Buying and Selling Treasuries and Savings Bonds

Treasury and savings bonds may be bought and sold through an account at a brokerage firm, or by dealing directly with the U.S. government. New issues of Treasury bills, notes, and bonds—including TIPS—can be bought through a brokerage firm, or directly from the government through auctions at the U.S. Treasury Department's TreasuryDirect Web site. You can also hold these in a TreasuryDirect account set up at the same Web site, and sell them for a fee on the secondary market through a Treasury program called SellDirect.

Savings bonds can also be purchased from the government, or through banks, brokerages, and many workplace payroll deduction programs. When it comes time to cash in your bond, most full-service banks and other financial institutions are "paying agents" for U.S. savings bonds. Want to know the current value of your savings bonds? You can download the Savings Bond Wizard on the TreasuryDirect Web site.