Green’s Dictionary of Slang

an insignificant or useless thing, nothing; often in phr. not amount to a hill of beans.

1853		Genesee Farmer (Rochester, NY) Apr. 124–5: Pear on the quince has never amounted to a hill of beans with us yet; it is doubtful whether they will, for the quince itself does poorly, and with the best care is short lived, although in some locations they are fine, but such are rare.
1878		F.H. Hart Sazerac Lying Club 63: That communication as was jest read by the Chair don’t amount to a hill of beans.
1893		W.K. Post Harvard Stories 276: You were a great deal better fellow when you were Lazy Jack and did n’t amount to a row of pins.
1903		N.Y. Times 17 Sept. n.p.: The letter of Buchanan suspending us doesn’t amount to a row of beans [DA].
1904		W.N. Harben Georgians 76: He didn’t amount to a hill of beans as a citizen.
1910		O. Johnson Varmint 310: I mean that there are some fellows here who are worth while and some who are not, [...] who don’t amount to a row of pins.
1915		Wodehouse Psmith Journalist (1993) 204: They didn’t amount to a row of beans till Lawson started his ‘Frenzied Finance’ articles.
1926		in J.F. Dobie Rainbow in Morning (1965) 80: He does not amount to a hill of beans.
1934		D.L. Sayers Nine Tailors (1984) 139: What I may have said and done, when I was ill, don’t matter a hill of beans.
1942		R. Chandler High Window 192: Skip it. I know. Marlowe knows everything – except how to make a decent living. It doesn’t amount to beans.
1949		Gordon & Kanin Adam’s Rib 83: You’re making a mountain out of something not even an ant hill—let alone a mole-hill—a hill of beans.
1952		K. Vonnegut ‘The Package’ in Bagombo Snuff Box (1999) 53: I don’t think the great Charley Freeman amounts to a hill of beans.
1955		S. Allen Bop Fables 55: I can see when it comes to cows you don’t know a hill of beans.
1962		(con. WWII) J.O. Killens And Then We Heard The Thunder (1964) 313: It doesn’t amount to a hill of beans.
1967		P. Thomas Down These Mean Streets (1970) 120: Powerful stuff, that thar white skin, but it don’t mean a shit hill of beans alongside a Negro’s blood.
1974		(con. 1940s) E. Thompson Tattoo (1977) 29: He don’t amount to a hill of beans.
1978		L.K. Truscott IV Dress Gray (1979) 425: None of it amounted to a hill of shit.
1982		G.V. Higgins Patriot Game (1985) 175: Treat him like something besides a hill of shit.
1993		S. King Dolores Claiborne 137: She didn’t have to recognize Jack Shit on a hill of beans if she didn’t want to.
1999		K. Vonnegut Bagombo Snuff Box 1: I didn’t think I would amount to a hill of beans.
2000		M. Collins Keepers of Truth 168: It probably don’t mean a hill of beans in the end.
2013		Guardian 6 July 11/5: Social media wouldn’t amount to a hill of beans without this feminist fourth wave.