# large bills (currency)



## Smitty37 (Mar 3, 2013)

How many folks have seen a bill of a larger denomination than $100.  I remember when there were $500, $1000, $5000 and $10000 bills made for general circulation and a $100,000 bill made for certain bank/bank transactions.  I saw and touched all of those bills on my high school class trip to Washington D.C. in 1955  -  Not a single bill but a package of them ready to be sent out to banks.

I only personally ever had one $500 bill (I had to take it to the bank to spend it.) and I had a family member who once had a $1000 bill.

President William McKinley's picture was on the $500 and I believe it was President Grover Cleveland"s on the $1000.


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## terryf (Mar 3, 2013)

Does this count Smitty


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## PenMan1 (Mar 3, 2013)

Smitty:
Until just a few years ago, you could get a thousand dollar bill at our local banks. THEN they started charging a "surcharge " to get them and then they just went away.

I THINK I remember the still being available around until about 2000-2001.


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## OKLAHOMAN (Mar 3, 2013)

About 30 years agos I had a friend that had 5 one thousand dollar bills he was saving for kis kids, at that time they were worth about $1200 to collectors, I would guess now much more


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## Smitty37 (Mar 3, 2013)

terryf said:


> Does this count Smitty


Only if you have actually seen it up close and personal.


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## skiprat (Mar 3, 2013)

I think the biggest denomination of bank note in the UK is £50.  ( about $75)
They are as rare as hens teeth and I've never had one.


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## Smitty37 (Mar 3, 2013)

OKLAHOMAN said:


> About 30 years agos I had a friend that had 5 one thousand dollar bills he was saving for kis kids, at that time they were worth about $1200 to collectors, I would guess now much more



Surprisingly they are not worth a lot more than that today - from what I read a circulated 1934 note is worth around $1500 or so and uncirculated about $2000.  1928 series seem to be worth a little more similarly priced.  Kind of interesting when you think of the difference in the value of a dollar from then to now.


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## ed4copies (Mar 3, 2013)

Large denominations of United States currency - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Some pretty pictures~


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## Smitty37 (Mar 3, 2013)

PenMan1 said:


> Smitty:
> Until just a few years ago, you could get a thousand dollar bill at our local banks. THEN they started charging a "surcharge " to get them and then they just went away.
> 
> I THINK I remember the still being available around until about 2000-2001.


Technically they are still legal tender at face value.  The government had stopped printing them well before I ever saw one and they were officially discontinued and the Federal Reserve started taking them out of circulation in 1969.  

There are over 150,000 $1000 bills still "in circulation" and available to collectors.  

$5000 and $10000 are much more rare with only a few hundreds available.  

There were some banks that held a few large denomination bills back and made them available to customers because when they went to one of the main Federal Reserve banks they were taken out of circulation and destroyed.


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## hanau (Mar 3, 2013)

was a Titanic display in Raleigh NC yesterday and they had some old bills recovered from the ship wreck.
I never really thought about how artful some of the money was back then compared to today bills.

Never seen a $500 or $1000 bill only on TV.


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## terryf (Mar 3, 2013)

Smitty37 said:


> terryf said:
> 
> 
> > Does this count Smitty
> ...




I have had 50 of them in my possession and spent them all!! Total value was US$500


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## bellringer 75 (Mar 3, 2013)

Smitty37 said:


> terryf said:
> 
> 
> > Does this count Smitty
> ...



I have one of these notes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Zimbabwe_$100_trillion_2009_Obverse.jpg


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## skiprat (Mar 3, 2013)

Terry, I don't think anyone else will understand what happened to Zim.
I can remember when £1 = 2  Rhodesian Dollars or 1 SA Rand

What's the £ / R rate now? about £1 / R14 ?


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## jmbaker79 (Mar 3, 2013)

as a coin collector of sorts, I have seen and held all sorts of currency, new and old, there are some amazing bills out there!


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## jmbaker79 (Mar 3, 2013)

small bills are just as cool, we had 50 cent bills, as well as other denominations quite a while back, you can check one out here....they are about half the size of todays bills, and maybe a quarter the size of those large 10,000$ bills


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## terryf (Mar 3, 2013)

skiprat said:


> Terry, I don't think anyone else will understand what happened to Zim.
> I can remember when £1 = 2  Rhodesian Dollars or 1 SA Rand
> 
> What's the £ / R rate now? about £1 / R14 ?



almost, its R13.60 to the pound


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## mredburn (Mar 3, 2013)

I have seen them in collections and while being auctioned off. I wasnt allowed to touch them and I havent owned one.


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## mredburn (Mar 3, 2013)

I have owned a half dime.


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## arioux (Mar 3, 2013)

There are some on ebay

1934A $1000 One Thousand Dollar Bill Note Legal Tender Cash Money No Reserve | eBay


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## lorbay (Mar 3, 2013)

I have a $1000 Canadian bill. It's in my collection.
Lin


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## jmbaker79 (Mar 3, 2013)

mredburn said:


> I have owned a half dime.



These are some of my fav coins unless you are referring to one you cut up..... 1839 i think is the oldest one I have...


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## randyrls (Mar 3, 2013)

terryf said:


> Does this count Smitty



Not only does it count, but I have one!!!


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## Smitty37 (Mar 3, 2013)

skiprat said:


> Terry, I don't think anyone else will understand what happened to Zim.
> I can remember when £1 = 2  Rhodesian Dollars or 1 SA Rand
> 
> What's the £ / R rate now? about £1 / R14 ?


Of course I understand what happened - the same thing that happened in Germany before Hitler came to power and has happened in quite a few other countries since then almost happened recently in Greece and still might.  As long as the world insists on fiat money it will continue to happen - when money has no intrinsic value if the people lose confidence in the currency .... it's off to the races.  Pick up a can of beans at the grocery store and the price doubles before you get to checkout.


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## Joe S. (Mar 3, 2013)

I love weird currency! I've got half dimes, 2 cent coins, I might have an old trime (3 cent coin) but I'd need to look and see... I plan on getting a 3 cent note, once I find one I like at a good price. But this thread was about *LARGE* notes :biggrin:


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## Sylvanite (Mar 3, 2013)

Hey Smitty, I think I get it - you're trying to use up your stash of $500 and $1000 bills in the Birthday Bash auctions, aren't you? :biggrin:


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## alphageek (Mar 3, 2013)

My FIL had a 1000 bill that I've seen/held.  Not sure if he still has it or not.


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## Smitty37 (Mar 3, 2013)

Sylvanite said:


> Hey Smitty, I think I get it - you're trying to use up your stash of $500 and $1000 bills in the Birthday Bash auctions, aren't you? :biggrin:


Moi????


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## Rob73 (Mar 3, 2013)

Quite some years ago I was invited to arlington park (horse race track) by my Uncle. He was a very into horse racing and knew quite a lot of people there.  We were sitting in what I would now call the 1%'er area.   I went up to the booth to place my huge $20.00 bet and there was guy in front of me peeling off $1000 bills out of a wad the size of a baseball.  I went back to my seat feeling like a peasant.


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## avbill (Mar 3, 2013)

I have seen and held a silver certificate $ 500, and  held a $1000 and I seen the 100,000. At the Federal Reserve. I have a $100 Confederate bill and several $20's.


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## maxwell_smart007 (Mar 3, 2013)

terryf said:


> Does this count Smitty



I have a bunch of those!


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## Smitty37 (Mar 3, 2013)

jmbaker79 said:


> mredburn said:
> 
> 
> > I have owned a half dime.
> ...


I have owned a few of those when I was collecting coins.


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## Russianwolf (Mar 4, 2013)

But can anyone beat the $3 bill I have in my collection. Bahamas. (won't let me upload a picture for some reason... lmao) here's a link to a Pic

I like handing it to people that use a certain old saying and telling them to find a new one.

Living/working in DC I've seen the samples at the Reserve of all the old large notes. Nothing above $100 is allowed in circulation now, so you'll only see them in museums and collections.

Granted there are some coins that the Mint sells that are well over $1000 due to the gold content.


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## Smitty37 (Mar 4, 2013)

Russianwolf said:


> But can anyone beat the $3 bill I have in my collection. Bahamas. (won't let me upload a picture for some reason... lmao) here's a link to a Pic
> 
> I like handing it to people that use a certain old saying and telling them to find a new one.
> 
> ...


True but your're not likely to see them in circulation either given the denomination is only $50 or less.  Technically if you had one and wanted to spend it, I'm pretty sure a genuine $500 or $1000 bill would still be legal tender at face value but you might need to take it to a bank and exchange it there.


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## Russianwolf (Mar 4, 2013)

Smitty37 said:


> Russianwolf said:
> 
> 
> > But can anyone beat the $3 bill I have in my collection. Bahamas. (won't let me upload a picture for some reason... lmao) here's a link to a Pic
> ...



yep, both the coins and old currency are legal tender, but face values are considerably lower than collector/investor value on both. Same is true for the older coins like the Solid Silver Quarters that were once produced. Silver content is now a couple bucks compared to the face value. But they still spend like any other quarter. I still check all my change just in case, pulling out old pennies and quarters occasionally. Silver dimes don't come around often any more.


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## Smitty37 (Mar 4, 2013)

Russianwolf said:


> Smitty37 said:
> 
> 
> > Russianwolf said:
> ...


A few years ago, I hit a bunch of Mercury Dimes when I bought a box of "change" that had been filled over quite a long period of time.  No scarce dates and not to many in really nice condition but there were about 50 or 60 in the box and a few silver quarters.  I got a silver quarter in change about 3 years ago and that's the first one I'd gotten in at least 10 years.  I still always look too.


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## Joe Burns (Mar 5, 2013)

I remember as a kid my father had 10 1000 bills in his possession that he was going to use to go and buy a new Lincoln Town car.  You used to be able to go and get 500 and 1000 bills by special request at the banks.  Haven't seen anything larger than a 100 in over 30 years.  Now 100s are starting to get scarce.  I believe the federal reserve is starting to limit access to the larger bills to help control the impact of forgeries. 

Joe


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## Smitty37 (Mar 5, 2013)

Joe Burns said:


> I remember as a kid my father had 10 1000 bills in his possession that he was going to use to go and buy a new Lincoln Town car.  You used to be able to go and get 500 and 1000 bills by special request at the banks.  Haven't seen anything larger than a 100 in over 30 years.  Now 100s are starting to get scarce.  I believe the federal reserve is starting to limit access to the larger bills to help control the impact of forgeries.
> 
> Joe


The Fed started withdrawing $500 and $1000 bills in 1969 and began distroying them as they came in from banks - it probably took no more than 5 years or so until they were pretty well gone and by 1980 practically all of them still out were in the hands of collectors or dealers for neumismatic purposes.


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## WIDirt (Mar 5, 2013)

Many, Many, Many moons ago, I was a courier, running cash and other commodities for a LEGAL business. I have held in my hands, 4.3 MILLION dollars. Yes, it was all in $10,000 dollar bills, and it was very easy to hide among the other items I carried. I wasn't even aware of it until the delivery was made, and I had to stand there while it was counted and verified. Once they did all that, I was allowed to actually pick it up and hold it. For about 15 seconds, then it went in a very large safe. I won't even begin to guess how much in cash, precious metals and other items were in that safe.

And just so you can put a reason for those large amounts in your head, this was in Las Vegas, NV and I worked for the unions.


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## Russianwolf (Mar 5, 2013)

funny thing since we were just talking about it. Went to lunch earlier and came back with a '51 Wheat Back.


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