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03 Sep 2022

Series, Serial numbers, and Errors on US Currency

Paper Money-U.S. | TCHTrove

Here's a little something that I found fascinating(Hopefully you will too.), and many may not be aware of. The photos provided are a small portion of the Star Notes in my collection.Let's start with the Series dates.The series date on a note does not represent the year the note was printed. Instead it signifies the year that a certain design was approved and adopted by the treasury department. The series year is printed twice on older printings of US currency, newer issues have it only once. Determining the actual printing date of a note most often can only be done be referencing the signatures of treasurer, and secretary, as well as the serial number. Very early notes prior to 1869 had no "Series" number. These were only identified by the act which authorized it, such as the act of 1863. The serial number itself uniquely identified each note, except for those issues that exceeded one million bills. At that point, the sequence of serial numbers started over, and the notes were overprinted with a series number. It would then read 1863 series 1, or 1863 series 2 and so on. The highest number used was "Series 187", which appeared on United States notes of 1863 in the $5denomination. Starting in 1869 the series date appeared on all notes of the same design, and was only changed when there was a major change is the design. The first notes printed by the Federal Reserve was the series of 1914, the second was the series of 1918. All of these were large size notes, also known as "horse blankets". The first series of small sized notes was the series of 1928. In 1950 the word "of" was dropped from the series date. Before 1974 major changes in design were fairly rare. Minor changes were marked by adding a suffix letter to the series date, such as "Series of 1935 A". Some issues of certain designs ran for many years. As an example, $2 United States notes bearing the series date of 1928, were printed into the early 1950's. After 1974 whenWilliam E. Simonbecame Secretary of the Treasury, the signature ofa new Secretary of the Treasury was considered a major change.Serial Numbers:All US notes are printed with an eight digit numerical number, as well as an alphabetical prefix and suffix. For security and accountability, no two notes of the same type, denomination, or series may have the same serial number. The numbering machines can ONLY print eight digits. Beginning with the serial number A00 000 001A. The suffix letter remains A remains until a total of 25 groups of 99,999,999 notes are numbered, with each group having a different prefix. A note should NEVER be released with eight zeros. Although at least one has been reported.Star Notes:Star Notes occur when during the inspection process a note is found to be imperfect, whether misprinted, or miscut. When an error is detected, it is removed and replaced with a Star Note. The star notes are exactly the same as regular notes except an independent series of serial numbers is assigned. These are not actually intended to be released with the regular issue counterparts, but only as a necessary. Imperfections in printing are not usually related to the plates themselves. Most often they are related to the misalignment of the plates or equipment, or a number of other various occurrences. Whether it be folds in the sheets, debris in the presses, or an error in overprinting, most are never released. This is why true errors are highly sought by collectors, and can carry a very high premium.I know that I have left out many details, as I didn’t intend to write a book, and there is a HUGE amount of information to be discovered pertaining to currency. Hopefully you have learned at least something new. Some of the information presented comes from Wikipedia (not the best source), most was taken from Whitman's 5th edition of United States Currency. A very handy book with a wealth of information on all types of US currency.

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17 Mar 2020

Book Review - A Guide Book of United States Paper Money

Paper Money - United States | JudeA

This book is called, A Guide Book of United States Paper Money - 6th Edition. It was written by Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg. The book focuses on all United States paper money, new and old. The book starts out by giving an introduction over the $2 bill, giving the history of this obscure bill. It then proceeds to tell how and where paper money is printed, and different ways to collect them. Then It gives information on the history of paper money in the United States, and things like star notes and the orange seal notes with "HAWAII" printed on them. The book then gives the approximate values on all US paper money, starting with the $1 bill and ascending in value up until the $100,000 note. The book gives a little part on collecting say $20 notes, before telling the values of the $20 notes. The book then gives the values of things like fractional currency, and error notes. This book is just like the Red Book, but for currency collectors. If you are beginning to collect currency, or if you are more experienced and need a value list, this is a great book. Overall, I am happy with this book and will continue to read and explore the world of US currency.

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01 Apr 2019

Colors of Money

Paper Money-U.S. | ANAStaff

We all make certain assumptions about money. We assume that there will be enough currency and coin to complete any transaction, that we can spend and receive money without difficulty or doubt, and that money will hold its value over short spans of time.

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17 Aug 2018

My Thoughts On The Guide Book Of US Paper Money (basically a review)

Paper Money-U.S. | Jonas's Coins

Today I will be sharing my opinions and reviewing The official guide book of United States Paper Money. The book is written by Arthur L. And Ira S. Friedberg.

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10 Aug 2018

The Currency Of The EMPEROR Of The United States Of America

Paper Money-U.S. | Jonas's Coins

In today's blog, I will be talking about the currency issued by the Imperial Government of the United States, which was run by Emperor Norton the First. Before we go further, I assure you this is not a joke. PMG will grade the currency he issued. So, who is this Emperor Norton???

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15 Mar 2018

Raleigh Coin Show

Coins | user_1664

There was acoin and stamp show was held this past weekend and was well attended. Approximately 45 deal, representing US, foreign, ancient,paper money, stamps, and research materialtoassist in building ones library. Next show will be June 8th, 9th, and 10th. This will be the largest show in North Carolina this year. To be held at the Raleigh Fair grounds. If you are going to be in NC or in a near by state, come on in and check it out. There will be free seminars, approximately100 dealers, deal, representing US, foreign, ancient,paper money, stamps, and research material. Ayoung numismatistarea, and tables set up by a few specialty clubs. If you are a dealer, please feel free to contact the club to reserve a table. The show is sponsored by the Raleigh Coin Club (RCC) the URL is raleighcoinclub.org if you are interested in more information.

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09 Feb 2018

German Notgeld

Coins-World | World_Coin_Nut

Notgeld is German for emergency money or necessity money. These were non-government sanctioned monies issued by private institutions, mostly in Germany and Austria, during and after WWI. There was not sufficient government produced money at time so banks, towns and other firms worked to fill in the gaps.

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