Silver Certificate Glut -- no market for many bills 0

[GoldFinger1969]

Was at my LCS a few months ago and a guy comes in with a bunch of medium-quality to Mint State Silver Certificates (I think they were all $1 but maybe a few were $5's or $10's).  No special features or years, most probably worth $3-$20.  Looked mostly like AU but some may have been in the 60's but I doubt super-high grade where the value for even commons skyrockets.

My LCS guy, who's a real fair guy, says he can't use ANY of them.  Says he has too many and no market.

Too much supply...too little demand. 

You don't see that with many coin types, but I guess many people saved the $1 Silver Certificates as the opportunity cost of hoarding them wasn't that much in the 1940's and 1950's.  Not like saving a $20 Double Eagle when they were being minted.  

Edited March 1 by GoldFinger1969

[Fenntucky Mike]

Small size silver certificates, I'm assuming that's what the guy had, in circulated condition are basically worth face value or maybe +$1 over face, they were heavily saved and billions printed. There are a few rare types but for the most part they are common as dirt and readily available. 

I think there are quite a few coin types with the same issue, maybe not as bad as small size SC's, circulated to low mint state coins from the early to mid 20th century don't typically bring much of a premium unless they are a rare variety, error, or have an exceptionally low mintage/survival rate.

[GoldFinger1969]

On 3/1/2024 at 6:52 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

Small size silver certificates, I'm assuming that's what the guy had, in circulated condition are basically worth face value or maybe +$1 over face, they were heavily saved and billions printed.

Yeah, that's what the guy had (and I too have a few dozen or hundred, somewhere, I think  ).  

Wow...BILLIONS ?   Didn't realize that many.  I knew the Gold Certificates were printed much less but didn't realize by that much.

 

[Fenntucky Mike]

On 3/1/2024 at 9:58 AM, GoldFinger1969 said:

Wow...BILLIONS ?   Didn't realize that many.  I knew the Gold Certificates were printed much less but didn't realize by that much.

 

When I say billions that includes all notes printed within a series and multiple series. Series 1935A and D silver certificates come to mind where there were just tons of them printed.

Here is a link to a table for the 1935 series notes. http://www.uspapermoney.info/serials/s1935zs.html#1935A

[GoldFinger1969]

On 3/1/2024 at 10:20 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

Here is a link to a table for the 1935 series notes. http://www.uspapermoney.info/serials/s1935zs.html#1935A

Good website....was able to quickly see that for the $500 and $1,000 bills you had tens of thousands printed for the most part....but for the $5,000 and $10,000 bills it was thousands.  

[Fenntucky Mike]

On 3/1/2024 at 10:45 AM, GoldFinger1969 said:

Good website....was able to quickly see that for the $500 and $1,000 bills you had tens of thousands printed for the most part....but for the $5,000 and $10,000 bills it was thousands.  

It's a pretty good site for U.S. collectors, a little difficult to navigate at first but once you get used to it and find all of the different pages with information it's pretty sweet. Don't remember the name of the person who put it all together but they did a pretty good job on probably no budget. 

[GoldFinger1969]

I have a few pages of SC's in those plastic folder things, from my collecting days in the 1970's and from my parents/grandparents in later years....4 to a page....most are probably AU-quality....a few are stars...I assume no rare prints or anything like that...nothing like those bunch of Large Demoninations thrown out of a window in DC or whatever that I read about years ago .

Anyway, they are all SC's in AU (1930's, 1950's, 1960's), so all worth pretty much face unless high-MS ?  What about with a star (got a few but not many) ?  A few also might have a blue seal.

I probably have about 100 or so...probably looking at $150 tops if I sold them all to a dealer I guess.  

What I need is a master plan like that of my namesake to make my SC's more valuable by destroying everybody elses !!! .  Where can I get my own OddJob ? 

Edited March 2 by GoldFinger1969

[Fenntucky Mike]

On 3/1/2024 at 4:32 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

Anyway, are all SC's in AU (1930's, 1950's, 1960's), so all worth pretty much face unless high-MS ?  What about with a star (got a few but not many) ?  A few also might have a blue seal.

There are some rare one's GF.

Looks like for series 1928 notes Fr #'s 1603*, 1604* & 1605* are the one's to keep your eye out for and it seems that most from that series pull a modest premium. For 1934 & '35 SC's Fr # 1606*, 1606a, 1607m*, 1609, 1609*, 1610, & 1610* pull decent to big premiums in circulated condition. Doesn't look like there are any winners in the series 1957 SC group. 

On 3/1/2024 at 4:32 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

I probably have about 100 or so...probably looking at $150 tops if I sold them all to a dealer I guess.  

What I need is a master plan like that of my namesake to make my SC's more valuable by destroying everybody elses !!! .  Where can I get my own OddJob ? 

Depends on what you have, I'd pick up a copy of Paper Money of the United states by Arthur and Ira Friedberg if you can, otherwise try to look up the Fr. #'s I gave you on HA or SB to see if you have any matches or post a few here and I'll look them up. 

[GoldFinger1969]

On 3/1/2024 at 4:55 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

Depends on what you have, I'd pick up a copy of Paper Money of the United states by Arthur and Ira Friedberg if you can, otherwise try to look up the Fr. #'s I gave you on HA or SB to see if you have any matches or post a few here and I'll look them up. 

Sounds like a plan......I have the 9th Edition of Small Size US Currency 1928-to date......also, the 27th Edition of the Standard Catalog of U.S. Paper Money. 

Not sure why I got both, a friend who was big into bills a decade or more ago told me to get both.  I guess if they ever stop doing updates or printing them I'm covered.

 

[GoldFinger1969]

It would seem to me that with fewer currency/bill collectors than coin collectors.....and with print runs of bills often in the tens of millions, sometimes BILLIONS....that you have different supply-demand dynamics at work here for many bill types.   Much different than with coin strikings of hundreds of thousands, millions tops, and survival rates much lower than the struck totals.

[Fenntucky Mike]

On 3/3/2024 at 10:45 AM, GoldFinger1969 said:

It would seem to me that with fewer currency/bill collectors than coin collectors.....and with print runs of bills often in the tens of millions, sometimes BILLIONS....that you have different supply-demand dynamics at work here for many bill types.   Much different than with coin strikings of hundreds of thousands, millions tops, and survival rates much lower than the struck totals.

Probably the main difference between coin and currency collecting to me is that currency is more cut and dry as far as what a fancy number is, what an error is, etc.. 

Coins are struck in the billions all the time, probably the main difference is the number of individual dies required, how those dies are made, and the minting process in general. The printing process is much more repeatable and more easily monitored. There are short runs printed from time to time but that seems to happen less and less as time goes on, from what I've read once the BEP changes over all the printing presses to the new style star notes will be a thing of the past. I also think that currency is saved by individuals more frequently, why would you save 1k cents when you can just save a $100 bill, and is more easily saved without damaging it or it deteriorating from oxidization or tarnish. This increases the numbers of survivors in good condition. 

[GoldFinger1969]

On 3/3/2024 at 12:29 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

Coins are struck in the billions all the time, probably the main difference is the number of individual dies required, how those dies are made, and the minting process in general. The printing process is much more repeatable and more easily monitored. There are short runs printed from time to time but that seems to happen less and less as time goes on, from what I've read once the BEP changes over all the printing presses to the new style star notes will be a thing of the past. I also think that currency is saved by individuals more frequently, why would you save 1k cents when you can just save a $100 bill, and is more easily saved without damaging it or it deteriorating from oxidization or tarnish. This increases the numbers of survivors in good condition. 

When I said coin strikings, I was thinking of classic MSDs and DEs.  You're right, modern coinage and much U.S. Small Denomination coins were struck in the billions.

Mike, do you go to any currency-themed/heavy shows ?  What about the big national shows, like FUN ?

Edited March 3 by GoldFinger1969

[Fenntucky Mike]

On 3/3/2024 at 12:36 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

Mike, do you go to any currency-themed/heavy shows ?  What about the big national shows, like FUN ?

I'll get out to regional shows once in awhile as long as they are located in the upper mid-west, Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburg, Nashville, etc., those cities are not a far drive for me, 8hrs or less, and I can leave early morning catch the show in the afternoon, spend the night head back to the show in the morning and leave late morning early afternoon. I'll head over to Detroit once or twice a year and to Grand Rapids, MI and Kalamazoo, MI three or four times a year for local shows. I've never attended FUN but hope to go one day, I thought I was going to be able to go in 2023 as I was scheduled to be in Orlando for work around the time FUN was scheduled but we finished up early and left just before the show started.