An American man has inherited a rare misprinted $5 bill from his grandmother, which despite its low face value, holds significant collector’s value. Someone has offered $400,000 for the bill, representing an astounding 80,000-fold increase, but the man has refused to sell it.
According to a report by “Newsweek,” a woman named Charlotte Carroll recently shared a video on social media showcasing the $5 misprinted bill owned by her boyfriend. The bill was passed down to him after his grandmother’s passing.
Carroll wrote, “My boyfriend inherited a $5 bill from his grandmother. This is the craziest bill I’ve ever seen.”
In the video shared by Carroll, a printing error can be seen in the bottom right corner of the bill. The design that should have been on the back overlaps in that area, while a large blank space with a missing print appears on the left side of the bill’s back.
Carroll told “Newsweek” that offers ranging from $5,000 to $400,000 have been made to purchase the bill, but they have all been turned down. She stated, “This is our favorite and most precious item in our collection.”
However, what she did not expect was for the video she shared online of the bill to go viral.
Currency expert Wyatt McDonald from North Carolina mentioned that modern paper currency printing errors are interesting but not uncommon. He explained that due to the large production volume of paper bills, they generally do not have significantly high premiums in the collecting market. Printing errors on old currency can hold significant value, with the color of the seal often being the best indicator. Old bills with a red, blue, or gold seal on the front are particularly valuable.
McDonald noted that modern paper bills with printing mistakes using a green seal usually only fetch a small premium. If these error bills are in uncirculated condition, their value could be two to three times their face value.
In a previous report by “Epoch Times,” aside from printing errors, US dollar bills with special serial numbers, such as repeating digits like “G88888888A,” can also increase their value significantly due to their rarity.
Despite wear, defects, creases, or stains, a $5 bill with a unique serial number could be worth well over its face value, potentially fetching thousands of dollars in the market.