Legal Tender Red Seal Note Values

Legal Tender paper money bills are typically seen with a red seal and serial number. What are Legal Tender bills? The answer can be confusing to some who are trying to understand the value of their old paper money. Legal tender notes were printed and issued in the United States, and are still considered legal to use to this day. Technically, you could bring any legal tender to a store and spend it however I advise against doing so, as many tend to have great collector value.

Before the 1928 issue of Federal Reserve Notes, if you had a bill that wasn’t redeemable by Gold or Silver, what you likely had was a Legal Tender note.

In this fully extensive guide we wrote on Legal Tenders, we go over every single denomination and date the United States ever issued. Right below are pictures of Legal Tenders shown for every denomination printed. Simply click on the picture or denomination to learn more about a specific type.

If you have any questions or you’re interested in selling your old paper money bills to us, contact us today as we’d love to hear about your banknotes.

Legal Tender Denominations

Legal Tender Values

 $1 Legal Tender 1917

The value of Legal Tenders relies heavily on a few factors that we’ll go over in this guide. It’s important to know legal tenders are still technically fully legal tender, meaning you could go to the store today and spend them. However, you shouldn’t do this since most bills are worth much more than their face value.

If you aren’t interested in learning about Legal Tenders and simply want to know how much your bill is worth, send us a clear image of your bill, front and back, and we’ll respond with our best offer within 24 hours.

Demand for Legal Tenders

The first factor when figuring out the value of Legal Tenders is supply and demand. Like most things, there needs to be a demand for a banknote in order for the bill to fetch a premium. With paper money, typically speaking, legal tenders with lower print runs (supply) are more desirable and sought after (demand). There are examples of old obsolete and scrip notes that have low supply and low demand, but we’ll save that discussion for another time.

Legal Tender paper money condition

The next factor is condition. Condition is King. If you have a banknote that people desire, it’s going to bring money. But if you have a banknote that people desire and it’s in good condition, you’re going to have a bill that’s worth a lot more money. We’ve paid $25 for a Legal Tender in poor condition, and the same note in pristine condition we’ve paid over $1,000 for. The same note! Condition is key when determining the value of Legal Tender.

Fancy Serial Number Legal Tenders

Not many people know this but the serial number of a bill has a chance to impact the value of a Legal Tender. If you have a bill that has a rare or fancy serial number, that alone can increase the value of a bill tenfold. We wrote a whole in-depth guide about fancy serial numbers you can check out here.

Market Conditions for Legal Tender

The final variable when determining a Legal Tenders value is the market. Markets are constantly fluctuating for better or worse. Before the market crash of 2007 / 2008, the value for Legal Tenders banknotes was sky high and people were spending tons of money to obtain rare Legal Tender bills. However, come 2009 the market had nearly cut in half and nobody was buying as much compared to prior.

Summary

Here are the variables to know: Supply & Demand, Condition, Rare serial numbers, Market. If you have any questions about your old Legal Tender make sure to contact us immediately. We need to see a clear photo of the bill(s), front and back, to determine its value. We will respond within 24 hours with a free appraisal and our best offer if you want to sell your banknote.

Below is a list of every Legal Tender ever printed. As you may notice, we love talking about old paper money that was printed around the United States. We would love to talk to you about your old Legal Tender banknote. Contact us today, we’re the real deal!

Other Types of Banknotes

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