1953 $5 Red Seal Bill Value
A 1953 $5 with a red seal is a United States Note. Like the red seal $2, it was issued by the Treasury rather than the Federal Reserve, and like the $2 it was discontinued in the 1960s. Lincoln is on the face and the Lincoln Memorial on the back, identical to the silver certificate design apart from the seal color and the obligation text.
Four series exist: 1953, 1953A, 1953B, and 1953C. All are common in circulated grades. The value is a small premium over face for a worn note and a modest one for a crisp one.
Quick facts
- Type
- United States Note
- Series
- 1953, 1953A, 1953B, 1953C
- Seal and serials
- Red
- Portrait
- Abraham Lincoln
- Successor
- 1963 series was the last $5 United States Note
1953 $5 Red Seal value by condition
| Condition | Estimated value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Well worn | $7 to $9 | |
| Lightly circulated | $9 to $14 | |
| About uncirculated | $18 to $28 | |
| Crisp uncirculated | $28 to $60 | |
| Star note, circulated | $15 to $40 | |
| Star note, uncirculated | $50 to $200 | 1953B and 1953C stars are the scarce ones |
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Red seal, blue seal, green seal
In the 1950s three kinds of $5 note circulated side by side with nearly identical designs. Red seal meant United States Note. Blue seal meant Silver Certificate. Green seal meant Federal Reserve Note. The public used them interchangeably and most people never noticed the difference.
Today the seal color is the first thing a collector looks at. Red and blue seals ended production; green did not. That is the whole basis of the premium.
How many were printed
The 1953 $5 United States Note runs were large but well below the silver certificate and Federal Reserve Note printings of the same period, because the denomination was maintained mainly to satisfy a statutory requirement that a fixed amount of United States Notes stay outstanding.
That legal quirk is why the series exists at all, and why it ends abruptly after 1963.
Grading a fifty year old five
Most 1953 fives you will encounter have been through a wallet. Look for the tell-tale vertical center fold and the two lighter folds either side of it. Three folds and the note is squarely circulated.
An uncirculated 1953 $5 should have no folds at all, corners that come to a point, and paper that has not gone soft. Anything less and you are in the twenty to thirty dollar band, not the sixty dollar one.
Frequently asked questions
Is a red seal $5 bill worth more than a normal $5?
Yes, though not dramatically. Circulated examples typically bring $8 to $12 against $5 face. Uncirculated notes and star notes bring substantially more.
When did red seal $5 bills stop being printed?
The 1963 series was the last $5 United States Note. Production of United States Notes as a class ended in the 1960s and the class was formally retired later.
What is the rarest 1953 $5 red seal?
Star notes from the 1953B and 1953C runs in uncirculated condition. Regular issues in all four series letters are common.