On Mon, 08 Dec 2003 14:38:58 GMT,
wrote:

My uncle died a few years ago and recently his coins and paper money
collection have been given to my sister and me. We're working on the
coins, bought a book and all that, but have a question about the paper
money.

Is there any particular reason my uncle would have been saving 1963 US
dollar bills? Most are very used and dirty, not collector quality.
My guess is that there was a personal reason he collected these
particular bills, one which we will never find out, but it never hurts
to ask!

He also had a 1928 US two dollar bill with "The United States of
America will pay to the bearer on demand two dollars" and a 1976 two
dollar bill with a postage stamp affixed and canceled to the left of
the serial number. You can't read the words on the cancellation mark.

Is there anything important about these bills or have my sister and I
just come into some quick cash? ;-)

Some quick cash, by the sound of it. Certainly the 1976 $2 note is
nothing special. It was a fad, as I understand it, to get $2 notes,
put a stamp on and have them cancelled on the first day of release.
First day of issue was April 13, 1976. It is an interesting piece of
Americana and there are probably people that collect as many
cancellations or stamp types as possible. You could try auctioning it
on Ebay - but they don't look like they sell well. The 1928 - or about
any note for that matter - that's in pristine, unfolded, uncirculated
condition will be worth more than face value. If it's circulated, I
don't think you could get much for it, maybe five to ten bucks if it's
pretty nice.

As for the 1963 $1, these are the so called "Barr notes", signed by
Joseph Barr. There has been a persistent urban legend that they are
valuable and rare, because Barr was in office for such a short time.
As it turns out, they aren't so rare, so it looks like your uncle
thought he'd struck it rich. Once again, you could try selling them on
Ebay - you might just find someone else who thinks they're rare! Lots
of circulated Barr notes sell for perhaps a dollar or three above
total face value, it seems [i.e., a lot of six is currently selling
for $8]. Otherwise, I think it's safe to spend or deposit the lot as
you see fit.

Padraic.

la cieurgeourea provoer mal trasfu
ast meiyoer ke 'l andrext ben trasfu.