy . . . at face value, a tiny fraction of what they were actually worth. I caught hell for that for a long time. If they hadn’t been legal tender, I wouldn’t have been able to spend them.
Stores can accept anything they want. If the store owners knew what you had they would gladly accept the silver dollars.
Yes, and no. (Speaking of silver certificates)
We currently are buying used $1. silver certs for only about $1.50. If they’re crisp uncirculated, then we pay $3-4 each. $5 silver certs in average condition we pay $8 for, and $10 silver certs we pay $20 for.