Is collecting paper money 'a thing'?

[wecsoger]

Helped my mom clean-out/inventory her safety deposit box... She mentioned in passing a lot of paper money *her mom* had collected.

So I'm clueless if there's any worth above face value

Stacks of ones paper clipped and labeled, "1969", "1961", "1985", "1963 Henry Fowler", "1977".

Big stack of fives and twos(!) with a red seal and red serial #.

There a note on one of a "hundred with star".

Bunch of other bills paper clipped but I can discern nothing unusual like silver certificate, etc.

Got some coins but they're mostly Sacajawea dollars, they're going to her great-grandkids.

This is out-of-range of our regular discussions here so it will fun to read the comments.

On a good note, she had $100 EE bonds. More'n a couple had 'matured', no longer increasing. She cashed them in for $207 each, which was nice for her.

[marlinman93]

Yes, some paper money is worthy of being collectible. But very few $1 bills are worth more than the face value. I've got a stack of silver certificates that I got when my wife worked at a grocery store, and somebody paid her in 22 one dollar bills. She put $22 in the till, and brought them home thinking they were odd. Today my $22 investment is still worth $22, so no loss, but only the very oldest silver certificates have more than face value.
Some larger denominations have increased a lot, if the condition is excellent. Bills like $500 bills are getting more than $500, just because they get destroyed when turned in. And larger denominations are even more valuable.

[piller]

There are collector shows which may start up again soon. Some of the collectors are willing to get a novice started with the fun. It seems more of a novelty to me, but I do not know much about it.

[wecsoger]

Thanks for comments, folks.

I had no illusions that we were sitting on a pot of paper gold here.

Her mom was a product of the depression and had saved/accumulated/hoarded *a lot* of odds n' ends.

I'm thinking I'll have her just deposit most of them, and maybe save the $2 for the grandkids

[GunnyMack]

Collecting money is indeed a THING, the IRS does it every April 15th!

[Larkbill]

Some friends just sold her parent's collection at an auction, brought more than the appraiser expected. They had both paper and coinage.

Don't know what an appraiser costs but might be a good investment. Sometimes what doesn't look special to us is special to a collector.

[marlinman93]

Any shop that sells coins will gladly give you an estimate of their value for free. I wouldn't pay anyone to tell me the value. But I also wont usually sell to the shop giving the estimate. I just tell them I'm trying to determine what the coins or paper is worth, and they are glad to help.

[Larkbill]

Any shop that sells coins will gladly give you an estimate of their value for free. I wouldn't pay anyone to tell me the value. But I also wont usually sell to the shop giving the estimate. I just tell them I'm trying to determine what the coins or paper is worth, and they are glad to help.

I hear you, but I've had a couple bad experiences with those shops. I agree, if you have a good one that's a great place to start.

Our friends ended up netting over $100K so their appraisal for $100 was well worth it. The appraiser attended the auction as part of his fee.

[marlinman93]

Any shop that sells coins will gladly give you an estimate of their value for free. I wouldn't pay anyone to tell me the value. But I also wont usually sell to the shop giving the estimate. I just tell them I'm trying to determine what the coins or paper is worth, and they are glad to help.

I hear you, but I've had a couple bad experiences with those shops. I agree, if you have a good one that's a great place to start.

Our friends ended up netting over $100K so their appraisal for $100 was well worth it. The appraiser attended the auction as part of his fee.

The only way you can have a bad experience is if you take their estimate and then let them buy the coins, or money from you. No way that simply giving you an estimate is going to result in a bad outcome if you walk out with your stuff.
And of course, I always get at least two opinions on values. And books are nice to refer to also if you're going to do much collecting. Most libraries are a good resource for collecting books.

[Old No7]

The only way you can have a bad experience is if you take their estimate and then let them buy the coins, or money from you. No way that simply giving you an estimate is going to result in a bad outcome if you walk out with your stuff.
And of course, I always get at least two opinions on values. And books are nice to refer to also if you're going to do much collecting. Most libraries are a good resource for collecting books.

Good advice there ---^

By the way -- as it is somewhat related -- I saw U.S. Quarters from the 60's in a pawn shop the other day selling for $6 or $8 each. If I had saved 10 of each from my first 10 years, I'd be buying a nice new rifle! But back then, I probably spent them on chewing gum, a candy bar or a Coke...

Old No7