100$ 1954

News: Welcome to the Canadian Paper Money Forum.

Hello, I hope you can help me. My grand father gave me 5x 1954 100$ notes and I was wondering if they are worth something. Serial numbers are :

AJ3811470 (Beattie-Coyne)
BJ6268802 (Beattie-Rasminsky)
BJ2878065 (Beattie-Rasminsky)
AJ7874606 (Beattie-Coyne)
CJ0571117 (Lawson-Bouey)

I don't have a picture of them but I would say they are all VG or EF (according to what I've read on the Internet). Are they worth selling? How much should I expect (approximately) to get for these?

Thank you very much!

These are common, in circulated condition they aren't worth much above face value.

I would still try and sell them.

On a side note your grandfather would have been better off putting that $500 in the bank or spending it.  Assuming that he had deposited it in 1954 at 4% interest it would be worth $4,496.11. 

Or based on inflation: What cost $500 in 1954 would cost $3,945.50 in 2009.

@ ShearBear,

I won't disagree with your comment regarding the buying power of C$100 in those days, or inflationary, however your comment on a return of 4% pa may not be correct, if the amount deposited is only $500. Perhaps you may get a pretty good rate in those years, but like you say, when the inflationary factor kicks in, the amount will get less and less attractive, and eventually you will be lucky to get any interest rate in return.

Perhaps this is the case in Canadian banks, but in some countries, you will be lucky to get a return of 0.10% p.a. for that amount on a fixed term deposit.

At a Canadian Bank GIC or even Canadian Savings Bonds from 1950s to 1980s you could get better than 4%.  There was a time when banks had GICs which gave you 8-12% on a 5 year.  You can get a 3.3% on a 5 year GIC with a minimum deposit of $100 and this is the lowest it has been in decades.

Even stocks from 1926 to 2010, the S&P 500 returned an average annual 9.8% gain

My point is if you enjoy collecting banknotes, looking at them, then by all means do collect.  If you are `investing` then it is a poor investment choice.