For collectors, knowing when to sell currency is crucial. Sometimes you will come across an outstanding bank note that you’ll be reluctant to sell due to its rarity. Collectors often tell themselves that they will pass the bill down to their children or grandchildren, that they’ll hold it for a while, that they don’t really need that extra money or they will wait to see if the market improves.

Antiques Don’t Always Increase In Value Over Time

Many collectors also assume that all antiques will increase in value over time. In reality, antiques are subject to “hot” and “cold” a period, which also applies to currency. Sometimes the supply will increase, while other times it will decrease. Just because an old note carries a high value today doesn’t mean it will tomorrow, because other notes of the same type could suddenly show up on the market.

Regarding collectible American currency, it is impossible to know how many bills have survived for a given note. You can go and research how many bills were originally printed, but this won’t tell you how many still exist. What this means is that if a specific note you’ve collected suddenly increases significantly in value, you should sell it while the going is good, before new bills are brought to market.

A Historical Example

By 2006 it had become extremely rare to find the North Carolina Bank of Lincolnton note. However, by April one appeared at an auction, and was valued at almost $20,000. Another five years passed before another one of these bills showed up, and at the auction it was valued at just over $8,600. Later more showed up and the price decreased further, from $8,600 all the way down to $3,700. By 2013 the price had finally fallen too little over $1,000. This decline occurred over a period of 7 years, which means anyone who decided not to sell in 2006 and waited until 2013 would have lost over 90 percent of the note’s value.

Getting Your Currency Graded

As a general rule of thumb, you should sell your currency whenever it doubles in value, at minimum. Waiting to see if it triples or quadruples in value might pay off, but then again you might also lose money. When it comes to grading, it is important to realize that the process is not designed to assign a value. Instead, the purpose of grading is to inform you of whether your note is real. It will be given a grade number which ranges from one to seventy. Graders should never provide you with an offer or value. Grading is not the same thing as appraisal. Their role is to determine both the condition and authenticity of every note that is presented to them.

Many collectors are also under the assumption that graded currency carries a higher value; it doesn’t. In actuality, many collectors actually dislike currency that has been graded. You should only get your currency graded when you’re certain the value added is higher than the time and cost needed to perform the grading.