Hello fellow paper money collectors. I know enough to estimate value based on condition and print run totals, however I'm not sure if this star note commands a premium for low serial number. It doesn't have tears or holes but does have "16" written in ink on reverse (just left of Independence Hall). It also has a light fold down the center. Print run is not low at 3.2 million. Other than that the note is crisp and sharp. I estimate it's condition as high end AU. Because of the light fold, ink on reverse and high print run, I am inclined to spend it, but the low serial number has me wondering if it's better to sell it. What is your assessment? Thank you.
I agree with @nm1560, multiple folds, soft corners, graffiti on the back, and not really considered a low serial number. I find it highly doubtful that the OP's note will ever realize any premium over face value.
Thank you @nm1560 @SteveInTampa You guys confirmed my suspicions. I wasn't sure if it was really a low serial or whether it was worth keeping. For me, tying up a $100 would have to be a sure fire keeper with premium. Now I know I can spend it without reservation. Thanks again.
I tend to agree with the others...this note has too many condition issues and is not a low enough serial to garner any collector attention. Modern $100 notes need to be really special to be considered keepers due to their already high face value.
The graffiti and the fold are the killers, that and holding onto a hundred dollar bill instead of paying bills with it are the reasons I'd suggest using it. As I said in an earlier post, with the BEP going from 32 to 50 bill sheets and a different way of putting them into 100 bill stacks plus the Fed asking the BEP to eliminate Star Notes, Star Notes may go up a notch in collectability. I saved mine because it is crisp, no folds, no markings an basically right out of a new bundle with a low serial number.:
An issue of Coin World talked about the new presses the BEP had that printed 50 notes instead of 32. The sheets would be stacked on top of each other with the serial numbers consecutive on each following sheet. That way when they had a pile of 100 sheets they would cut them and the notes, one on top of the other, would be in numerical order. They then mentioned they would not have to print any sheets that were pulled and would eliminate the need for star notes, as the story continued the article noted the Fed would be very happy to have the star notes eliminated, because they got constant calls from people questioning what the star meant next to the serial number. I mentioned the issue date of Coin World in a previous post, that had this story.
I am the webmaster for our club's website. I update it to list when the next meeting is and who the speaker will be and what presentation they will do, I list when our coin and trade shows will be, and just about everything else a member would need to know, Still, I get phone calls asking me questions that are answered on the website. I guess some people just don't want to use the Internet.
I'm not sure how any of these things means that star notes are no longer necessary. When sheets of currency were increased in size from 12 to 18 notes each way back in 1952, the BEP started 'skip numbering' the notes exactly like you mention for the 50 note sheets, and they began cutting them in stacks of 100. This was over 60 years ago. This in no way eliminates the need for star notes, since BETWEEN printing and cutting they have to be examined for defects. When a sheet is found defective, a sheet of star notes is inserted in its place and then the stack of sheets is cut. If they don't replace removed notes, then there is no way to monitor starting and ending numbers, and the BEP and the Fed are all about accountability. It just can't be acceptable to have a fresh pack of 100 bills start with serial number AA00000101A and end with AA00000208A because 8 notes were removed due to defects and not replaced. And defective notes will always occur and always need to be removed. Really, to get rid of star notes on a cost-effective basis, the BEP would need to get rid of serial numbers all together.
I can only tell what the article stated. I would suggest trying to get the Bank Note Reporter November 2016 issue and read the story for yourself. The article continues on another page, so make sure you read the whole story, another forum member stopped on the first page and then questioned the part about the Fed not liking Star Notes.
Here's the quote from the article, "The quest now has developed into simply delivering notes each of which has a unique serial number for the series and denomination. So where is this going? One obvious fallout is that it probably will allow for the phasing out of star notes. There is no practical reason for fooling with star notes if deliveries are simply based on counts. There are voices throughout the Federal Reserve System that will welcome this development. The officials in thee Federal Reserve Banks have grown weary of handling inquiries from bankers and the public wanting to know what those little stars are all about when people run across them. These inquiries have never stopped since he introduction of star notes in 1910, so answering them soaks up a huge amount of time the Fed management feels is wasted." Quoted from Bank Note Reporter, November 2016 issue. The story that this quote appears in is over three pages and gives a better understanding on how the star note could be eliminated, but the quote should give a basic idea of the reason.
Ok, It seems like more of a forward thinking desire rather than a concrete cure. On another note, can you imagine the actual officials of the Federal Reserve Banks fielding questions from the bankers or the public desperately trying to find out why a serial number 'letter' has been replaced by a 'star'? I'm pretty sure they are about ten layers of staff removed from the public. Other than the BEP or a currency collector, who even LOOKS at a bill's serial number? Maybe I should put up a YouTube video claiming that the stars contain special RFID chips designed to track the whereabouts of large quantities of illegal cash for confiscation. THAT should get them some calls!
That's what I thought too, but apparently that's exactly the sort of thing we're going to be getting. It already works that way in some countries, notably Canada. When the debacle with the recent $100 printings caused those notes to have to be re-inspected before they could be issued, the Fed was worried that the resulting straps of non-sequential new currency would cause counterfeiting worries or other forms of confusion. But apparently it wasn't a problem. So they've decided that, if it'll reduce production costs, they're fine with non-sequential serials in new straps. So the BEP's next generation of overprinting equipment won't use star notes; it'll just pull out defective notes and replace them with nothing. Of course, it'll be a while before they acquire any of that new equipment and get it on line, and it'll be even longer before *all* of the current overprinting presses are phased out. So star notes will be with us for years yet.
Remember, the government does not value notes but at face value. There is no collector value to them. This is the same for coins. They make special packaging, stamp a price on a coin, but the worth of the coin or note is never over face value. Only we collectors see them as such. They sell them at higher prices but that is not considered, in their business, to the currency's actual value. So star notes, special serial numbers, limited production paper currency pieces, toning on a coin, etc, etc... have no consideration whether they survive or are destroyed or are continued to be produced. If they can save on their own bottom line, the will do so and not give collectors a second thought.
