Until the 1960s a silver certificate would get you one dollar in silver coins at any bank. When the first junk clad 40% coins came out there was a rush to redeem the silver certificates. When the demand
outpaced supplies the mint made up these packs and sold or issued them to banks so they could exchange them for the silver certifdicates. Shortly after that they announced that silver certificates would no longer be redeemed but could still be spent as money. In the last year they were redeemable the big dealers began offering a premium for them which caused nearly all of the silver certificates to be pulled from circulation. Since everyone "knew" that you could sell them for a premium they continued to hoard them after they were no longer worth a premium. The original premium was for any regardless of condition. Now the premiums apply to the rror notes and the ones in really nice condition. siegfried schlagrule