I have two things I wanted to know if anyone knew anything about... 1) I notice around here in the Philadelphia area whenever I strap search $2 bills a significant number of them have "Ella" written in almost perfect cursive on the left side of the back of the bill vertically. I've been searching for a while and I'm amazed at the sheer number of bills in my area that have Ella written on them. When I order a strap usually at least 15 to 20 of them will have "Ella" written on them. I've seen it on various series from '76 onward. I would scan one, but I've spent all the ones I have at the moment. It looks like its done in pen and very carefully which has me mystified, why someone would take the time to do such nice cursive on so many notes. I've got these notes from all over the place within 100 mile radius of Philadelphia. 2) I notice a lot of 50's and 100's in my area usually have some kind of small ink stamp on the back usually smaller than a dime in the unprinted areas, often times these stamps will have what look like Arabic characters on them. Does anyone know who is responsible for this....with such wanton disregard for our paper currency and ruining otherwise CU notes? Thanks for any insight!
I don't know about "Ella", but the stamps on 50's and 100's are counterstamps, similar to what the Chinese put on US Trade Dollars. They're an informal sign that the notes were rated genuine by somebody.
"Counterstamps." Is that the term for them? I've been calling them "chopmarks." As many as 20% of my $100s, and a lot of $50s too, have little stamps on the back. They're often in Chinese or Arabic or Persian characters, but most use Latin characters or unrecognizable designs. Also, I've gotten a couple of $2s stamped with "Jesus Saves" in lime green stylized script on the face. I thought it was written at first.
There are some links in this thread, with pics to various stamps found on notes. Check it out: Strange pyramid on $20 bill.
Counterstamps can be chopmarks. Chopmarks might be a better term for this. If Jesus Saves, I wonder what interest rate he's getting?
