I want to get a set of the old design to keep for my kids. They have them on ebay but it seems weird paying $2-4 more for a normal bill.(plus shipping). Will banks hand out these bills if they have them or are the instructed to collect then to be destroyed?

I believe they are instructed to keep them but if you get to know someone at the bank... be friendly to the tellers and such, they usualy dont mind looking through the drawr and trading (or even holding for you if they like you that much ) the older bills with ya.

Local banks are usualy good for this, tellers are trained in customer service, if you ask them to do something speacial they will usualy help you the best they can.

In any case... it doesnt hurt to try

-Bobby

What Bobby said is good advice. My dad has a few good friends at his bank that hold back the new bills and coins as they come out. They take them straight from the roll/stack/whatever and keep them back.

All it takes is a nice smile and a please (most of the time).

Banks are not instructed to hold them to return to the FRB, unless the notes are worn or damaged, then they will be shipped to the FRB. Some have been saved as curiousities by non collectors and collectors, but most just wore to the point at which they were removed because of their condition.

Working P/T in a retail store while I complete my degree, I see older $20's about once a week. A while back I got an older, ie 1970's $100, I usually really scope the $100's for anti counterfeiting measures, but none of these are present on the older notes.

Didn;t think of retail, maybe I will ask my girl to start checking bills for me.

The only notes that I am aware of which banks must turn in to the fed for withdrawal from circulation are US Notes. Any of the older Fed notes are just circulated until they are worn out. I did the same thing about a year and a half ago, and asked the tellers at my local Wells Fargo to save me an older style $50 and $100 and within a week I had them, including a crisp series 1990 $100! I got an older $20 a few months ago from the bank and I didn't even ask for it. So they are still out there for face value if you are patient and don't want crisp unc notes.