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"Star" notes
Feb. 8th, 2011 11:23 amSome more currency related trivia stuff today. All of this comes from the same research, but I've been spreading it all out to make it more interesting.
This is my last little bit of currency related trivia.
The printing of our notes goes through several processes. There are many chances for printing errors, so there are many quality checks after each process.
The very last step of printing a note, is applying the serial number. Usually, all printing errors will have been caught by this time. However, sometimes errors are found even in this last stage of printing.
If a bill is found with a printing error after the serial number is applied, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing will pull that note out, but since they can't go back in and re-print non-sequential serial numbers, they replace the pulled note with a "Star note," which are special notes printed just to act as substitutes for errored notes. These notes have a printed star in place of the alphabetical character that would normally be on a bill. Star notes are printed in a special run, and they are issued sequentially.
So, out in circulation right now, are tons of notes that literally announce, "here is where an error was made..." These are naturally very collectible to people that are interested in US paper money. If there were not a lot of errors, then a star note for a certain series could be very rare. It could also be pretty common, but it is worth checking out either way.
(I'm not sure if wiki will let me link to the pic of the star note that they have in their archives, but I will give it a shot...)
Wiki's article on star notes is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_note
This page goes into a lot more detail, and even links to a lookup tool that you can use to see if your note is rare.
http://www.mycurrencycollection.com/reference/stars/
This is my last little bit of currency related trivia.
The printing of our notes goes through several processes. There are many chances for printing errors, so there are many quality checks after each process.
The very last step of printing a note, is applying the serial number. Usually, all printing errors will have been caught by this time. However, sometimes errors are found even in this last stage of printing.
If a bill is found with a printing error after the serial number is applied, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing will pull that note out, but since they can't go back in and re-print non-sequential serial numbers, they replace the pulled note with a "Star note," which are special notes printed just to act as substitutes for errored notes. These notes have a printed star in place of the alphabetical character that would normally be on a bill. Star notes are printed in a special run, and they are issued sequentially.
So, out in circulation right now, are tons of notes that literally announce, "here is where an error was made..." These are naturally very collectible to people that are interested in US paper money. If there were not a lot of errors, then a star note for a certain series could be very rare. It could also be pretty common, but it is worth checking out either way.
(I'm not sure if wiki will let me link to the pic of the star note that they have in their archives, but I will give it a shot...)
Wiki's article on star notes is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_note
This page goes into a lot more detail, and even links to a lookup tool that you can use to see if your note is rare.
http://www.mycurrencycollection.com/reference/stars/
