Expert: Brad Swain - 5/26/2010

Question
I have a 1954 Can. One  Dollar bill. In the queens hair there appears to be a face. My grandmother gave me this years ago, telling me the face was the face of Satan, and all these bills were being recalled and destroyed. Fact or fiction, any value ?
Thank you, Ernie

Answer
Hi Ernie, Collector value of a note depends on date, signatures and condition, including amount of wear, any folds, tears or stains as well as collector demand.
The early 1954 issues have a 'devil's face' in the hair by the queen's ear. These are worth a bit more than the corrected version with the same date depending on signature, amount of wear and collector demand. Later issues had the hair redesigned with no face.
The Coyne-Towers signature collector value may be worth about $10 with heavy wear to around $22 with moderate wear to maybe $150 with no wear (uncirculated) while the Beattie-Coyne signature may be worth about $5, $15, $115 in the same conditions as listed above.
You might try Ebay.com for similar pieces for comparison.
You might also try a library for a copy of the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money for pictures, values and lots more interesting info.
Brad