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clembo
Valued Member
United States
404 Posts |
 Posted 11/07/2009 8:47 pm
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First of all welcome to a fascinating aspect of collecting and realize it is a TOTALLY different animal than coin collecting.
This in mind my first suggestion is to buy a book or some books and do some reading. I am by no means an expert but believe me one of the first things I did when I started collecting was buy a book.
Here's the story in short. I worked in a truck stop years ago. People knew I collected coins there but my knowledge of paper money was ZERO.
One day the bookeeper called me and said a bunch of $20 notes from the 1950 series' had rolled in. I had $220 available to spend so I went down and chose what I thought were the 11 nicest. Can't lose at face value.
NEXT thing I did was go to the local shop (where I now work) and buy a cheap Blackbook. It gave me an idea of retail and how to grade. Those were my first two concerns.
I posted them on ebay with big pictures and was getting $26-28 per note. Hey, I was onto something here so I started reading more, making contacts and always learning. I was always up on what was hot in small size and what was not.
In the interim I got into star notes. Was I excited when I found my first one but I soon found in a business that handles a lot of cash I often saw $100 face or more in star notes in a single day.
It was time to start really picking and choosing as my salary would certainly not pay for what I was finding.
You see at first it was all about what could I make money on to me. I had no real interest but a good source. Figured if I sold paper at a profit I could buy more coins. Problem is I got hooked on paper as well.
There was actually a few years where I barely touched a coin. ALL paper but now I do both.
I learned to discipline myself on star notes (not too well though as I still have about $2000 face stashed away). I found a few hundred web notes and well over 2000 Forth Worth 295 engraving errors.
Found some great errors, older notes, radars etc.
I read and I made contacts.I figure at one point in my truck stop days I was going through $3.6 million per year. Not even my money and all available at face value. The only thing I miss about that job actually.
So why am I rambling about this? Paper money can be a lot of fun and the pickings from circulation can be much greater than coins. HOWEVER, the out of pocket cost even at face is much higher.
This is why investing in a good book or two or several is a good idea.
Even then you have to be realistic. I'll keep a start note with a printing of 640,000 or less PERIOD. NOT one that has a total of 1.28 million but such and such was a short run.
Why? - because how many people are actually collecting those?
It's fine to keep those but realize the "value" is often well over what one can really expect.
I've seen some pretty knowledgable paper collectors here so feel free to chime in here folks.
Newbies - keep asking the questions and PLEASE do some reading and research. It's easier to make decisions if you're armed with your own information.
Clembo
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hogarth45
New Member
United States
3 Posts |
Posted 11/09/2009 09:36 am
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hey
im new to notes.
what is a good website that tells all the printing cities, along with how many were printed?
thanx in advance.
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biokemist6
Pillar Of The Community
USA
4797 Posts |
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WpgLwr
Pillar Of The Community
Canada
884 Posts |
Posted 11/09/2009 1:05 pm
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One thing I would mention is that one can do some degree of research using ebay, also. You can see what people are buying and how much they're willing to pay for certain notes and determine what is collectible.
As well, you can research foreign notes, because not everyone collects U.S. notes exclusively.
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mfhorn
Valued Member
United States
184 Posts |
 Posted 11/13/2009 2:14 pm
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Clembo,
This looks like a good place to start.
My bank saved 100 $10 dollar bills and called to see if I wanted them. It seems these bills were either buried or stored in a house just recently torn down. I think the owner took them to a dealer and they were not interested. They consist of:
Series 1928, 1928A and 1928B, redeemable in gold in the upper left hand corner
Series 1934, 1934A, 1934B, 1934C, and 1934D.
Series 1950, and 1950B.
Only (4) out of the 100 are 'modern', (1995, 1999-2, 2004A).
All are in what I would say Fine to Extremely Fine condition. No folds and a couple with very small tears.
I know I need to get a few books on currency, but I'm not sure I really want to get that much involved. I spent too much now on coins.
Any suggestions on what to look for on these?
Thanks,
John
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clembo
Valued Member
United States
404 Posts |
Posted 11/13/2009 8:01 pm
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I'd pick them up for now if I could afford them John. You can ALWAYS spend them.
A few books I would suggest.
Standard Guide to Small=Size U.S. Paper Money
1928 To Date by John Schwartz and Scott Lindquist.
I believe the 8th edition is the most current. A decent coin shop may have it or you can find it on line.
Another good book is
Standard Catolog of United State Paper Money from Krause Publications.
Pretty informative books with full retail prices of course.
As was mentioned in an earlier post ebay can be quite helpfull as well.
From the sound of it you could have some pretty decent notes available. Keep me updated!
clembo
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mfhorn
Valued Member
United States
184 Posts |
Posted 11/13/2009 10:19 pm
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Clembo,
Thanks for your information. I will look into the books you recomended. I always liked the idea of collecting paper. I have a few pieces left to me over the years (black eagle, horse blanket), but I always liked coins more. I think I related paper money to stamp collecting; both being made of paper instead of metal.
I did take all 100 notes. As you said; can't loose at face value!
After a closer look, there are several that have been folded in the past, but still in very good condition. Twenty four are the Series 1928 with 10 having the number designation for the Federal Branch. Most of these are of the Cleveland Branch. A quick check on E-Bay shows one going for $28 with a few hours to go.
If there is any info you would like from these, let me know. I'll be out of town the week after next for the Thanksgiving holiday, so I might not get back to you for a while.
John
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