In the past, long before the notes with the green seal, in circulation today, were produced to allow the populace to perform transactions across America, there was a time when we used cash in the form of notes that carried terms such as Silver Certificate and Gold Certificate on them. The Gold Certificate was a legal tender note that began it’s emergence into the American economic fabric in the late 19th century.
Originally these Gold Certificate notes were used to transfer large quantities of money from bank to bank by way of the promissory notes. Eventually, the point of using the Gold Certificate was so the public could feel confident that the paper money they were carrying actually represented something similar to the coins they were carrying, which contained silver and gold; precious metals used for many centuries to purchase goods and services throughout the world.
It is stated quite clearly on the Gold Certificate large 50 dollar notes from the 1913 series, to use one example, that, “THIS CERTIFIES THAT THERE HAS BEEN DEPOSITED IN THE TREASURY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FIFTY DOLLARS IN GOLD COIN PAYABLE TO THE BEARER ON DEMAND.” The many other types of the Gold Certificate, both large and small notes, and in all denominations, carrying the Gold Certificate label, provide some variation of this statement, thus giving the public an opportunity to redeem any of the paper notes, at any of the Treasury of the United States offices across the country, for real gold comparable to the amount of the Gold Certificate at the time of redemption.
The Gold Reserve Act of 1933 required that all citizens turn in any Gold Certificate in there possession as the “New Deal” administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt began the process of taking the United States off the gold standard. C. Douglas Dillon, the Secretary of the Treasury in 1964, finally removed any restrictions on these notes, making them legal to owned or be collected. These notes are now obsolete.
It is suggested that instead of using you old Gold Certificate to pay for gas, you bring it in to one of the numismatic and notaphilist experts at Nevada Coin & Jewelry, where we can examine it for a value more than just its face value. The average Gold Certificate will trade on the open collectible market for at least 10 percent above its face value and could be considerably more depending on condition and rarity. Currency collecting is considered the “hobby of kings” and at Nevada Coin & Jewelry, we have many experts on the subject.
So bring your Gold Certificate in to any of the Nevada Coin & Jewelry locations in the greater Las Vegas area and put our expertise to work for you today. Who knows?
Perhaps your Gold Certificate might just be a treasure!
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