$500s and $1,000s Look Like Buys

By Bill Brandimore, Bank Note Reporter October 24, 2011

This article was originally printed in Bank Note Reporter.
>> Subscribe today!

If you need or want a $500 or $1,000 Federal Reserve Note, now might be the time to buy one. Because these notes have been actively retired since 1969, there is a novelty interest as well as collector interest in them. Prices for these high denominations have been lagging for a while and don’t seem to be gaining much ground. It might be the old supply and demand adage at work, but it looks like prices are flagging in this area. This is especially true if there is a large offering of William McKinley $500s and Grover Cleveland $1,000 notes in the same auction. I also make note of the dramatic effect of the dreaded slab labels: “Apparent” or “Net.”

Standard Guide to Small-Size U.S. Paper Money The ultimate price guide for today’s collector! Get your copy today!

As I follow auction prices, a note labeled as “Net” or “Apparent” is going to sell for from two-thirds to three-quarters of the price of otherwise similar notes. This is just fine if you don’t mind the labels, but be prepared to lose money when you sell that note. The message? Buy slabbed notes if you’re not an accomplished grader.

Prices seem to be holding their own relative to prices of the past year or so, but they have not, in most cases, come up to their April 2008 levels. Series 1935A $1 R and S Silver Certificates seem to be doing better, as is the 1928 Red Seal $1. This is especially true of -64 graded notes. Interest in small-size star notes appears to also be on the rise. Bargains await students of the Federal Reserve Notes of 1928 to the present, as some really scarce notes can frequently be picked up at auction well below catalog prices.

I also see better prices for Series 1929 Federal Reserve Bank Notes, the emergency notes with the confusing name. At auction a few years ago a number of low serial number star notes went for very low prices. Those same notes selling today will bring in 25 to 50 percent more as buyers discover how scarce these and other star notes really are.

It is really wise to buy the book. At this time collectors have incredible information available at their finger tips to not only identify notes, but also to give them a good idea of relative scarcity. This is especially true of National Bank Notes. I used to rely on the wisdom of old-time dealers when they said, “I haven’t seen many of these.” The Hickman/Oakes book did a lot to inform collectors. Don Kelly’s book contains the wisdom of his many years of tracking the number of Nationals available on individual banks. It is a must if you are serious about Nationals.

The Standard Guide to Small-Size U.S. Paper Money 1928 to Date by John Schwartz and Scott Lindquist has added a lot of information relative to the number of notes printed. This can be a key factor in your assessment of small-size notes. There is more to it than just the number of notes printed, however. For example, the FC block Hawaiian $1 Silver Certificate saw a printing of just 12,000 notes. The AC block had a printing of one million. The AC block, however, is pricier in high grade than the FC. Why? Well, it seems that the AC block went right into circulation while the same was not true of the FC’s. Even the fact that several of the Hawaiian $1 notes are quite scarce and worth a lot more than the more common AC block does not seem to be common knowledge among many collectors and even some dealers. These are published matters. If you don’t take notice and then take advantage, you’ll pay more and get less as you trade in the hobby.

As always, email me your comments and questions at billbrandimore@charter.net.