$100 dollar bill with red ink

[inflationhawk]

A teller I get pennies from on a regular basis was kind enough to hold back a $100 dollar bill which had a red seal and red serial numbers. He said they were rare and probably collectible and sold it to me for face value. I really don't know much about bank notes like this. It's dated as a series 1966. How collectible is this? What's it worth? It's not in pristine shape, but it's not that bad either. No rips or bad staining. You can tell it's been folded before, but I have it flat now.

[AGgressive Metal]

US Note. Pretty cool - its actually true fiat rather than debt-backed. They are United States Treasury notes not backed by debt, simply issued by the Treasury under its own authority and declared legal tender, as opposed to Federal Reserve Notes which are issued by the private Fed and our government pays interest on. You have to ask yourself, "so why doesn't the Treasury just print pure fiat notes instead of paying interest on debt-backed notes issued by a private bank?" GOOD QUESTION.

Its value is anywhere from $100 in beat-up condition, to $1000 in near perfect. Just type "1966 $100 Red Seal" into Ebay search.

[inflationhawk]

Thanks, I was searching for red ink instead of red seal. There are quite a few on eBay. Looks like I could make 20 or 30 bucks on it, but I think I'll hold onto it. So other $100 notes are FRNs and don't have red ink? Have they stopped making the red seal ones?

[henrysmedford]

They say this is why Kennedy was assassinated see -- http://www.john-f-kennedy.net/thefederalreserve.htm

[AGgressive Metal]

Thanks, I was searching for red ink instead of red seal. There are quite a few on eBay. Looks like I could make 20 or 30 bucks on it, but I think I'll hold onto it. So other $100 notes are FRNs and don't have red ink? Have they stopped making the red seal ones?

Just read all the print on the red one and then read a FRN.

[inflationhawk]

I did some research and found a very interesting history of these notes. I'm liking the piece of history that fortuitously came my way today!

http://www.coinsite.com/content/article ... lstory.asp

[AGgressive Metal]

Good article thanks for sharing. For a more detailed history, find a copy of Dr. Edwin Veiera's "Pieces of Eight". I have one myself, so I'll try to post more information about US Notes when I have some time.