Money Collector? Rare and Crisp Mob Money for Sale

By Samantha Abernethy in News on Aug 22, 2011 2:30PM

The federal government is auctioning off some rare dollar bills that once belonged to Frank "The Breeze" Calabrese, Sr., who was locked up for life in 2009 for killing 13 people for the mob. Police found the money behind a family portrait in the basement of his Oak Brook home while looking for valuables to pay off Calabrese's debt. He was ordered to pay $4 million in restitution to victims, but during his trial Calabrese claimed poverty, so his defense team would be publicly funded. The Sun-Times writes:

While the bills are still legal tender, the federal government hasn’t made $500 or $1,000 bills for decades, and they are quite collectible. Some of the $1,000 bills were going for $2,200 each as of Friday.

While it’s unclear where Calabrese Sr. got the bills from, he was known to take things of value from people who were on the hook to him for money.

The auction ends Tuesday and includes 43 $1,000 bills and 82 $500 bills, some of which date back to 1934. Even though the money's origin is dirty, the auctioneer told the Sun-Times that some of the bills are "like new."