The 1896 Silver Certificate series is legendary for it's beauty and for collectors, desirability. The series was very shortlived due to the moral outrage of the blue hairs of Boston. The allegories made liberal use of scantily clad figures and as a result The BEP pulled the series after only two years of issue. The 1896 $1.00 and 1896 $2.00 notes were released in 1897 and discontinued that same year. Because of their beauty and short series life these notes are highly collectible in all grades. They aren't rare in the strict sense but because collector demand is so high they can be expensive.
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The allegory is named "History Instructing Youth" Ranked 7th most beautiful note. This is the least expensive note in the educational series but certainly not the least attractive. It's the most common series 1896 denomination with over 4500 of the notes known to exist. Even though there are a tremendous quantity of known notes the $1.00 can still be costly. A nice mid-grade note can run about $300 to $500 while a perfect example can reach up to $5000.
The allegory is named "Science Presenting Steam and Electricity to Industry and Commerce. Ranked 11th most beautiful note. The Series 1896 $2.00 silver certificate is a rare and wonderful note. It seems that I see ten $1.00 notes to every $2.00. Whats it worth? A full range of values for this note would be from $300 for a nasty rag to $7000 for a perfect example.
The allegory is named "Electricity Presenting Light to the World. Ranked 5th most beautiful note. This is about the pinnacle of Federal issued currency design. They don't get much prettier than the 1896 $5.00 Silver Certificate A striking note that once seen, fills the observer with awe and wonderment. Too much? hah, well...it's a nice note and very collectible. Even poor examples will fetch several hundred while top graded notes can easily reach five figures. If you have any note from the series 1896 and are interested in selling it please let me know.