Low serial number notes
blaircountycoin
Posts: 262 ✭✭✭
I recently purchased an estate filled with crisp uncirculated 1-2-5-10-20-50 dollar notes., about 2200 face value. Many are star and low serial numbers, such as 3 and 4 digit. Some of these have numbers such as 1972,1971,2000 2005, etc. What are these type of notes worth and how should I sell them. I am new to currency collecting, but have been collecting coins for about 35 years. Any and all help would be appreciated.
2
Comments
Value as with coins depends on condition.
4 digit numbers are not considered low. Low serial numbers are 999 or less with 99 or less being preferred.
Certain star notes do have some value, depending on the year.
Photos of some of the bills would help in evaluating your bills.
Low SNs (<3 digits) might be worth something depending on the value of the bill aside from this factor and what kind of bill it is (recent, dated, SC, GC, etc.). Higher denominations worth more.
Bills will need to be PMG-58 or Mint State 60's to really have nice value. Checking HA archives should be worthwhile.
Describe or show one of the better bills.
Just a small sample. All bills are pristine, no marks,no folds.
They are very nice looking notes! The low # are below 1000 (so the matching 00000153 with different Block letters would be a great trio to sell as a set). The other notes with 4 digits can be called "Year Notes" or even "Birth Year notes" (like 1973) which some collectors collect. The star notes can be called low range but I'm not sure I'd call them Low #. Looks like a fantastic lot you got.
Where to sell is the "holy grail" question b/c eBay is more like a flea market than an auction house. Its the Wild West so many collectors have become gun shy there. (I haven't bought from the platform in years). My understanding is that you must pay for a store front (become a Power Seller) so you'll get exposure but if you don't, chances are your listing will be buried. Store front fees were about $20-$30/month but the seller's fees are less (& your listings get great platform promotion). If you choose note to pay for the store front then the final sales fees can be quite high (%-wise) so you really must have a good/high final bid on your items listed. I suppose you can try a Buy it Now BIN listing but you'll need to research & see what a fair price will be (or it will sit forever). A true auction style listing usually generates more excitement (& lots of bids) but it's a bit risky that everyone low-balls you (another slump in the world market) & the final hammer is low. You would probably want to just list a couple notes to test the waters. Later, if results did not meet your expectations, you may need to ask if there's a good Power Seller (coins/banknotes) who takes consignments as that may be a best route.
The other option is to try to sell on the forums (like this one or the Paper Money Forum or other sites like FB, Katz, or maybe even Kijiji etc, but you'll want to meet in a public space if you're trying to sell in person). I have not tried this myself (only eBay which later became impossible due to my listings being buried). I also listed in 2022, after Putin's 2nd invasion of Ukraine, so the stock market took a nose dive (this did not help). Whatever platform you use, there's usually a commission (or seller fees unless you use the BST of a forum) & you want to sell while the market is good. Good luck!
**https://sites.google.com/view/notaphilycculture/collecting-banknotes **
Thank you for the valuable info. I have many more of the same, including a lot more of different block numbers of the 153 numbers. I think the combo bills of the same serial numbers and different years are really neat. I would be open to selling them on the currency forum if there is any interest.