When the $20 Bill was a Hefty Sum…

Let’s wander back in time to the “good old days.” Sometimes, elderly people think that old money had a purchasing power that was greater than today and that is not necessarily true. One hundred years ago $20.00 was worth about $470.60 in today’s money. That’s an...

Debunking the Myth of the $2 Bill

At one point or another, someone – often a favorite aunt or a grandparent – gave you a $2 bill for the holidays or your birthday. They probably told you to hang on to it because it’s rare and soon to be a collector’s item. Being eight, maybe 10 years old at the time,...

Understanding Legal Tenders, AKA United States Notes

If you are an old money collector, you have likely encountered a wealth of different legal tenders. It is interesting to see how currency has developed and changed in this country over the course of its history, particularly due to the fact that in the early days of...

1914 Blue Seals

Following the issuance of the 1914 red seal Federal Reserve notes, the United States government printed 1914 blue seal notes. The blue seals are the same as the red seal bills except for the seal color. Blue seals are far more easily available than the earlier red...

The History of the $1,000 Bill

There has been a lot of press lately, even outside of currency dealer circles, about a man who brought a $1,000 bill from 1918 into the Gold & Silver Pawnshop featured on the hit History Channel TV series Pawn Stars. The customer said he had been given the bill by...