Is paper money graded too?

[Chingching]

I have a $5 bill 66066600 I have heard these sell in auctions too are the graded like coins please forgive me if this is not to be asked in this chat board. It's a five from 2003 omg my nail polish is aweful too.

[Alex in PA.]

8 minutes ago, Chingching said:

I have a $5 bill 66066600 I have heard these sell in auctions too are the graded like coins please forgive me if this is not to be asked in this chat board. It's a five from 2003 omg my nail polish is aweful too.

Yes it is.  PMG and PCGS are the two big graders of currency US and world.  PMG is the sister org of NGC.

[Chingching]

Thank so should I have it graded?

[bottlebum]

I'd think twice before doing so ...

 

[Alex in PA.]

Personally, I wouldn't.  But that choice is up to you.  Visit their websites for costs and turn around times.

[Matt_dac]

I wouldn't, no value from such a modern bill.

[Chingching]

Ok so it's no points for serial numbers?

[Mohawk]

14 minutes ago, Chingching said:

Ok so it's no points for serial numbers?

Close, but no prize.  If you had 66066606 or 66006600, then that'd be different, but you have 66066000.  It's close, but not fancy enough to interest most collectors of fancy serial numbers.

[Revenant]

The other thing you have to keep in mind is that getting a bill graded isn't nearly as common as it is for coins, as came up in another thread here recently. If you look at the PMG registry, it's tiny and inactive by comparison to the NGC registry, and the reason is a lot of the bill collectors don't grade their bills unless it's a very rare, very valuable note that they want to be able to show is genuine and protect.

[Alex in PA.]

What Revenant said but I would add ungraded notes are as hard to sell profitably as raw coins.  This is because scammers 'bleach' or wash the note to make it appear more attractive.  Currency grading has a note just like 'Details' on coins.  It's called 'Comment'.  Comments effect the overall value of notes.  If you have a valuable note in good shape it's best to have it graded by either PMG or PCGS.  That is your guarantee it is authentic.  Others may have a different opinion so read them all.

[Mohawk]

9 hours ago, Alex in PA. said:

What Revenant said but I would add ungraded notes are as hard to sell profitably as raw coins.  This is because scammers 'bleach' or wash the note to make it appear more attractive.  Currency grading has a note just like 'Details' on coins.  It's called 'Comment'.  Comments effect the overall value of notes.  If you have a valuable note in good shape it's best to have it graded by either PMG or PCGS.  That is your guarantee it is authentic.  Others may have a different opinion so read them all.

But you need to consider that there are many paper money collectors out there that do not like third-party graded notes, to the point of avoiding them when making purchases.  I collect paper money as well as coins, and I prefer my notes raw.  The reason for this is touching the note is key to grading the note for yourself as the feel of the paper plays a role in the grade.  You need to feel the level of crispness to accurately determine a grade and the bleaching issue you mention can often be detected by the feel of the note by experienced currency collectors.  The third-party holders can also hide folds, another key factor in grading currency.  I feel like you are applying the rules of collecting coins to collecting currency, which you really cannot do.  They are related fields, yes, but they are pursued in entirely different ways and what works for coin collectors often does not work for currency collectors.  I know I pursue my currency entirely differently than I do my coins.  With coins, I do submit coins frequently and I do participate in the Registry here.  However, I do neither with my currency and I do not plan to start.  I just keep it in an album.  I also want to grade the note myself, as I do with coins.  I'm not doubting NGC or PMG's abilities or expertise, but I'm sure you've heard the old adage "buy the coin and not the holder".  That's what I do and I always assess the grades of coins myself.  However, I cannot do that properly with a graded note because of the holder.  And that's how most currency people I know go about it.  They want to touch it and grade it for themselves.  Third-Party Grading hasn't been accepted in the world of currency collecting like it has in coin collecting, and I doubt it ever will.  You should go take a look at the Registry and the Boards over on the PMG side of things and compare them to the NGC side....you'll see what I'm talking about.  Your statement that ungraded notes are as hard to sell profitably as raw coins are is simply untrue.  Notes are harder to sell in absolute terms than coins are is because there are fewer collectors of paper money than coins.  If anything, graded notes are harder to sell in many cases than ungraded notes unless you're talking about something that is a ridiculous rarity.  Then TPG authentication would be key, but I think most currency collectors would prefer authentication without the holder and the grade if at all possible.  It's not, so there has to be some settling on that particular issue.

[Revenant]

14 minutes ago, Mohawk said:

Third-Party Grading hasn't been accepted in the world of currency collecting like it has in coin collecting, and I doubt it ever will.  You should go take a look at the Registry and the Boards over on the PMG side of things and compare them to the NGC side....you'll see what I'm talking about.

Last I checked the NGC side had about 12,000-13,000 registered / ranked users. The PMG side has fewer than 900, and I think many, if not most, of those have 10 or fewer notes registered in sets. Just to provide context.

[Mohawk]

Just now, Revenant said:

Last I checked the NGC side had about 12,000-13,000 registered / ranked users. The PMG side has fewer than 900, and I think many, if not most, of those have 10 or fewer notes registered in sets. Just to provide context.

You hit the nail right on the head Revenant.  Currency collectors just don't dig the TPG/Registry thing.  It's a different breed of collector with a different mentality.  I guess you'd call me a hybrid as I do both coins and currency, but I do them in completely different ways.

[Alex in PA.]

16 hours ago, Mohawk said:

But you need to consider that there are many paper money collectors out there that do not like third-party graded notes, to the point of avoiding them when making purchases.  I collect paper money as well as coins, and I prefer my notes raw.  The reason for this is touching the note is key to grading the note for yourself as the feel of the paper plays a role in the grade.  You need to feel the level of crispness to accurately determine a grade and the bleaching issue you mention can often be detected by the feel of the note by experienced currency collectors.  The third-party holders can also hide folds, another key factor in grading currency.  I feel like you are applying the rules of collecting coins to collecting currency, which you really cannot do.  They are related fields, yes, but they are pursued in entirely different ways and what works for coin collectors often does not work for currency collectors.  I know I pursue my currency entirely differently than I do my coins.  With coins, I do submit coins frequently and I do participate in the Registry here.  However, I do neither with my currency and I do not plan to start.  I just keep it in an album.  I also want to grade the note myself, as I do with coins.  I'm not doubting NGC or PMG's abilities or expertise, but I'm sure you've heard the old adage "buy the coin and not the holder".  That's what I do and I always assess the grades of coins myself.  However, I cannot do that properly with a graded note because of the holder.  And that's how most currency people I know go about it.  They want to touch it and grade it for themselves.  Third-Party Grading hasn't been accepted in the world of currency collecting like it has in coin collecting, and I doubt it ever will.  You should go take a look at the Registry and the Boards over on the PMG side of things and compare them to the NGC side....you'll see what I'm talking about.  Your statement that ungraded notes are as hard to sell profitably as raw coins are is simply untrue.  Notes are harder to sell in absolute terms than coins are is because there are fewer collectors of paper money than coins.  If anything, graded notes are harder to sell in many cases than ungraded notes unless you're talking about something that is a ridiculous rarity.  Then TPG authentication would be key, but I think most currency collectors would prefer authentication without the holder and the grade if at all possible.  It's not, so there has to be some settling on that particular issue.

Absolutely, positively agree with you.  However, I collect coins and know nothing about currency.  A raw note leaves me at a disadvantage.  If I were to purchase currency I would start out with graded until I became as experienced as you are.  All this is just my opinion; thanks for the information.

[Mohawk]

47 minutes ago, Alex in PA. said:

Absolutely, positively agree with you.  However, I collect coins and know nothing about currency.  A raw note leaves me at a disadvantage.  If I were to purchase currency I would start out with graded until I became as experienced as you are.  All this is just my opinion; thanks for the information.

What you state makes sense for a beginning currency collector.  Currency can be hard to learn and grading it properly is definitely more complicated than grading coins and many currency rarities go for some serious money, so the potential for loss is great if there are any undiscovered problems or if the note is a fake. 

[Alex in PA.]

23 minutes ago, Mohawk said:

What you state makes sense for a beginning currency collector.  Currency can be hard to learn and grading it properly is definitely more complicated than grading coins and many currency rarities go for some serious money, so the potential for loss is great if there are any undiscovered problems or if the note is a fake. 

Be it coins or currency today's collector is at a disadvantage unless he, or she, is an experienced grader/evaluator.  I started collecting coins in the mid 60's with my first Peace dollar.  Even today, with all my experience, I won't buy a 'raw' coin unless I can see it in hand and even then it's still a toss up.  The counterfeiters of coins are getting that good.  I've seen a lot of 'raw' notes on EBay and wonder how many?  Thanks very much for sharing your expertise; I hope our OP took something from this.

[Mohawk]

18 minutes ago, Alex in PA. said:

Be it coins or currency today's collector is at a disadvantage unless he, or she, is an experienced grader/evaluator.  I started collecting coins in the mid 60's with my first Peace dollar.  Even today, with all my experience, I won't buy a 'raw' coin unless I can see it in hand and even then it's still a toss up.  The counterfeiters of coins are getting that good.  I've seen a lot of 'raw' notes on EBay and wonder how many?  Thanks very much for sharing your expertise; I hope our OP took something from this.

No problem.  I, too, hope that the OP gained some knowledge from our conversation as well.  I've enjoyed our discussion also.  I don't get to talk about my paper money side much, and it's always fun to share about that too!