If you are struggling for cash this December, you may just be in luck. While $1 bills may not seem to be able to be able to purchase much in lieu of Christmas, things might turn around depending on the serial number of your crumpled old $1 bills.
Rare bills can fetch a high price from numismatist (or in lay man’s terms, money collectors). This may be the answer you are looking for to cover those last Christmas expenses stretching your wallet thin.
Misprints on money worth thousands
Depending on how rare they are and what kind of mistake they have, printed mistakes on money can be worth a lot of money. These mistakes happen during the printing process and can include things like missing serial numbers, designs that are printed backwards, portraits that are printed incorrectly, or denominations that are not lined up correctly.
Misprints like these are often sought after by collectors because they are rare and have historical value. These error bills can fetch a lot of money at auctions or private sales because their value depends on things like their condition, how rare they are, and how much people want them.
The 1794 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar is one of the rarest and most valuable coins that has ever been sold at auction. A lot of people think that this coin was the first one ever made by the U.S. mint.
The front of the coin shows a profile of Lady Liberty with long hair, and the back shows an American eagle. Less than 1,800 of these coins were ever made, and only 120 to 130 are thought to still exist today, making them very rare. The most money that a coin has ever been sold for is $12 million, which was paid for one of these in 2022.
Your $1 bill could be worth $150,000
Wealthy Nickel says that some batches of $1 bills printed between 2014 and 2016 have a unique printing mistake. “Because of this misunderstanding, dollars were printed with two different serial numbers, which is technically fraud.”
“Most bills in circulation have a unique serial number that can be used to identify them,” Wealthy Nickel wrote. “The US Bureau of Engraving and Printing did not catch either mistake, and now money collectors are rushing to find pairs of dollar bills with these identical serial numbers.”
There are about 6.4 million pairs of $1 bills with serial numbers that match, but so far only 37 pairs have been found.
The first batches were given out in New York and Washington, D.C., but since they have been around for so long, they could be anywhere in the country (or the world).
Your bill could be worth as much as $150,000 if you have one of them. The more complete the bill is, the more money you can get for it.
How to identify if your bill is worth $150,000
There are three things you need to identify to determine if your $1 dollar bills worth up to $150,000:
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The series date located near the photograph of George Washington must read “Series 2013″
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The bill must have a “B” Federal Reserve Seal above the serial number
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The serial number must end with a star (*) and fall between B00000001* – B00250000* or B03200001*-B09600000*
If your bill meets all three conditions, you need to find the other two.
It is not an easy hobby or quick way to make money to look for old bills with mistakes on them. There are not many mistakes in money, so while it is not impossible, you should not count on all the cash you get going to auction for a high price.
If you are lucky, some old money can be worth a lot of money. This time, your mission is even tougher because you need to find the matching pair in order to get the money you are owed for your rare find.