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.