Where to Buy and Sell Treasury Notes There are several ways for an investor to buy or sell Treasury notes. Direct From the U.S.Government: Treasury notes can be purchased from the government using TreasuryDirect, which allow people to participate in auctions These auctions take place on a regular basis, where interested investors can bid for different maturities which range from 2 to 10 years. The minimum amount that you would have to purchase is generally $100 with subsequent purchases in increments of $100 from there13.
Secondary Market Sales: investors may choose to sell their Treasury notes in the secondary market should they prefer not to keep them until maturity. It involves a broker or financial institution. With marketable government bonds, investors cannot sell them back to the U.treasury notes (ad)S. Treasury within a year of investing46 Investors must transfer their securities from TreasuryDirect to a brokerage that has an account before selling because direct sales are not allowed in TreasuryDirect45
Alternatively, these instruments can be purchased or sold through banks or brokers in the form of a bank transaction, providing greater convenience to investors who might require immediate liquidity in cash, may prefer not to join the auction process15.
Nutshell: The Treasury offers to sell its notes directly in auctions through a market available for the general public at TreasuryDirect, and also sells them in the secondary market through banks and brokers. To sell before maturity, you have to use a broker—there is no way to perform direct sales for securities held in a TreasuryDirect account.
