My Very First Red Note

Congrats on finding one in the wild. Based on condition it's only worth $5, but I never got a $5 red seal back as change.

I wrote this up when I picked up the 1966 $100, in case you want to learn about United State Notes.

A United States Note, also known as a Legal Tender Note, is a type of paper money that was issued from 1862 to 1971 in the U.S. Being issued for 109 years, they were issued for longer than any other form of U.S. paper money. Often termed Legal Tender Notes, they were named United States Notes by the First Legal Tender Act, which authorized them as a form of fiat currency.

They were originally issued directly into circulation by the U.S. Treasury to pay expenses incurred by the Union during the American Civil War. During the next century, the legislation governing these notes was modified many times and numerous versions were issued by the Treasury.

United States Notes that were issued in both the large-size format, before 1929, and in the small-size format, starting 1929. They are very similar to contemporary Federal Reserve Notes of the same denominations with the distinction of having red U.S. Treasury Seals and serial numbers in place of green ones.

Existing United States Notes remain valid currency in the United States; however, as no United States Notes have been issued since January 1971, they are increasingly rare in circulation and command higher prices than face value as items of numismatic interest.

The last note released was a $100 from 1966 in which the $100 was the only one issued. A total 768,000 1966 $100 red seals were printed and most were stored in treasury vaults. Many were destroyed when the law repealing the Legal Tender status was terminated by congress. Small series Red Seals were also issued in $1, $2 and $5.

I figured it was only face value. Its pretty beat up. Definitely been used

Also, you can get a nice BU note from the 1963 series for not much:)

Fun find!

Ive read a bit about paper notes but don't really understand it still. So, a series marks the change in design, correct? Is there a way to to determine its actual mintage date?