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Star Notes
Stephen M. Sullivan - February, 2001
We don't know why, but we have received hundreds of eMail requests for information on star notes within the last month alone. This page was developed to educate people on star notes.
A note with a star in the serial number simply means that it is a regular note used
to replace a defective note that was discovered during the manufacturing processes.
It is used simply to maintain the count of the notes printed in any given run. As an example,
if 20,000 notes were scheduled for printing and 17 were found to have errors, there would
only be 19,983 notes making the last pack of 100 notes contain only 83 notes. By adding 17
additional notes, all packs would contain exactly 100 notes. Star notes are printed in advance
in anticipation of internal spoilage and can be released into circulation in full packs of 100. This is not
an uncommon occurrance.
These notes are otherwise identical to other notes in the same series. An accurate count of spoilage (or internally discovered
error notes) can be maintained and a comparison between the number of spoiled
notes and the expended Star notes greatly simplies internal auditing and
accounting requirements.
Federal Reserve Notes use the star as the suffix of their serial Numbers because the Prefix letter is used to identify the Federal Reserve District that the note was printed for. The other types of notes that utilize the "Star" system replace their Prefix letter with the star.
Modern Star notes are collected only in the highest grades and command very little numismatic premiums because they are readily available to all who want them.
If your note is a modern issue note that you found in circulation, chances are, it is worth nothing over face value. Spend it. There are very few circulated stars that can be found in circulation today that would have any collectors value.
Stephen M. Sullivan is chairman of Capital Currency, Inc..
Stephen is the author of the definitive reference book The US Error Note Encyclopedia and is considered to be the one of foremost authorities on US error currency.
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