Old Money

Collecting old money is a well-established hobby and has been enjoyed by many people for decades. We all collect money—or at least try to before bills come in—but how many of us collect old money, the antique variety from previous decades or even centuries?

Old money collectors of the paper variety, though not quite as common as coin collectors, still are active and manage to find some rare items from time to time. This variety could include pre US colonial currency, obsolete money from the 1800s, currency from the Confederate States of America, and souvenir cards of old money that’s too rare to actually find and purchase.

One such collector’s item in old money is called fractional currency. During and after the Civil War, the United States began to run short on change so started printing paper money worth less than a dollar. 

50 cents, 25 cents, 15 cents, 10 cents and 5 cents were all denominations printed because of the lack of coins. They are now much sought after collectibles.

Another interesting type of old money to consider: private banknotes from the 1800’s. Before the US government created a national banknote, many private banks issued their own paper money without government backing.

These banks eventually closed and those banknotes were counterfeited and altered. When the national bank system was created, privately issued bank money was excessively taxed to the point of being outlawed.

While US government money has always retained monetary value, obsolete old bills from closed banks are worth nothing. Yet, they remain an interesting collector’s item.

Obviously a lot of old money is very expensive in this day and age. Authentic old money and notes from the 1800s and early 1900s are for the most part out of the price range of casual collectors. This is why collecting souvenir cards are becoming popular as you can collect a piece of history without paying an astronomical price.

Where can you find old money? It’s not an easy task. While you still might be able to collect a Thomas Jefferson 2 dollar bill, the really unique old money collectibles cannot will not be easily found or purchased. The best way to find old money nowadays is through dealers, collectors, auctions and old money paper shows. 

One useful contact would be the International Bank Note Society’s journal and webpage which offer not only contact information  for trades and auctions, but also let’s you preview images of old currency on their website. Old money collecting is a unique and interesting hobby. More fun than it’s really worth in dollar amount.

Resources

Missing Money - You can search our database for money that has been classified as unclaimed from financial institutions and companies. Before you start searching, read about the 3 types of unclaimed money we've listed: Banking - money from banks, credit unions and building societies Life - money from life policies held with insurance companies and friendly societies Company - money from the compulsory acquisition of shares resulting from takeovers.

Saving Money - here you will find 66 different ways to save money whilst transacting almost any kind of business from car rental to opening a savings account.

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