Antique Dollar Bill Value: Old $1 Notes by Series

Most old dollar bills are worth $1.50 to a few dollars in circulated condition; the ones worth hundreds or thousands are large-size notes from before 1929, 1928-series notes, star notes, experimental notes and any note in crisp uncirculated condition. The quickest sort is by size and seal colour:

• Large-size notes are noticeably bigger than today's money and were issued up to 1923. US Currency Auctions, a paper money dealer, prices circulated large-size $1 United States Notes from $75 (a common 1917 note) to $1,200 (a scarce 1880 brown-seal note), and circulated silver certificates from $6 (1923) to $700 (1886), depending on the year.
• Small-size blue-seal silver certificates, Series 1928 to 1957B, are the old dollars most families still have. Their value depends heavily on series and grade; see the table below.
• Red-seal $1 notes of Series 1928 are United States Notes and scarcer than the blue-seal dollars.
• Green-seal Federal Reserve Notes from 1963 onward are normally worth face value; US Currency Auctions lists them at $1 to $1.75 circulated and $1 to $4 or more uncirculated.

Greysheet (Greensheet and Friedberg CPG) value ranges, retrieved 25 September 2026. The low figure is a worn, circulated note; the high figure is a gem uncirculated note, usually certified by PMG or PCGS Banknote. Fr. numbers are the Friedberg catalogue numbers printed in most price guides.

• 1928 $1 (Fr. 1600): $21 to $1,200.
• 1928A $1 (Fr. 1601): $21 to $1,000.
• 1928B $1 (Fr. 1602): $20 to $1,400.
• 1928C $1 (Fr. 1603): $68 to $3,000.
• 1928D $1 (Fr. 1604): $30 to $2,500.
• 1928E $1 (Fr. 1605): $200 to $3,000.
• 1934 $1 (Fr. 1606): $22 to $435.
• 1935 $1 (Fr. 1607): $3 to $500.
• 1935A $1 (Fr. 1608): $2 to $300.
• 1935A $1 with a red R or S (Fr. 1609, 1610): $80 to $2,400 and $80 to $2,300.
• 1935B to 1935H $1: from $1.50 to $4 worn up to $85 to $260 gem.
• 1957, 1957A, 1957B $1: $1.50 to $210, $280 and $260.

The 1928 red-seal $1 United States Note (Fr. 1500) lists at $80 to $8,000 in the same guide.

A star next to the serial number means the note replaced a misprinted one, so fewer were made. In the Greysheet table (retrieved 25 September 2026) star versions of the same series are worth several times more:

• **1928D $1 star (Fr. 1604*):** $1,000 to $100,000.
• **1928C $1 star (Fr. 1603*):** $1,800 to $18,000.
• **1928E $1 star (Fr. 1605*):** $5,500 to $34,000.
• **1928 $1 red seal star (Fr. 1500*):** $1,100 to $35,000.
• **1935A $1 R experimental star (Fr. 1609*):** $1,400 to $25,000.
• **1935 $1 star (Fr. 1607*):** $35 to $950.
• **1957 $1 star (Fr. 1619*):** $2 to $160.

Later star notes from the 1935 and 1957 series are common enough that a worn one is still worth only a few dollars.

The $150,000 figure that circulates online refers to a modern error, not an antique. NBC Los Angeles reported in April 2024 that in 2014 and 2016 the Bureau of Engraving and Printing printed pairs of Series 2013 $1 star notes with duplicate serial numbers. To be one of them, a note must read Series 2013, carry the B (New York) Federal Reserve seal, and have a star serial between B00000001★ and B00250000★ or between B03200001★ and B09600000★. The $150,000 figure was attributed to the website Wealthynickel, not to an auction result, and the report says only nine matching pairs had been found; a single note without its twin is not the note in that claim.

• Condition. PGS Gold and Coin calls condition the single most important factor. A note folded even once is no longer uncirculated, which is why the gap between the low and high Greysheet figures is so wide.
• Fancy serial numbers. PGS lists ladders such as 12345678, radars such as 12344321, solids such as 88888888 and repeaters such as 28282828.
• Printing errors. US Currency Auctions lists error notes as a separate collecting category.
• Seal colour. Green is common; red and blue seals mark older special note types (PGS).

• Read the series year printed on the front and the seal colour.
• Look for a star at the end of the serial number and for a fancy number pattern.
• Judge condition honestly: count folds, stains and tears. Do not clean, press or iron the note.
• Match the series in the table above, then compare recent sold prices for the same Fr. number and grade.

AntiqLens can read the series, seal and serial from a photo of each side. For a star note or a 1928 note in crisp condition, ask a paper money dealer or a grading service before selling.

Research and drafting for this page were assisted by AI and checked line by line against the sources listed below. Prices are copied from the named auction house, dealer or guide with the sale date where the source gives one and the date we checked it; asking prices and estimates are labelled as such, and where a figure could not be confirmed we say so rather than estimate. If you find an error, tell us and we will correct it.