Judge Collectible Currency Values By Rarity

Hobbyists who collect money, or numismatists, are frequently thought to assemble only coins. However, the entire field includes a wider study of the nature of paying debts and exchanging goods or services, and this involves coins, paper money and other economic instruments. Expert numismatists know that there are many qualities involved in assessing collectible currency values.

Many collectors start by checking a note’s year of printing. All currency carries at least one printed year, and sometimes includes several. The year of printing is called the series, meaning when the design of that particular note was authorized for printing as legal tender. It doesn’t necessarily mean the year in which a particular note entered circulation. For instance, the series of US 1935 silver certificates began in 1935, but continued printing through 1956. That’s a lot of 1935 series notes, whatever their denomination!

Instead of using only the series, experts look for the official Treasury signatures on the note. By determining when the people who signed a particular note were in office, an expert can tell the age of the currency more precisely.

People also think that collectible currency values rise if the money is quite old, and if the paper has few signs of wear and tear. Currency experts know that age is really of little use in determining the value of collectible money. What matters most instead is how rare the note was when it was first created. For example, there are thousands upon thousands of currency notes from the 19th century that are in pristine shape. Yet this paper money is worth little more than its face value because so many of the notes were printed in the first place. Collectors can’t stress enough that it’s currency’s original rarity and the rate at which rare notes survive that determine their value.

Another thing that confuses many outsiders to collecting is the issue of currency condition. Many people think that if a note’s printing is readable, that plays a major role in its value. In reality, any note that wasn’t able to be read wouldn’t be a collectible anyway, because there would be no way to determine whether it belonged to a class of rare currency in the first place.

Novices in money collecting can’t be expected to understanding the intricate classifications of paper money. However, rather than using vague terms, it’s better to examine each note for such things as creases, folds, pinholes and torn or ragged corners and describe them accurately to buyers and collectors. For optimum value, paper money should be stored in plastic sleeves and keep in an environment with temperature control.

Ultimately, there is one certain truth in determining collectible currency values: No note will ever be any rarer than it was when it was first printed. In other words, holding onto a note for a long time doesn’t make its value increase if it wasn’t rare at the beginning.

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