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1990 50 Dollar Bill Value | How Much Is it Worth?
The 1990 50 Dollar Bill isn’t very valuable to paper money collectors because there are so many available in circulation. The bills that hold the most value are error notes or ones that have special serial numbers.
The regular bill is worth its face value of $50 in circulated condition. An uncirculated bill with a grade of MS 63 is worth around $85. Star notes are worth more because they are rare. An uncirculated star note with a grade of MS 63 is worth around $125.
Detailed Summary 1990 50 Dollar Bill
- Series: 1990
- Denomination: $50 USD
- Seal Varieties: (1) Green
- Signature Varieties: (1) Catalina Vásquez Villalpando – Nicholas F Brady
- Regular Varieties: (11) Boston (A), New York (B), Philadelphia (C), Cleveland (D), Richmond (E), Chicago (G), St. Louis (H), Minneapolis (I), Kansas City (J), Dallas (K), San Francisco (L)
- Star Note Varieties: (4) New York (B), Philadelphia (C), Chicago (G), Kansas City (J)
- Regular Notes Printed: 806,400,000
- Regular Star Notes Printed: 8,320,000
The 1990 series $50 dollar bill was one of the first Federal Reserve Notes to be printed with new anti-counterfeiting security features.
These fifty dollars bills were all printed at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing’s Washington DC facility between November 1991 and May 1994.
What Does A 1990 $50 Bill Look Like?
Image Courtesy of Heritage Auctions
Compared to modern $50 bills redesigned in 2004, this is an old style small sized note with a small head portrait design.
In the center of the obverse is a portrait of Ulysses S. Grant who was the 18th President of the United States of America.
To the left of the portrait is the Obligation Clause, issuing Federal Bank letter, number and seal, the serial number and signature of the Treasurer of the United States.
This 1990 series $50 note was issued for the Federal Bank of Chicago, has the serial number G52589190A, and was signed by the US Treasurer Catalina Vásquez Villalpando.
On the right side of the portrait is the serial number again, the seal of the Department of the Treasury, the series number 1990 and the signature of the Secretary of the Treasury Nicholas F Brady.
Image Courtesy of Heritage Auctions
The reverse of this FRN has a vignette of the US Capitol building showing the East front.
How Can You Tell If A 1990 50 Dollar Note Is Real?
The 1990 series fifty dollar bill was one of the first Federal Reserve Notes to include new security features to deter counterfeiting, although a watermark wasn’t added until after 1996.
You can tell if it’s a fake by checking the following two features.
As a general rule, a real 1990 series $50 bill has micro printing around the portrait of Ulysses Grant which can be viewed clearly using a magnifying glass. It also contains a plastic security strip on the left side which glows yellow under ultraviolet light.
1990 50 Dollar Bill Errors
Misprint errors and other printing mistakes on bank notes are very rare which makes them many times more valuable than regular uncirculated bills.
A common printing error is an overprint which means items such as the serial number and the seals are printed on the reverse of the FRN instead of the obverse.
It is also known as a Third Printing On Back Error.
These are the most valuable errors and a recent batch of five 1990 $50 bills with overprint errors sold for $2500 at Heritage Auctions in April 2018.
Another 1990 series 50 dollar bill sold for $900 in January 2020 with an ink color error. The Federal Reserve Bank seal and letter were printed in green ink instead of the usual black ink.
This was officially known as a Wrong Color Ink Third Printing Error.
Other errors you may encounter are print misalignments and blank reverses. Any errored notes are definitely going to be worth more than face value.
1990 50 Dollar Star Notes
Image Courtesy of Heritage Auctions
Star replacement notes are issued when a printing error happens during the production of regular FRN's.
These notes have a star at the end of the serial number.
Just over 8 million 1990 $50 bill star notes were printed for the four Federal Reserve Banks of New York , Philadelphia, Chicago and Kansas City.
Kansas City 1990 series $50 star notes are most rare as only 640,000 were issued.
A Gem Uncirculated 66 graded Kansas City star note sold at auction January 2007 for $207.
Special Serial Numbers To Look For
You may come across US paper currency with fancy serials numbers and they are worth much more than face value, especially in premium uncirculated condition.
Some bills include a solid serial number which looks like G77777777A.
These are extremely valuable and one containing this example sold for over $4000 at auction.
Another special serial number would be known as a super repeater.
This looks like G05050505A and fifty dollar FRN's from this series with super repeaters sell for around $300.
You may be lucky enough to find a $50 bill with a low serial number such as G00000020B.
This could net you at least $500 at auction for one in good condition.
Learn more about coin collecting and paper currency at LostTreasureHQ.
