Old money.

[Sofar]

To all the cashiers out there: What is the oldest, or if reports upon that matter are sparse, otherwise strangest examples of currency you have received as payment? I recently received one five dollar bill and one ten dollar bill both marked series 1977, and strangely enough from two different people. I exchanged them for a ten and a five I had in my wallet and brought them home for safekeeping. These two bills are from back when American money still had all that complicated engraving on it, nowadays our bills are much simpler. Duller.

[thegiraffe]

My dad has a $5 silver certificate. They're no longer in circulation (they're back from when our money was backed by sliver, versus confidence). It's pretty nifty, actually.

As far as money I've tendered? I once had a lady pay for her groceries with 5 $2 bills. I sold them out of my drawer (2 $1 bills for a $2 bill haha) - the managers were cool with it.

[Broomjockey]

For strange money, I had someone pass me a Fijian 5 cent coin as a nickel. Didn't notice until it was time to cash out. Management let me keep it because they couldn't turn it to the bank.
I've had a couple people pass me some of the old style $20s, with the queen in the middle, American style, vs. having the queen on the side, similar to the newest $20 in circulation. Those bills must have been over 20 years old, from the 1980s at least, but they were still in near-perfect condition.

[Department stores *sigh*]

had a couple pay with an old 1960 20$ or something and for some reason either couldnt use it or something. i forget details. anywayz somehow i ended up trading my 20 with theirs so now i got a nifty 20 i hold onto

[Der Cute]

Gotcha all beat!

I had a person come in for $5 of gas. Paid w/ 3 Morgan Dollars, dating 1897, 1898, and 1897...and 2 paper dollars.

The other old money I have is Liberty Dimes, from the 1930s, a WHOLE $5 ROLL OF THEM...

And a few $2 dollar bills from 1953.

I miss being a cashier some times.

Cutenoob

[ExHDCashier]

the oddest bill I ever received as a cashier was a one dollar bill with Santa Claus in the middle.... it was a real dollar bill, just Santa Claus was glued over George Washington....lol...it was actually one of those gag dollar bills you pay $5 for at Christmas....so i called over my Head cashier and had her watch as I exchanged it for a dollar out of my wallet... i still have it to this day. That was about 4 yrs ago..

The oldest bill I received had to be the 2 $10 bills from the 1950's... i exchanged them with newer $10 bills and i still have those 2 older bills also.... hmmm.. maybe i shoukd just go to the bank and get all the older bills that I can since that seems to be the only way I am saving my $$$...lol

[Rahmota]

This is probably something that peeves a lot of cashiers but I love to use the gold dollars. I used to go into the bank and get a roll of them when they first came out and spend them instead of the Georgie bills.

I even used to ask the folks at the UDF next to the dealership if they had any of them in their drawers they wanted to trade for after I heard one of them griping about the coins.

I guess it goes with my D&D/fantasy/renfair/pirate mentality. Either that or I just like to hear them go clink-jingle.

[Broomjockey]

This is probably something that peeves a lot of cashiers but I love to use the gold dollars. I used to go into the bank and get a roll of them when they first came out and spend them instead of the Georgie bills.

Come to Canada, we've not only got dollar coins (loonies) but TWO DOLLAR coins as well (twonies, twoonies. whatever). Trust me. You come home at the end of the day *dump pockets* *jingle, crash, boom* jeez, my change broke the table, I ONLY BOUGHT ONE THING!

[Worker-Intellectual]

Does Crappy Tire money count?... I've seen some real old ones... including a few where Sandy McTire was actually a tire with arms and legs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Tire_Money

But I had two of the 1969-1979 Scenes of Canada series, one a $20 and one a $100 (and I found a $20 of that series in my closet yesterday...I better check for the devil head before I spend it). I've also had a $2 bill recently, which stopped being issued when they came out with the toonie about 10 years ago.

[One-Fang]

Heheh, we just changed our coinage for that weight reason. Apparently our 50c was one of the largest and heaviest in the world. The new coins are like the things we used to play with when we were eight. Toy money. They're so small and light. I'm still getting used to them, checking which one I'm giving over.

They've stopped minting the 5c now, too. The most recently minted (not very many either, so that year is rare) have been selling for nearly $200 each. I would have thought 1800s dollars were worth more than one dollar each, along the same lines.

[Coconut]

Gotcha all beat!

I had a person come in for $5 of gas. Paid w/ 3 Morgan Dollars, dating 1897, 1898, and 1897...and 2 paper dollars.

Whoa... did they not have anything else or what?

I've had tons of wheat pennies (which my dad collects). I've also had an Indian Head penny and a a few $2 bills.

A friend who worked fast food for a while said someone paid $20 once, with ten $2 bills.

[El Barto]

The oldest bill I've ever noticed come through our store was a 1963 $100 bill. We may have had older bills come through, but I only check 50's and 100's when I'm counting back the tills and the safe, we get to damn many of the rest to check to make sure they're real. The 100 scared me for a minute because there was no security strip down the middle of it, then I noticed the date and I figured they didn't put the strip in bills then.

[Broomjockey]

Apparently our 50c was one of the largest and heaviest in the world.

That reminds me of the time I was at work, cracked open a twoonie roll, and found a 50c piece inside. Turns out they're about the same size. Now you'd think that I'm now $1.50 short, right? Wrong. I counted the roll, and the 50c piece was extra. Turns out a few more rolls in that batch had them too. The only two explainations I could come up with is they were using them as spacers, or to correct a weight imbalance as maybe that batch was incorrectly weighted. Did I mention these were all bank sealed rolls?

[lordlundar]

A legit $.50 piece. I belive the date was well befor I was born. I wish I had a couple quarters so I could add it to my collection.

[Jester]

A few things. First, does anyone else here find it funny that there are people in here calling money from the Seventies and Eighties OLD?!?!? I'm only 36, and I don't find that that old.

Secondly, I hate those gold dollar coins. Hate, hate, hate them. Luckily, when I get them, one of my favorite bartenders collects them, so I know where to leave them as part of the tip. He's happy, I'm happy, everyone's happy.

Thirdly, while I hate the gold dollars, I love the $2 bills. I collect them, after a fashion. Whenever someone tips them to me, I keep them in my wallet, kind of like for good luck. I never seek them out...I figure they are only good luck if they come my way on their own. Heck, I know I could go to the bank and get a whole bunch of them, but what fun is that? I was up to 9 of them in my wallet--count 'em, NINE--but coming back from vacation, I forgot to get cash at any of the ATM's on the Florida Turnpike and had to use six, yes SIX of them to pay tolls.

Interesting side note to that....I have never had anyone actually pay with the $2 bills, just tip with them. And I have been doing this for 20 freakin' years. Go figger.