Have These Been Cleaned Or Pressed? 1935 Notes

It's virtually impossible to answer these questions confidently from looking at pics, but I'd guess these two are original.

I don't believe that pressing these banknotes would have increased their value. I would think that someone with notes that were AU would do this to make them look MS.
If your concerned about them being cleaned, did you smell them? Did they smell like they were bleached or other cleaner?

-Pressing a note decreases the value. There's no questions or debate about that. The OP is a query whether it was pressed or washed. It is very tough to tell by photos.


MS or Mint State is coin talk. No banknote goes near a mint. It is either Gem uncirculated or lower degrees of uncirculated (like AU or Unc60).
But you're right & smelling is a good strategy. Sadly, many people used to flatten, wash &/or iron older banknotes. They did this so much so that it is better to be suspicious than not.

The good news is that it wasn't uncommon for banknotes to have a little ink spill over in the margins during production as seen on the top of the $2 (reverse) plus folds are visible.

The bad news is that 2 white vertical creases appear in front of the $5. These & the mid-horizontal crease show design has been worn off but the note appears clean otherwise. I would suggest it has been washed (& likely pressed) by those 2 telltale signs. It may have entered circulation again or been folded afterwards. The $2 looks slightly more promising but it still looks exceptionally circulated (so many wrinkles) yet almost too clean (the under-print is missing telltale signs of circulation). I would have to see them both to be sure but they both look a bit suspicious.