1899 Silver Certificate Value: Black Eagle, $2 and $5 Chief

An 1899 silver certificate is worth about $90-150 for a worn $1 "Black Eagle," about $100-250 for a worn $2 "Mini Porthole" and about $300-800 for a worn $5 "Indian Chief," as of October 2026. Very Fine notes bring roughly $125-250, $300-500 and $900-1,200 respectively, and crisp uncirculated examples run from several hundred dollars for the $1 to several thousand for the $5.

All three are large size notes, about 7.4 by 3.1 inches, with a small blue seal. Each denomination was issued under ten or eleven pairs of Treasury signatures, and the signature pair gives each note its Friedberg number. Most pairs are common and priced alike; a few, and star notes, carry premiums.

Quick answer

• $1 Black Eagle (Fr. 226 to 236): about $90-150 worn, $125-250 Very Fine, roughly $400-900 crisp uncirculated.
• $2 Mini Porthole (Fr. 249 to 258): about $100-250 worn, $300-500 Very Fine, roughly $900-2,000 uncirculated.
• $5 Indian Chief (Fr. 271 to 281): about $300-800 worn, $900-1,200 Very Fine, roughly $2,500-5,000 uncirculated.
• Star notes and the scarcer Vernon-McClung and Napier-Thompson signature pairs carry premiums.

How do you identify and value an 1899 silver certificate, step by step?

Check the denomination and design, read the two signatures, then grade the paper. The signatures set the Friedberg number, and the grade sets most of the price.

1. Confirm the series. The face reads SERIES OF 1899 and SILVER CERTIFICATE, with a small blue Treasury seal. The note is large size, about 7.4 by 3.1 inches.
2. Name the design. The $1 shows a bald eagle on a flag in front of the Capitol, with small portraits of Lincoln and Grant below; collectors call it the Black Eagle. The $2 shows George Washington in a small oval between the figures of Mechanics and Agriculture, the Mini Porthole. The $5 shows Running Antelope, a Hunkpapa Lakota chief, in a feathered war bonnet, the Indian Chief, the only US federal note with a named Native American as its portrait.
3. Read the signatures. At the bottom of the face are two signatures: the Register of the Treasury on the left and the Treasurer of the United States on the right. Write down both names.
4. Find the Friedberg number from the signature table below.
5. Look for a star. A star in front of the serial number marks a replacement note. Stars are scarce on all three denominations.
6. Grade it. Count folds, check the corners and the paper. These notes circulated for up to 24 years, so most survivors are worn. A note with bright paper and few folds is worth several times a limp one.
7. Check for problems. Tears, pinholes, tape, ink writing and trimmed margins all cut the price. Large notes were often folded into wallets, so splits along the folds are common.
8. Price from sold results for the exact denomination, Fr. number and grade.

Which signature combination do you have?

Eleven Register and Treasurer pairs signed 1899 notes from 1899 to the 1920s. The $1 and $5 use all eleven; the $2 uses ten. On the $1, the series date was printed in three positions over the years: above the serial number, below it, and vertically at the right. Lyons and Roberts comes with the date above or below the serial, and Vernon and McClung with the date below or vertical, so those two pairs each have two Friedberg numbers and the $1 runs to thirteen varieties.

The $2 runs Fr. 249 to 258, starting with Lyons and Roberts on Fr. 249; in the price guide, Fr. 254 and Fr. 258 start highest, near $160-165, against $70-125 for the others. In the Greysheet and Friedberg price guide, the lowest listed values for the common $1 pairs all start at about $90, while Vernon and McClung with the vertical date, Fr. 229a, starts near $160 and Napier and Thompson near $110. On the $5, most pairs start at about $280 and Napier and Thompson near $375.

What are 1899 silver certificates worth?

Values as of October 2026. Low grade figures start at the lowest values in the Greysheet and Friedberg price guide (CPG); Very Fine figures on the $5 follow recent sold results; uncirculated figures are honest ranges for choice notes, not gems, and are estimates where sales vary.

Real sales anchor the $5: in August 2025 a PMG Very Fine 25 Indian Chief sold on eBay for $1,084, while raw Fine notes have sold for roughly $350-650 at auction in recent years. At the top, gem notes of all three types are listed in the price guide well into four and five figures.

Why is the $5 worth so much more than the $1?

Fewer were printed and more people want one. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing produced 3,604,239,600 Black Eagles between 1899 and 1923, according to Wikipedia's history of the note, so the $1 survives in large numbers. The $5 was a lot of money at the time, fewer were saved, and Running Antelope's portrait makes it one of the most popular large size notes, collected by people who own no other paper money. Demand from outside the hobby keeps the floor high even for worn notes.

The $2 sits in between. It is scarcer than the $1, but the design draws less outside interest than the $5.

A worked example

Say you find a large blue seal $1 with an eagle on the front, tucked in an old family Bible. It reads SERIES OF 1899, so it is a Black Eagle. The signatures at the bottom read Speelman and White, which makes it Fr. 236, the last and most common pair. There is no star. It has six or seven folds, rounded corners and one small edge split, which puts it in the Fine range with a problem, about $70-110 to a collector as of October 2026. If the same note had three light folds and bright paper, it would be a $125-250 note. If it had been Napier and Thompson, Fr. 231, it would be worth a bit more in any grade. That signature check is the step most people skip.

Common mistakes

• Treating every 1899 $1 as rare. It is the most common large size note. A worn one is a $90-150 note, not a fortune.
• Thinking it can be exchanged for silver. Silver certificates stopped being redeemable for silver after June 24, 1968. Our guide to silver certificate dollar value explains what changed.
• Ignoring the signatures. The Friedberg number comes from them, and the scarce pairs carry a premium.
• Missing the star. It is small and sits in front of the serial number. Our guide to star notes value shows where to look.
• Fixing the note. Tape, glue, pressing and washing all cut the value more than the problem they hide.
• Trusting a souvenir copy. The $5 Indian Chief is one of the most reproduced notes. Copies are printed flat on modern paper, often with no silk fibers, a too-bright blue seal and sometimes the word COPY. Our guide on how to tell if money is counterfeit covers the checks.

How WorthPic reads 1899 silver certificate photos

WorthPic runs on the newest and most capable AI model available, tuned for exactly this kind of identification. From a photo of an 1899 note it reads the denomination and design, the two signatures and the Friedberg number they set, the serial number and any star, and estimates a grade range from the folds, corners and paper it can see. It then gives an honest value range with a most likely figure and explains what moves it. A photo has limits: it cannot always reveal a pressed fold, a closed tear, a trimmed edge or modern reproduction paper, and it says so and asks for a raking light photo or a close-up of the edge. It identifies and estimates. It does not authenticate, grade or appraise a note; for any $5 Indian Chief, any star and any uncirculated note, a grading service or currency dealer settles it.

What to photograph

• The full face flat in daylight, with all four corners and both serial numbers visible.
• The full back, to show stains, tears and any writing.
• A close-up of the two signatures at the bottom of the face.
• A close-up of one serial number, for the star.
• The note tilted under a lamp so folds and pressing show.
• The edges close up, to show splits, trimming and pinholes.

When should you get it looked at in person?

For a $1 Black Eagle in worn condition, grading costs eat much of the premium, so a dealer offer is usually the honest route. For the other notes in a family hoard, our guide to old dollar bills worth money covers the other large size $1 types.

Sources

• Greysheet: Silver Certificates, Large Size: Friedberg numbers and CPG value ranges for every 1899 $1, $2 and $5 variety and star.
• Wikipedia: Black Eagle Silver Certificate: design, size, 1899 to 1923 issue and the 3,604,239,600 notes printed.
• CoinWeek: 1899 Black Eagle Fr. 236 at Stack's Bowers: Speelman and White as the final Black Eagle signature pair, and the scarcity of high grades.
• Cottone Auctions: 1899 $5 Oncpapa Indian Chief: June 2025 auction estimate of $500-800 for a single $5 Indian Chief.