Defense Bonds were originally issued on May 1, 1941, and after the United States entered the war in December 1941, they were renamed War Bonds. Bonds were sold in values ranging from $25 to $1000, with the goal of making them accessible to the general public. Stamps could be purchased for ten cents and placed in special albums. The albums were redeemed for a bond when they were completely filled. Children were particularly fond of war stamps.
What was the cost of a war bond?
In drafting the bond program’s goals, Henry Morgenthau Jr. enlisted the help of Peter Odegard, a political scientist who specialized in propaganda. Treasury began promoting the previously successful baby bonds as “defense bonds” on Odegard’s advice. Three new series of bond notes, Series E, F, and G, would be created, with Series E serving as “defense bonds” for individuals. They were sold for as little as $18.75 and matured in ten years, at which point the bondholder received a $25 payment from the US government. Large amounts of $50 to $1000 were also made available, all of which were non-negotiable bonds, unlike the Liberty Bonds of the First World War. If buying an entire bond at once was too onerous, 10-cent savings stamps could be purchased and saved in Treasury-approved stamp albums until the receiver had amassed enough stamps to buy a bond. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, which prompted the United States to enter the war, the bonds’ name was changed to War Bonds.
The War Finance Committee was tasked with overseeing the sale of all bonds, while the War Advertising Council encouraged voluntary bond purchases. Any Bonds Today?, a 1942 Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon, was one example of popular modern art used to advertise the bonds. During the first three years of the National Defense Savings Program, more than a quarter of a billion dollars in advertising was contributed. The government used popular culture to reach out to the population. The Four Freedoms painting series by Norman Rockwell was toured as part of a $132 million war bond campaign. Bond rallies with well-known celebrities, mainly Hollywood movie stars, were staged around the country to boost bond advertising effectiveness. Many movies at the time, particularly war dramas (which were themselves propaganda), featured a graphic during the closing credits urging viewers to “Buy War Bonds and Stamps,” which were sometimes sold in the theater lobby. The Music Publishers Protective Association pushed its members to incorporate patriotic statements like “Buy U.S. Bonds and Stamps” on the front of their sheet music. Approximately $185 billion in bonds were acquired by 85 million Americans during the duration of the war.
A 1945 Paramount film encouraged bond sales following World War II, and was named after the 1942 Hollywood Victory Caravan. Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Alan Ladd, William Demarest, Franlin Pangborn, Barbara Stanwyck, Humphrey Bogart, and others were among those featured in the short film.
During World War II, the National Service Board for Religious Objectors sold civilian bonds in the United States, primarily to members of historic peace churches, as an alternative for people who couldn’t buy something that supported the war. These were regular US government bonds, not defense bonds. In total, 33,006 subscriptions worth $6.74 million were sold, largely to Mennonites, Brethren, and Quakers.
What is the value of a World War II war bond?
The United States Treasury’s savings bond website includes a fantastic, user-friendly “Savings Bond Calculator” that will determine the value of your bonds for you. It will value U.S. Treasury E, EE, and I bonds, as well as savings notes.
If your bonds are Series E bonds, which were used to fund World War II, the calculator estimates that they are worth at least $3,600 each, for a total of more than $43,000 USD.
You don’t say how you got them, but before you start licking your chops, consider the tax implications of redeeming these bonds.
World War I
War bonds were made available to both retail and wholesale investors during World War I (WWI), with the goal of obtaining enough funds to fund the governments’ increasing military expenses. A massive propaganda operation was launched to appeal to the nation’s patriotism. The US government raised about $20 billion through the sale of four separate Liberty Bonds between 1917 and 1919.
The Liberty Bonds were not warmly accepted when they were first issued, and the bonds frequently traded below par value. In an attempt to fix the bond sales difficulty, the bonds were eventually re-issued at higher interest rates. In order to increase the popularity of the bonds, the government initiated a marketing effort. Famous people, like as Charlie Chaplin, took part in the effort to raise awareness of the bonds among the general public. Although the campaign was not totally effective, it did for the first time communicate the concept of financial securities to a significant number of individuals. In the end, commercial investors and financial institutions purchased Liberty Bonds for their investment potential rather than as a patriotic civic duty by regular investors.
World War II
During WWII, the US government issued war bonds known as Defense Bonds. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, they were renamed war bonds. The sale of war bonds in the United States helped the government raise $185 billion. Over 84 million Americans purchased bonds. The bonds were advertised all across the country, from sporting events to radio station promotions. The bond purchases were mostly motivated by patriotism and a sense of “doing one’s part” in the war.
Modern-Day War Bonds
Printing additional money is one of the strategies that governments utilize nowadays to pay increases in military spending. The disadvantage of printing more money is that it increases the money supply, which leads to inflation. To counteract the impacts of inflation, the government issues bonds, reducing the money supply and hence the inflationary pressure. This increases the pace with which the government may spend money on the military.
How War Bonds Work
For wartime, there is never enough time or preparedness. In general, governments want immediate access to huge quantities of finance during times of crisis. Conflict bonds are a mechanism for the government to borrow money from its citizens in order to fund greater military spending during times of war. As a result, they are attractive financial products during times of conflict, which are often associated with periods of inflation due to increased spending.
War bonds function similarly to regular government bonds, except they may pay a lower interest rate than the market rate. A bond is a fixed-income debt security that pays interest on a regular basis over a certain period of time. When the designated period of time comes to an end, the bond reaches maturity, and the bondholder receives the principal amount paid for the bond returned.
What was the cost of a basic $25 war bond?
SEAGROVE, N.Y. In today’s environment, a $25 US savings bond may not be worth much. When it’s dated April 1944, however, all those years might add up to a lot of money.
Mona Rae Chriscoe of Seagrove had kept on to her savings bond, which had grown in value over the years “It has the date “April 5, 1944” stamped on it. “I preserved this one because it has sentimental importance,” she explained.
Mona Rae Ferree grew up in High Point with her parents and attended Oak Hill Elementary School. Evia High, her aunt, would give her quarters to purchase US savings stamps. She may trade stamps for bonds once she had amassed a sufficient number.
Her father relocated the family to Hampton, Virginia, after World War II began so he could work as an airplane mechanic at Langley Field. Mona continued to take her quarters to school in order to purchase stamps.
She and her mother, Alma Lee Ferree, were 9 years old when they exchanged stamps for a $25 savings bond. The issue price, according to the back side of the bond, was $18.75. A graph depicts how the value would increase over time until it reached its face value of $25 at maturity after ten years.
Chriscoe purchased numerous more savings bonds throughout those years, including one with a $100 face value. She finally cashed the other bonds, but kept the $25 bond she acquired in Hampton in April 1944.
The Ferrees returned to High Point after the war, then to a farm in Randolph County.
“Chriscoe, who graduated in 1953, stated, “I went to Brower (School) and then to Seagrove.”
She married Bobby Chriscoe after graduation and needed to decorate their new home. “When I got married, I cashed the $100 bond and went to Sears in High Point and bought a Coldspot refrigerator,” she explained.
“I had a fantastic childhood,” Chriscoe stated. “We could ride our bicycles or roller skate without fear of being attacked by someone. All of High Point’s mills were operating at full capacity, and everyone was glad to be there. It was a different era back then.”
Chriscoe just removed the savings bond from the box where she held it for years. “It’s been with me for a long time,” she stated, referring to the fact that she is approaching 75 years old.
The connection has been broken “On the top right and left corners, measure 25”. The image of George Washington is on the left, while the stamp on the right states that it was acquired on April 5, 1944, in Hampton, Virginia.
The words “typed on lines in the center” are typed on the lines in the center “Mrs. Alma Lee Ferree OR Miss Mona Rae Ferree” with their Hampton address listed underneath. The lower right corner has a serial number, while the lower left says that it’s a book “Series E War Savings Bonds.”
These sentences appear at the top center: “The United States of America will pay twenty-five dollars 10 years from the date of this instrument.”
Last Monday, Chriscoe took it to a bank, where the employees were very helpful “I was at a loss for what to do. They’d never seen one so ancient before.”
Chriscoe stated that a bank employee will investigate the savings bond’s worth and provide her documentation.
“She smiled, “I told them I wanted a million bucks for it, but they wouldn’t give it to me.”
She is still debating what to do with her savings bond, but she has some ideas: “Unless someone offers a large sum for it, I guess I’ll retain it.”
When President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation on Feb. 1, 1935, allowing the Treasury Department to market the new type of security, U.S. savings bonds were established. The main objective of the bonds when the country entered World War II was to assist finance the war, and they were known as war savings bonds.
Savings stamps were sold in denominations of ten cents, twenty-five cents, fifty-five cents, one dollar, and five dollars, and were held in collecting booklets until enough were collected to convert for savings bonds. Back then, all proceeds went to the war effort.
Savings bonds remained popular with families after the war because they rose in value and were backed by the US government. They were promoted on television, in films, and in other advertising. There was a large enrolment in savings bonds when President John F. Kennedy encouraged Americans to acquire them.
Savings bonds were made accessible for purchase and redemption online by the Treasury Department in 2002. By 2012, banks and financial institutions had stopped selling them, leaving just http://www.treasurydirect.gov/ as a source of savings bonds.
$25, $50, $75, $100, $200, $500, $1,000, and $5,000 savings bonds are available. A buyer must wait at least 12 months after purchasing them before cashing them in. Maturity varies per denomination and can last up to 17 years. The longer you wait, the more interest you earn, up to a limit of 30 years, after which they stop earning interest.
Because the account is registered, if a savings bond is lost, stolen, or destroyed, the Treasury Department can replace it at no cost. Since the government no longer issues bonds in paper form, they can be valuable as collectibles.
You can compute the value of existing bonds on the US Treasury’s website, https://www.treasurydirect.gov/BC/SBCPrice. To find out how much a bond is worth and when it will mature, enter the Series (EE Bonds, I Bonds, E Bonds, or Savings Notes), the denomination, the serial number, and the issue date (in MM/YYYYY format).
Plugging in the information from Mona Chriscoe’s 1944 bond results in a value of $105.09. The original purchase price of the $25 bond was $18.75, therefore it earned $88.34 in interest, or over five times the original purchase price.
For a bond that is approximately 75 years old, that is a straight-up value that does not incorporate potential sentimental or collector’s worth.
Her bond had an ultimate maturity date of 1984, according to the website, meaning it earned interest for 40 years.
The TreasuryDirect website claims to be the first financial services website that allows customers to buy and redeem assets directly from the US Treasury Department in a paperless electronic format. The website was created by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service of the United States Department of the Treasury.
What is the value of a $100 bond?
You will be required to pay half of the bond’s face value. For example, a $100 bond will cost you $50. Once you have the bond, you may decide how long you want to keep it foranywhere from one to thirty years. You’ll have to wait until the bond matures to earn the full return of twice your initial investment (plus interest). While you can cash in a bond earlier, your return will be determined by the bond’s maturation schedule, which will increase over time.
The Treasury guarantees that Series EE savings bonds will achieve face value in 20 years, but Series I savings bonds have no such guarantee. Keep in mind that both attain their full potential value after 30 years.
What was the purpose of selling war bonds?
During World War II, the US government spent $300 billion, or more than $4 trillion in today’s money. The majority of the funds had to be borrowed. The government issued savings bonds to fund the war. A savings bond is a mechanism for an American citizen to invest money by leasing it to the government; after a set length of time, the bond can be redeemed, or cashed in, with interest. Savings bonds sold to pay for the war were dubbed “war bonds” by the public.
War bonds had been sold to fund the United States’ participation in World War I, but World War II necessitated the government to borrow unprecedented sums of money. During the war, 85 million Americans bought bonds for a total of more than $180 billion. Children took part by purchasing little denomination stamps. “Bond drives” were organized by school and community groups. At rallies to sell bonds, celebrities appeared, and even record labels displayed reminders to buy war stamps and bonds.
Savings bonds also contributed to the war effort in another way. Because everyone was working now, everyone had money to spend, which was something that many people didn’t have during the Depression. However, supplies were scarce. Prices could have soared if people had battled for scarce items. The government kept inflation low during the war by convincing Americans that it was their patriotic duty to buy war bonds.
Is there any value in German war bonds?
Bonds like the ones unearthed by Smerilli were issued by a cash-strapped German government struggling to pay restitution costs following WWI. Hyperinflation was depreciating the mark at the time, and Germany’s economy was on the verge of collapse.
Photographs of individuals carrying wheelbarrows full of cash that was scarcely worth the paper it was printed on appeared in German newspapers.
Smerilli discovered bonds in a variety of denominations that describe a sequence of interest payments in the form of tear-off interest coupons that can be cashed at particular times.
A 50,000-mark bond issued in 1922 is among Smerilli’s holdings. The interest was never collected because the redeemable tear-away portions of the documents remained intact. Of course, the bond was likely worthless anyway due to the depreciation of the German currency at the time. Germans were using money as wallpaper by 1923. Their money has to be replaced at some point.
“They’re unique in that the coupons were never clipped,” Barber explained. “As a result, whomever put them away knew they wouldn’t be of any use. I’d be interested in purchasing them, but not for a high price.”
Smerilli has no idea who placed the bonds in the safe. The former owner of the house, according to neighbors, was a notorious hoarder, but another owner did serve in WWII, although it’s unclear whether he was the one who buried the bonds within the safe.
Whatever the case may be, Smerilli insists he will not sell them and is open to proposals.
“Who knows, maybe the right guy will show up with a briefcase, and we can take it from there,” he said.