On some Dollar Bills at the end of the serial number there is a star rather than a letter of the alphabet. What is it?

On some Dollar Bills at the end of the serial number there is a star rather than a letter of the alphabet. What is it? Asked by mybudjohn 58 months ago Similar questions: Dollar Bills end serial number star letter alphabet Business > Financial Planning.

Similar questions: Dollar Bills end serial number star letter alphabet.

It's a replacement note. When errors are found on notesduring the printing process, the notes are destroyed andreplaced with "replacement notes". This is so a range ofserial numbers contains a predictable number of notes.

Thereplacement notes have their own serial number range whichis independent of the regular notes. The US error rate issupposed to be something on the order of one per 100,000notes. Replacement notes are generally worth more than regularnotes, especially in combination with an already rare noteor low serial number.As always, condition is very important.

Most counties have replacement notes, although not allof them use a star marking to identify them. Some countriesuse a "Z" or "ZZ" indicator in the serial number or some othermethod. Sources: faqs.org/faqs/coin-collecting/paper-mone... .

It's a replacement note. When the BEP (that's the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, a division of the Treasury Dept. That makes our paper money) prints notes (the "official" term for our money, not "bills"), they print them 32,000,000 at a time, or 1,000,000 sheets of 32 notes.

First, they print the back. Then, they print most of the front. Then, they cut the 32-note sheets into two 16-note sheets, and run that through the last printing that puts on the serial number and the seals.

These are printing in reverse order. For example, they print a single sheet with the following serial numbers: 020000 100000 040000 120000 060000 140000 080000 160000 180000 260000 200000 280000 220000 300000 240000 320000 The next sheet (which slides on top) is: 01999999 09999999 03999999 11999999 05999999 13999999 07999999 15999999 17999999 25999999 19999999 27999999 21999999 29999999 23999999 31999999 And so on. Every time 100 sheets have been printed, they take that bundle and cut it into straps of 100 notes.

Each strap starts with xxxxxx01 and ends with xxxxxy00. Or, the top is #1 through to the bottom, #100. Sequentially numbered.

However, when they do this, sometimes they mess up a sheet. Now, if they just pulled the sheet out, you'd have only 99 notes in that strap. So, they add a sheet.

If they add the next sheet, then you end up with serial numbers from xxxxxx00 to xxxxxy00. Which doesn't look right, as if you assume that all are there and sequential, it means there's 101 notes in the strap! So, they do a special print run (anywhere from 3.2 million notes to 160,000 notes!) of star notes.

These are just like regular notes, they start at serial number 00000001 and instead of having the block letter (the last letter), they have a star. So, when they mess up a sheet, the instead insert a sheet of star notes into the stack before cutting. BTW, they automatically pull the notes ending in 0000 and 9999, so in the example above, those sheets would be replaced with star notes.

Why? Because the automatic serial numbering has a problem when moving so many number wheels, and they usually contain errors.As such, as a rule, they automatically replace those sheets. Sometimes they forget, so those notes are worth more to a collector!

Now, for collectors, we care about the print run size of a particular star note. A 3.2 million run is a full run for stars, so they're not that collectible. However, a short run (640,000 or less) are desirable by collectors, who will often pay a premium on the notes.

For information on print run size, take a look at uspapermoney.info I could explain more, but I'm afraid I'd bore you to death describing our paper money! Sources: I am an avid star note collector. NetJohn's Recommendations Standard Guide to Small-Size U.S. Paper Money, 1928 to Date (Standard Guide to Small-Size U.S. Paper Money) Amazon List Price: $24.99 Used from: $14.00 Average Customer Rating: 3.0 out of 5 (based on 8 reviews) .

It's a replacement for defective bills at the printer Quoting from Where's George FAQ, question 24:: The star after the serial number is a replacement note that was issued to take the place of a defective note that was discovered. ... Since it's too cost-prohibitive to re-issue the same serial number, it's easier to print up a bunch of star notes and then use them to fill the stack once the defects are pulled out. Most star notes don't command a premium unless they are uncirculated, and/or have a real interesting serial number.

You might try visiting the Bill Collectors' and Numismatic Forum to see if it has some collector's value. I used to save dollar bills that had a *, since they seemed special, but now I just spend them along with the rest of my cash. Sources: Where's George .

The star enables the Treasury to issue a new set of serial numbers, rather than reassign all the missing ones Interesting question I never knew the answer now I do thanks this is from the straight dope mailbag " Dear Straight Dope: Today, after inspection of my wallet (this involves money inspection) ((Oh, come on, I DO have a life)) I noticed on one of my $1 bills, that the serial number was: D01381101* --A puzzled Miami mischeif maker. SDSTAFF Dex replies: SDSTAFF Wildbabe says, "If you get the one with the star, you can redeem it for a free tootsie pop. " David Feldman, in WHEN DO FISH SLEEP, says that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing starting printing *B and *D in 1910 as prefixes before the serial numbers of replacement notes (it's actually a five-pointed star, not an asterisk).

National bank notes did not use the star, they just replaced the old note with a new one with a matching serial number. Nowadays with notes issued in a series of a hundred million or so at a time, the Bureau doesn't want to track replacement notes. Lots of errors can occur in the printing process.

Too much ink, not enough ink, or unacceptable smears (imagine George Washington with an ink smear moustache), the green/black can be out of alignment, and so forth. With the new 100s, 50s and 20s, there are even more ways things can go wrong. When a sheet is printed poorly, it is destroyed and replaced.

The star enables the Treasury to issue a new set of serial numbers, rather than attempting to reassign all the missing serial numbers of defective notes. On the rare occasions that a bad printing gets into circulation, the coin-and-bill collectors have fits of ecstasy questing them out. The serial number Miami cites (like all serial numbers) starts with a prefix letter to identify which of the twelve Federal Reserve districts issued the note.

Miami's note starts with D (fourth letter of the alphabet), so was printed at the Fourth District (Cleveland). On Federal Reserve notes, the star substitutes for the letter at the end of the serial number, so the prefix location of the Federal Reserve District is kept intact. There is one additional use for starred notes.

The Bureau of Printing and Engraving uses printers with eight-digit numbering cylinders to produce 100,000,000 notes at a time. But the final note, the one-hundred-millionth note, needs a ninth digit. Rather than bothering to add another digit to the cylinder that would only be used once every hundred million times, the hundred millionth note is a hand-inserted star note.

--SDSTAFF Dex Straight Dope Science Advisory Board" maybe you have the one hundreth millionth note! Sources: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mserial.html .

1 louie_cat, regarding your answer "The star enables the Treasury to issue a new set of serial numbers, rather than reassign all the missing ones": Wow. This is outright wrong. Not blaming you, but blaming your source.

Louie_cat, regarding your answer "The star enables the Treasury to issue a new set of serial numbers, rather than reassign all the missing ones": Wow. This is outright wrong. Not blaming you, but blaming your source.

Letter Name Poems. Any good phrases to use for letters in the alphabet? " "What is the 7th letter in the Greek Alphabet?" "whats the last 2 digits for on a serial number on us dollar bill" "What's the second letter on the second line of the alphabet?

" "A letter, such as a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y in the English alphabet, that represents a vowel. Why sometimes?" "What is the best letter of the alphabet? " "how far a distance could you go with 1 trillion dollars, laying one dollar bills end to end?

" "I have four dollar bills with sequential serial numbers (i.e....346, ...347, etc). Is this rare? " "where is serial number" "Looking for the letter M in the Cherished Teddies Alphabet bears.

Letter Name Poems. Any good phrases to use for letters in the alphabet?

Whats the last 2 digits for on a serial number on us dollar bill.

A letter, such as a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y in the English alphabet, that represents a vowel. Why sometimes?

I have four dollar bills with sequential serial numbers (i.e. ...346, ...347, etc). Is this rare?

Looking for the letter M in the Cherished Teddies Alphabet bears.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.