A Sweet Find in Pocket Change Yet Again and some Questions too ...... posted by J Lloyd Young

[CSJournals-migration]

The old fashioned thrill of a " treasure find " in pocket

change never disappoints !!

 

This morning at work another sweet find .....one $50 Series 1934

Chicago FRN in slightly better than average circulated condition . Maybe some older timers than myself could volunteer what a fifty dollar bill would have purchased in 1934 ??!!

 

That was 2 full years before my mother was born . My father was a very young 5 year old living in the midst of the Great Depression in southern Virginia . Not long afterwards as I remember the story my Dad's father killed himself the week after the only local bank had closed for good leaving the family penniless . To be fair , I am told Grandpa also suffered terribly with some type of severe leg pain ...perhaps DVT's ...this I am sure contributed to his state of mind and early demise . I am no fan of suicide but I don't pretend to understand what someone in terrible anxiety , fear and pain may be feeling and thinking in a short span of time . But enough of sad history .

 

One FUTURE consideration for collecting lower value notes such as this one that occured to me today ....the bill has a face value ( and thus a floor value ) of $50 . HOWEVER ....If our currency is ever debased /replaced it seems more likely than not that the value of this type of collectible could very well plumment . Any thoughts on that from anyone would be welcomed !?

It might NOT be well for folks LONGTERM to accumulate many of these types of notes .

 

Enjoy the picture !

 

See more journals by J Lloyd Young

[coinsbygary]

An Interesting question that I am not sure I can answer. From a pure inflation perspective I have calculated that $50 in 1934 is worth more than $800 today. In other words you can make a case that the old money is the only money worth something, even if it is a Federal Reserve Note. Still maybe the market for obsolete Confederate States paper money may give a clue as to how some FRN's will perform once they become obsolete.

Gary