Help! I need advice abiut US dollars

Well guys I have a cousin in Greece who used to be so nice to send me every year with the traditional Christmas greetings card a banknote of 5, 10, 20 or 50 dollars. There are about 300 dollars in all and I didn't spend them, just kept them for black days.
These days a friend is going abroad and bought some dollars. I was surprised to see that the usual " greens" ( as we used to call them when it was illegal to own foreign currency ) have a new design and have different colours.

My question is if the old money I got ( series before 1999 ) are still in use. Otherwise I must exchange them to a bank but it means I may lose a part of them.

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Originally Posted by gadjo_dilo

Well guys I have a cousin in Greece who used to be so nice to send me every year with the traditional Christmas greetings card a banknote of 5, 10, 20 or 50 dollars. There are about 300 dollars in all and I didn't spend them, just kept them for black days.
These days a friend is going abroad and bought some dollars. I was surprised to see that the usual " greens" ( as we used to call them when it was illegal to own foreign currency ) have a new design and have different colours.

My question is if the old money I got ( series before 1999 ) are still in use. Otherwise I must exchange them to a bank but it means I may lose a part of them.

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Old money is still very spendable here in the US...

Enjoy spending it :up:

Thanks, that's what I've also heard but I also heard that out exchange houses refuse them.

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Originally Posted by gadjo_dilo

Thanks, that's what I've also heard but I also heard that out exchange houses refuse them.

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All US currency is good no matter what the age. If an exchange house doesn't accept the then go to another one or try a bank.

So they look different but they're all good. I guess I'd have trouble to handle them if I live there. Or maybe you pay mainly by card....

I remember that some years ago I've read that the banknote of 20 changed the design and I was desperate to change them. I finally made it but paid 10%. Now they've changed again....

In the UK when a note changes the old ones are spendable for a while but then cease to be legal tender. Just like the twenty recently. You can get them changed at banks however.

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Originally Posted by Mark

In the UK when a note changes the old ones are spendable for a while but then cease to be legal tender. Just like the twenty recently. You can get them changed at banks however.

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I've got images in my head from Peep Show now. Thanks.

Ewww, Elgar. :dozey:

Heck...if she had Canadian dollars...she really would be asking questions. They have changed a few of our bills a few times in the last 2 decades adding new anti counterfeiting countermeasures...

And what were our $1 and $2 dollar bills are now coins.

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Originally Posted by anthonyvop

All US currency is good no matter what the age. If an exchange house doesn't accept the then go to another one or try a bank.

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http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin ... &TYPE=TEXT
United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes
and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are
legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues. Foreign
gold or silver coins are not legal tender for debts.

Not only is all US Currency legal under the Coinage Act of 1965 but (and I forget where it is in the Act) that Demonitization is also illegal under the Act.
Even in my short time in the US, I've seen Lincoln Wheat cents which stopped production in 1958.

I bet that if you tried to use a 3c coin or even a gold $20 coin, people would look at you funny. As it was I had difficulty getting a shop to accept a $2 bill when I wanted to pay for a candy bar once.

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Originally Posted by Rollo

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/usc.cgi?ACTION=RETRIEVE&FILE=$$xa$$busc31.wais&sta rt=2257814&SIZE=2498&TYPE=TEXT
United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes
and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are
legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues. Foreign
gold or silver coins are not legal tender for debts.

Not only is all US Currency legal under the Coinage Act of 1965 but (and I forget where it is in the Act) that Demonitization is also illegal under the Act.
Even in my short time in the US, I've seen Lincoln Wheat cents which stopped production in 1958.

I bet that if you tried to use a 3c coin or even a gold $20 coin, people would look at you funny. As it was I had difficulty getting a shop to accept a $2 bill when I wanted to pay for a candy bar once.

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All old U.S. currency is legal tender, no matter how old, althiough far though some jis worth far more in collector value.

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Originally Posted by Bob Riebe

All old U.S. currency is legal tender, no matter how old, althiough far though some jis worth far more in collector value.

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When my sister was in college, she was working checkout at a K-Mart when she looked in her drawer and saw someone had paid with a silver certificate. She promptly swapped it out for a regular bill out of her purse of the same denomination. This was around 1991 or so.

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Originally Posted by Alexamateo

When my sister was in college, she was working checkout at a K-Mart when she looked in her drawer and saw someone had paid with a silver certificate. She promptly swapped it out for a regular bill out of her purse of the same denomination. This was around 1991 or so.

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Did they go out before or after Kennedy was shot?

I have some Confederate banknotes; they may or may not be genuine though. The original printing was of so poor quality as to make a counterfeit totally indistinguishable from the real thing.

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Originally Posted by Easy Drifter

And what were our $1 and $2 dollar bills are now coins.

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I have an old 2 somewhere in my dresser....They were a silly colour of orange really...

The one we had was a pretty good looking bill....

I like our banknotes, the art work is really quite sharp....and because about every 10 years it changes, I suspect Canadian coins and notes are big with the collectors....

Thanks guys for information. Looks like the only posibility to spend them is to go to USA - which will never happen.

Interesting. For the most part new notes are brought in to counter forgeries and withdrawing the old notes from circulation is a necessary step to make sure only the newer - more secure, notes are used.

So I wonder how that problem is tackled in the USA if all notes are valid forever?
(Of course they are in the UK too, it's just that the older the note the more difficult it is to trade it in)

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Originally Posted by Rollo

Did they go out before or after Kennedy was shot?

I have some Confederate banknotes; they may or may not be genuine though. The original printing was of so poor quality as to make a counterfeit totally indistinguishable from the real thing.

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They stopped redeeming them for silver in 1964, the same time they stopped using silver in coins here. It's not that valuable really, the $5 note is worth $8 maybe $10, but still, it's an interesting note to have. I guess someone didn't know what they had or decided the pack of cigarettes was more important. :p :

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Originally Posted by gadjo_dilo

Thanks guys for information. Looks like the only posibility to spend them is to go to USA - which will never happen.

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I cannot believe that someone will not pay you for those bills. They are legal tender...

The US dollar still is the de facto currency in many parts of the world...

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Originally Posted by Mark

Interesting. For the most part new notes are brought in to counter forgeries and withdrawing the old notes from circulation is a necessary step to make sure only the newer - more secure, notes are used.

So I wonder how that problem is tackled in the USA if all notes are valid forever?
(Of course they are in the UK too, it's just that the older the note the more difficult it is to trade it in)

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Purely a guess on my part. But since the life of most paper notes is rather short (just a few years on average from what I've read), I'd say that if you showed up at a bank or store with some $20's or $50's that looked brand new, but that style hadn't been printed in 5 or 10 years, you'd probably wind up having to explain yourself to some Secret Service agents if they proved not to be real.

When you go into a store or bank, it's funny how no one pays much attention to $5's or $10's. But try to pay with a $20 or above at a lot of places and they give it the full investigation. I asked a girl at a gas/convenience store why she cared and she said the store gave the employees a reward for every counterfeit bill they found.

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Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa

I cannot believe that someone will not pay you for those bills. They are legal tender...

The US dollar still is the de facto currency in many parts of the world...

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That is true, in Lebanon for example, cash machines dispense either dollars or Lebanese pounds depending on what you want, the Lebanese pound is tied to the dollar.

The problem with older US notes is that apparently they were easier to counterfeit, therefore many banks and change outlets outside of the USA will give you a lower rate for them. The same goes for dirty or ripped notes. Actually that goes for any currency, for example I once had
French Francs refused in Mali as they were not in pristine condition, even though at the time the West/Central African Franc was tied to the French Franc at a fixed rate.
A lot of guide books (LP for example) will tell you to carry small denominations in new notes.

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Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa

I cannot believe that someone will not pay you for those bills. They are legal tender...

The US dollar still is the de facto currency in many parts of the world...

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Knowing how things work here I'm not sure that if I'll go to a bank and say that according to american laws that money are still legal they will exchage them.

I asked an exchange house if they accept dollars issued before 2000 and said they don't and adviced me to go to a bank. If they're considered not in force yet there is only a bank that will exchange them. It means I should apply for this, wait for 60 days and be charged with 8-10%. Quite annoying considering that in countris like mine where currency is weak, we use to "treasure" euros or dollars and exchange them when we're in need.

Knowing how things work here I'm not sure that if I'll go to a bank and say that according to american laws that money are still legal they will exchage them.

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Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior

I asked a girl at a gas/convenience store why she cared and she said the store gave the employees a reward for every counterfeit bill they found.

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In retail, the last time I bothered taking a counterfeit note to the bank they looked at me like I'd trodden in dog mess on the way in. After that I just paid them in with the rest of my branch's cash and nobody bothered checking.

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I'd say that if you showed up at a bank or store with some $20's or $50's that looked brand new, but that style hadn't been printed in 5 or 10 years, you'd probably wind up having to explain yourself to some Secret Service agents if they proved not to be real. .

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:laugh: I always have an amount of money in the house, you know, for emergencies. In the past when money were made from a very poor paper I tried to keep this reserve in very new notes ( to the stupid extent that I didn't accept the smallest ply on "my little treasure"). From time to time the design or the paper had to be changed and new designed notes were emitted so we were allowed to use the old ones for a very short time. And I had to pay with all those well preserved notes and I remember those peasants at the market having a laugh at me and telling that I'm an avaricious who preserve money at the mattress

I also remember that after a long trial my family managed to get a compensation from the state and as it was a lot of money the National Bank paid us in 5 milion lei banknotes. The funny thing is that these notes were hardly used on the market because salaries were too low. I decided that mine and my brother's parts should be deposed in a bank to avoid embarassing situations in spending them. But imagine the surprise on the cashier's face....

It was on the news this morning that there are currently so many fake £1 coins in circulation in the UK - around 1 in 36 is a fake. That unless measures to get rid of the fakes are more sucessful, then the Bank of England is considering withdrawing the current £1 coins and completely replacing them with a new coin.

No doubt that would cost billions! Easier to replace them with Euros :p