1858 Augusta, Georgia $5.00 Bill!

 This is my second oldest bill with my first being the bill I bought with this one, which hasn't been posted yet. I do have my third oldest up right here which has somehow escaped getting views. This bill is pretty attractive- and not just because there's a topless woman on it. It's in amazing condition for being 160 years old. A few rips and folds are nothing compared to some newer bills I've gotten that are in terrible condition.

This hand-signed, reverseless note was issued by the Bank of Augusta which was legal back in the day. Any bank could issue as much money as it could take in to be exchanged for American dollars. In 1863, I believe, that stopped because someone at the mint was fed up with all of the Civil War tokens floating around or something like that. Now the Federal Reserve is the only legal issuer of paper money in the U.S. There are still some banks in other countries, however, such as Hong Kong that issue their own currency. Before I start getting off track, I bought both this bill and the other one for $15.00. The both of them are valued at around $30.00, this one being worth $20.00. You do the math.

6 Months!

It's been 6 months since my first post and I have shown coins old, rare, new, common, silver, steel, copper, nickel, and everything in between. I found my first silver coin in change after years of waiting and got some coins I could've wiated for. So far this year I have added 4 new bills and over 25 new coins to my collection (not including pre-1982 Lincoln Cents and 1964 nickels.) I have had an awesome 6 months and can't wait to see what the next six hold. Happy Hunting!

1864 Confederate $5.00 Bill!

 This is one of my newest buys. It's an 1864 Confederate $5.00 bill. I got it at the flea market on Sunday for $30.00 which is great because it is worth $50.00. Notice the attention to detail on it. You can see men in suits and women in dresses and the signatures and serial number are hand-written. All of the leaves on the trees are visible and so is every last step on the building. It is amazing how the rebels could gather an army, gather supplies, make uniforms, mint coins, keep the war going for as long as they did, and print money with every last detail visible under the circumstances (Not that I support what they did I'm just saying). This is the oldest bill I own and, surprisingly, it is in the best condition out of all of my old American bills. I suppose someone saved this in a book because it has no folds and is in amazing condition for it's age (I've found series 2003 bills that look at least 50 years old).

Times Have Changed!

At my local Publix there is a machine that is similar to a Coinstar, but not as fancy. It takes coins and gives out a receipt that you take to the register to get cash. Today I cashed them in and got this. It's a 1985 $5.00 bill in circulated condition. It is the oldest $5.00 bill I have found (the $5.00 bill on both sides of this post is a silver certificate that I bought). There is no watermark or security strip on this bill meaning there are fewer ways to detect its authenticity. There are silk threads in it so I'm almost completely certain it's not a counterfeit bill. It is worth only $5.00 with 332,800,000 made.