100 Sequential $1 Banknotes - Sealed for the past 30 years from Royal Bank?

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Hello everyone,

I am not a collector nor do I know anything about the hobby. My mother worked at Royal Bank about 30 years ago and when the $1 bills were about to stop being circulated she bought 100 of them and vacuum sealed them in a royal bank bag. We were going through her house with her today and found that package and decided to unseal and take a quick look at what we found because she couldn’t remember if she bought 50 or 100.

She worked in the cash room and the bills are still wrapped in the Royal Bank seal and stamped July 1987. They are sequential serial numbers from ECF5157601-ECF5157700. They have been in vacuum sealed royal bank bag in a drawer for 30 years and never touched. We took them out today for a quick look but then put them back in to the bank bag and tossed them back into the drawer to find again another day.

Are these worth anything to a collector? I can’t find much online and from the looks of it, this forum is filled with genuine collectors who may know a thing or two 

I have attached the first bill and the last bill of the 100 stack as we didn’t take any of the middle bills out.

After further reading and my picture didn't upload. I will answer a few questions:

The Charlton number (ie: BC-37a). See the main site www.CdnPaperMoney.com for help
Unfortunately, I have no idea about this. If someone can tell me that would be great!

its serial number including the letter prefixes (if any).
First Note: ECF5157601 --> Last Note: ECF5157700

The grade of the note (see above for links) OR:
I think I can assume these are of the highest grade possible. There is no creases, folds, fingers prints or anything of that matter. My mom seems to think they haven't been touched by human hands (before today) as she wore gloves in the cash room when handling the money. They were stored in a very thick bank bag and haven't seen light in 30 years.

A general description of the note with its date of issue and signatures

In case you can't see the image. They are the 1973 issue (I think) and signed by J.W. Crow

Thanks again!

Unfortunately these are only worth about $3-$4 apiece in the best of condition.  The catalogue number is BC-46b and it's listed at $3 in Ch Unc and $4 in Gem Unc.

A lot of people had the same idea to save bundles of $1s when they were discontinued so there is not much collector interest.  Some collectors might still want to have a whole bundle intact so if you were going to sell it I would suggest selling it as a single lot.

Thanks AL-Bob. I guess I'll put them away for my grandchildren to find and hope for the best.

Thanks AL-Bob. I guess I'll put them away for my grandchildren to find and hope for the best.

Hopefull they appreciate it. The fun of finding it particularly if you were to include a story behind it would make for some interesting conversation 30 years later.

If however you were thinking of a return on investment it might have been overwhelmingly better to buy RY stock for that amount 30 years ago and I would hazard a guess 30 years from now.

Hi: My suggestion would be to sell them now and put the proceeds into an RESP for your grandchildren. That will generate more value than losing to inflation over the next 30 years. They are common and will never rise in collector value to counter inflation. Education will pay dividends well beyond....

I agree with all the assessments above and the RESP investment also. But please invest the RESP also in a ETF following the S&P 500 or if you prefer more common investment mutual fund. 

As others have said, investment-wise you'd be better off selling them and putting the money into just about anything.  However I'd still keep them for my grandchildren just for fun.  We're talking about $300 not $30,000.  I got interested in collecting as a kid after discovering some discontinued $1 bills that family members had kept around.  Maybe discovering these notes in the future might make your grandchildren interested in starting a collection.  We need to cultivate the next generation!