A Bank By Me Has 500 And 1000 Dollar Bills.

I think they are legal tender. They are required to turn them into be shredded,but if you know someone at the bank they can sell them to you.
John1

Are they really not allowed to sell them to me or do they just not want to?

maybe you can bribe them with candy or something... this is where you have to get to know your teller real good. I believe there is a law where is when the banks gets these...they are required to send them feds to get destroyed... its kinda like speeding in your car ..just don't get caught by the police..maybe the bank thinks that giving them out is more risk than giving them to you ... from a collectors point they are worth a lot more than face value.

I tried to get one of these before and was told the same story kinda like yours but this was my friends bank and he didn't have the extra cash to get one..they said "NO"

They are not worth a lot more then face unless it's special in some way,SN low rum certain signatures. Check ebay sold for values.
John1

Bribing (flowers and candy) may work on tellers, but don't get your hopes up or upset. They have to follow protocol or guide lines of the (employer) bank.

Recommend not using the term "buy". This is a bank and not a dealer. I would rather use the term "exchange for legal tender" notes.

Last ditch effort may try contacting and or reasoning with bank president or VP with a honest explanation of trying to preserve history.

Keep in mind someone from within maybe trying to do the same and would surely get priority over the general public. Just a rookies thoughts. Thanks, Doug.

the key is prior to them getting the goods, you need to be in their good graces, so that they automatically think of you when something like this comes in. its hard after the fact to try and win them over.

I have good success, as you may have seen, however a while ago, I decided to really work this, almost like a second job. I am at banks every day (yes even sunday) so I see the same people week after week, telling them stories about this or that find.

Good luck with your attempts.

The leg work for this had to have been done prior...

You must build a relationship with the banks you work with... and find that "honey hole" of a bank that will be happy to bend over backwards for you, getting you what you want and what you need ...

Pushing this issue at the bank further will probably NOT get you in their good books but frequent visits and being professional and courteous will go a long way... I now have 3 banks that call me when they have interesting things that come in... A friend of mine gets a call any time they get new notes in (bricks) and he's allow to go through them all and pick/exchange any note he wants.

How do you know they have them? Did you ask or were they displaying them?/would be kind of strange if you just saw a stack of them in tellers tray. Not sure how you'd go about it, was someone turning them in while you were there? It would be mean if the teller was just flaunting them in front of you knowing you were a collector and saying sorry you can't have one.