Paper Money Market: Low Prices for Hot Notes
A Series 1934 $500 Cleveland District Federal Reserve bank note was described as “Converted into today’s dollar value, back then it would have been like having $11,619.17 – in one note – in your wallet.
A Series 1934 $500 Cleveland District Federal Reserve bank note sold in a June 26 Hansons Auctioneers sale in England was described as follows: “Converted into today’s dollar value, back then it would have been like having $11,619.17 - in one note - in your wallet.
Nearly a century ago notes like this were sometimes used for making large purchases such as buying land or a house.” Had this been an earlier Gold Certificate and the note’s owner redeemed the note for gold that gold would also likely have purchased a house back then. Considering gold was pegged at $35 per ounce and is now somewhere around $2,350 an ounce your 15.625 ounces of gold for which you redeemed a $500 Gold Certificate note would now be worth about $36,718.
I could go on about real estate being a better investment than gold, but what about the current value of the $500 Federal Reserve note? It realized £680 or about $873 U.S. after being estimated at £800 to £1,000. I get it—it was a Federal Reserve note, not a Gold Certificate, but it still appears its current value is a bargain considering what the spending value of this fiat money object could have purchased had it been spent in some timely way. As a Federal Reserve note, it could not legally have been redeemed for gold; however, had gold been legal to be owned in 1934, the note could have been used to purchase the yellow metal.
Now, rather than lament about how the note just realized a mere $373 above its face value, consider what a bargain such notes are to collectors today! Bank note collecting has been with us for a long time, yet regarding many prices realized bank note collecting is still in its infancy. Take advantage of today’s values.
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