Hey Hobby Geeks: What rare bills and coins should I look out for?
 

I'm a cashier. A lot of money goes through my hands on a day to day basis. Are there any coins I should keep an eye out for? Are wheatback pennies even remotely worth bothering to keep? Are Susan B. Anthony dollars something I should be hanging on to? Bicentenial quarters? Two dollar bills?

from when I was collecting...

anything that's in circulation isn't going to be worth that much, especially those that you mentioned. Those are interesting to discuss and show your friends...

Like Cynthetiq said, nothing you will find in circulation has more monetary value than face value. However, these are the coins I'd look for, in addition to the ones you mentioned:

pre-1964 dimes and quarters (made mostly of silver)
1943 pennies (made of steel)

Yea, I just found a 1951 penny in my change today. I think it's worth...

about one cent.

Are "proof" coins ever in circulation? When the new quarters started, I bought one of those collector books. All my quarters are about as freshly circulated as you could get, but one quarter looked especially shiny. It is quite easy to notice.

Also someone once paid me (while at a register) with a dollar bill from 1957 which says "silver certificate" on the top. Anyone know anything about those?

I could google for it, but I figured since we were already on topic... :)

2-dollar bills. I guess.

At least for US coins, proof coins are never circulated. All proof coins I have seen from recent years come in a sealed hard plastic container to protect them from damage. I understand that proof coins also get special handling at the mint to insure the best quality pressing.

After that come a couple grades of uncirculated coins, meaning, if I understand correctly, are coins which have been distributed to banks but not put into general circulation by the banks. You might have one of those coins.

Some number of years ago, US currency, maybe only dollar bills, was exchangeable for their face value in silver. Those bills were labelled silver certificates. This changed quite a few years back. Maybe around 1963-1964 when the US stopped production of silver coins.

Depending on condition, a bill like that is probably worth more than face value.

Money that has errors on it are usually able to be sold for a decent amount of cash. I got a messed up penny that way, nothing spectacular but it's worth around 30 bucks.

I'm a cashier too, at a grocery store. Within the past three years I have come across (and now have possesion of): A 1934C 10$ Silver Certificate, a 1932 5$ Silver Certificate, a 1919 Indian-Head Nickel, and a 1920something 50cent piece.

Cool stuff :)