Here are some of the most viewed stories this week on Globe Live Media:

THERE IS A HIDDEN FORTUNE IN THE 2-DOLLAR BILLS

$2 bills were minted from 1862 to 2017. Depending on their condition, they can be worth as little as $2 or as much as $4,500. Those most valuable are those that were printed in the 19th century. One of the most valuable $2 bills is the one printed in 1890, which can be worth up to $4,500 if in perfect condition. A $2 note minted in 1862 can be worth between $500 and $2,800 or more, while an 1869 note can be worth up to around $3,800.

Most banknotes of this type that were printed from 1953 are only worth $2, although some printed in 1995 and 2003 can be worth between $500 and $700 or more if in perfect condition. In 2020, there were 1.4 billion $2 bills in circulation, according to data from the Federal Reserve. So check your pocket or wallet to see if you have a $2 bill. And if you have it, don’t use it until you confirm its value.

We went to a specialty coin and collectibles store to learn more about “millionaire” coins and bills.

If you have valuable banknotes and coins and want to sell them, experts recommend that you seek the advice of a numismatic professional who can help you with the value assessment and selling process. your collection. Auctions are the preferred method for collectors to sell their banknotes and coins. To do this: send an email with several photos. If your banknotes or coins have value, they will respond to you with information on how the collection is sent, the sales commission, and the method and terms of payment.

If you agree on the details, you must send them the banknotes or coins, and they will take care of auctioning them off. There are also several auction houses such as Heritage Auctions. The National Numismatic Association has clubs in different cities across the country that can help with the appraisal of coins to see if they are worth money or not. There are also specialized companies like “NGC: Coin Grading” and PCGS. Interested persons can also sell them on sites such as eBay and AuctionTime, at collectors’ auctions on the Internet, and at coin shops. According to collectors, the two best seasons of the year to sell coins are the FUN Show in January and the summer ANA from July to August.

Check your pockets in case you have one.

If you have pennies in your pocket or you keep them in a piggy bank, be careful because you could have a treasure without knowing it. A 50-cent coin sold at auction in December 2022 for over $45,000. But what makes them so special? What should you look for to know if you have a valuable coin? These are pieces that look old and you may not like them. However, collectors have paid tens of thousands of dollars for these coins, which usually have a few different characteristics.

The half dollar bears the image of President John F. Kennedy. The differences between the “common” and most valuable 50 cents are in the President’s face and the details of the hair protruding from the ear, which is more lush in value coins. The letter “I” has a defect in the word “Liberty”. Its weight is 12.50 grams (nearly half an ounce) and it is 90% silver. Chances are you can own one as 40 million of them have been issued.

According to the Cointrackers website, 1944 pennies are among the 25 most valuable coins for collectors. A 1944 penny, if in mint condition, could be worth $408,000. The reason for its value is that in 1943, during World War II, the federal government decided to manufacture “steel coins”. This is why they are very rare and cost thousands of dollars.

VENEZUELA BUSINESSMAN LINKED TO CORRUPTION AND MONEY LAUNDERING CASES COMMITS SUICIDE AND KILLS HIS SON IN MIAMI

The Venezuelan businessman who shot and killed his 3-year-old son and then killed himself in Coconut Grove, police say, was set to be convicted in federal court in Houston for his role in a scheme of corruption. According to online court records, José Manuel González Testino, 53, a U.S. citizen, agreed in January to award $14 million to the government in a judgment scheduled for March 24 in the Southern District of Texas.

The man was accused of paying bribes to officials of the state-controlled Venezuelan Energy Company (PDVSA) and its subsidiary, Houston-based Citgo Petroleum Corporation, from 2012 to 2018 to secure and corruptly retain energy and logistics contracts, according to the US Department of Justice.

González Testino pleaded guilty in May 2019 to three counts: one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), one count of FCPA violation and one count of failure to report foreign bank accounts, was filed at $5. million bond two months after entering his guilty plea. By then, he had already spent nearly a year in federal custody.

The man controlled several companies, 26 of which were located in the United States, 11 in Panama, 7 in Switzerland, 4 in Venezuela and others in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, the Netherlands and China. After his arrest at Miami International Airport on July 31, 2018, before he could board a flight to Venezuela, a federal agent testified that the government tied González to $50 million in foreign bank accounts, condominiums and a house in the Miami area, apartments in Switzerland and Spain, and a private plane.

The prosecution points out that a plane with the acronym N820JS which belonged to the Venezuelan businessman, was used to carry out charter flights with Venezuelan government officials. According to the United States Department of Justice, González, along with one of his partners, paid $629,000 in bribes to a former PDVSA official in exchange for obtaining contracts in favor of their companies. Among the bribes former Venezuelan oil company workers allegedly received are fine liquors, expensive watches, trips, mortgage payments and thousands of dollars disguised as commissions.

The condo where the homicide-suicide happened is owned by his younger brother, Walter Alejandro Gonzalez, who is facing a foreclosure lawsuit alleging he owes nearly $3 million on the Grove unit in Grand Bay, according to Miami-Dade court records. The complaint states that Walter González defaulted on the 2019 mortgage seven months after obtaining the loan. The 4,800 square foot property, bought for nearly $6 million in 2016, is listed online as being for sale for $9 million.

ALEX MURDAUGH IS SENTENCED TO TWO LIFE SENTENCES FOR THE MURDER OF HIS WIFE AND SON

At the height of the once-prominent South Carolina lawyer’s disgrace, a judge sentenced Alex Murdaugh to two consecutive life sentences without parole, a day after he was found guilty of murder in the shooting death of his wife and son. Murdaugh will soon be transferred to a state prison where he will be held in maximum security conditions, following a case that exposed the collapse of a powerful Southern family with a history of privilege, greed and addiction.

The Colleton County jury deliberated for less than three hours before convicting Murdaugh of killing his 22-year-old son, Paul, with a shotgun and his 52-year-old wife, Maggie, with a rifle on June 7, 2021. .

Prosecutors have asked for life in prison to punish Murdaugh, who was addicted to painkillers for decades, for what they say were decades of lying, stealing and using his family’s considerable influence in their little one. county for personal use.

To hear his sentence, Murdaugh appeared in the same circuit courtroom where his father, grandfather and great-grandfather tried cases as elected prosecutors for more than 80 years. His grandfather’s portrait hung in the back of the courtroom until the judge ordered it removed for trial.

Instead of the dress shirt and sports jacket he wore during the six-week trial, the lawyer who made millions suing big companies on behalf of people injured in crashes showed up in court in a prison jumpsuit the day after he was convicted of two counts of murder.

A juror agreed with prosecutors that the key piece of evidence was a video recorded on his son’s phone for a year: a video recorded minutes before the murders at the same pound near where the bodies were found. The voices of the three can be heard in the video, despite Alex Murdaugh insisting for 20 months that he was never near the pound that night. When he took the stand in his own defense, the first thing he did was admit he had lied to investigators about his whereabouts, claiming he was paranoid about the law enforcement because he was addicted to opioids and had pills in his pocket. murders.

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