1985 $10 Bill Value

The series is printed right of Hamilton's portrait. Treasurer Katherine Ortega signs on the left and Treasury Secretary James Baker on the right. Then check for a strip: hold the note up to a light. A 1985 has nothing embedded in the paper. A Series 1990 ten has a plastic strip running top to bottom on the left side and tiny printed text around the portrait.

Wikipedia's history of the ten calls those Series 1990 additions the first modern anti-counterfeiting measures on the bill. That makes 1985 the last of the old style tens, which is a reasonable thing to keep one for, even if the market does not pay much extra for it.

The 1985 ten was printed over five years, from August 1985 to September 1990, and in huge numbers. New York alone got more than a billion notes. The table is from uspapermoney.info.

Seven districts got 1985 stars. Atlanta's run was by far the smallest, 384,000 notes, and Greysheet prices it accordingly at $30 to $112, the highest range of any 1985 ten.

The rest follow printage loosely. Cleveland's 2.7 million star run lists at $19 to $70, St. Louis at $19 to $60, New York at $19 to $50. Boston, Dallas and San Francisco list at $19 to $37 even though Boston had the biggest star run at 7.3 million.

The printing records show no 1985 stars for Philadelphia, Richmond, Chicago, Minneapolis or Kansas City, and Greysheet lists none. If you have a 1985 ten with one of those letters and a star, check the series line again. The most likely answer is that it is a different series.

This is a good habit with any modern star note. Printage tables are public, and a few seconds of checking saves you from listing a note as something it is not.

Series 1985 tens were delivered from August 1985 to September 1990, according to uspapermoney.info. That is a long run for one signature pair, and it explains the 3.4 billion notes. Ortega and Baker signed every one of them.

It also means a 1985 ten can be as young as 1990, the year the strip arrived on the next series. If you remember getting crisp tens in the late 1980s, they were almost certainly Series 1985.

The 1985 star counts are lopsided. Boston received 7,296,000 stars against 380,800,000 regular notes, close to 2 percent. Atlanta received 384,000 stars against 297,600,000 regular notes, about 0.13 percent. Two districts with similar regular printings ended up with star runs nineteen times apart.

That is the whole story of 1985 star prices. Boston stars are common enough to list at $19 to $37. Atlanta stars are the scarcest of the series and list up to $112. When you price a modern star, look up the printage for your exact district rather than assuming all stars are alike.

With regular notes all listing at $11 to $26, condition is the whole story. Tilt the note under a lamp. No fold lines, sharp corners and stiff paper: the $20 to $26 end. A few folds with crisp paper: low teens. A soft, well carried note: face value or close to it, since no dealer pays a premium for a worn modern ten.

The same goes for stars. The top of the Atlanta star range assumes an uncirculated note; a worn Atlanta star sits near the bottom of its range. Our grading guide explains each grade.

Check the serial number for patterns. A 1985 ten with a solid serial, a ladder, a radar or a very low number is worth far more than anything in the tables above, on any series. The fancy serial number guide lists the patterns collectors pay for, and the low serial numbers page covers notes numbered under 100.

Also compare the two serial numbers on the face. They should match exactly. If they do not, you have a mismatched serial error, which our error guide explains.

Since a 1985 ten has no strip and no microprinting, a quick check has to use the older features. Look for small red and blue fibers embedded in the paper. Run a fingernail over Hamilton's coat; the engraved printing should feel slightly raised. Look at the fine lines behind the portrait with a magnifier; they should be sharp and unbroken.

A counterfeit detector pen proves little on any note. Our counterfeit guide covers the full routine for old style notes.

If you are working through a stack of old tens, the 1969 $10 is the series before this one in the same style, with more valuable stars. The 1950 $10 and 1934 $10 are older and carry larger premiums in top condition.

One more thing worth knowing: Series 1985 was printed for every district, and Minneapolis got the fewest regular notes at 64,000,000. Greysheet still lists Minneapolis at the same $11 to $26 as everyone else, so on this series the district only matters for stars.

Keep a crisp 1985 ten if you like it as the last of its design. Sell a star in a group with other notes or on its own if it is an Atlanta star. Spend the rest.