The series 1874 Legal Tender notes exhibit two major changes from the previous series 1869 notes. The beautiful rainbow coloring found on the 1869 series was removed and the back designs were changed. This series has a floral seal that is unique to 1874 and is pretty dramatic. A neat feature of these notes is security threads on the back of the notes. They used so many the backs often take on a blueish tinge. I find this feature attractive. The series only came in $1.00, $2.00, $50.00, $100 and $500.00. Please contact me with pictures of any notes you have from this series.
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The series 1874 $1.00 bill is most identifiable for it's floral design around the word "One" on the right side of the note. This design is striking in high grade notes so they bring a premium when they are found. This note will generally appraise for between $150 for a tired old note to over $2000 for uncirculated examples.
The 1874 $2.00 bill is a relatively scarce note with just over 100 known to exist. They are most generally found in lower grades. The example shown displays the bluish tint from the security fibers. Uncirculated examples are desirable and bring strong prices. An appraisal on this type note will generally land in the $250 to $5000 range.
There are about 50 1874 $50.00 dollar bills known to exist which sounds like a large number but for a Federal issue it's not. It's amazing that over 50 of these notes survived. A $50.00 bill in 1874 was worth just under $1050.00 in 2015. Dave Manuel Inflation Calculator These notes generally value between $2000 and $8000 but superb examples have sold for 6 figures in the heat of the market.
The very top of the food chain for 1874 legal tenders... This note is basically not collectible. The 1874 $500 bill is extremely rare with only five known to remain. Of those, one is in the treasury department and another is in the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. So there are only three notes available to collectors. There are three in public hands... so one can buy one if they have the resources, the last one on the market sold for over 500k.