Why don't I ever find anything.

For the past year and a half, I check my paper money. Even the most tattered dollar bill is checked vigorously.

I've always liked low serial numbers, star notes, etc.

Looking on eBay, I cannot believe how cheap one can acquire a star note, a somewhat low serial number such as 00006256, etc.

So if this stuff is so plentiful on eBay, why don't I ever find it?

I'm not complaining, but just wondering.

By rough estimate, I imagine I gone through about 1000 bills in the last 1.5 years.

 

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Well, if the rarities were in your everyday bills, they would not be rare! I'm sure if you keep it up you'll find something soon Goodluck!

 

More volume. 1,000 a week, not a year.

 

buy straps from the bank, search them, return, repeat.

 

I really don't know why, Tim, but God must really hate you.
Why else would He put the whole world just out of your reach.

 

To put this into perspective.....

I look at approx. 50,000 banknotes per week. I find on the average 1 good collectible note every two to three months. About once a year, I find a very rare/high value note.

Some of the banknote collectors that I know, search far more than that. They pick up stacks at the bank each and everyday. Some even have multiple bank accounts so they can withdraw money from various ATM's around the city in the off-chance there are good stacks loaded in them.

Some collectors have moles in the banks to call them when they come across interesting finds or stacks with a potential for collectible banknotes.

The dealers of notes online or the heavy hitters on ebay buy notes with the intent to sell them. They advertise, pay a decent price and because of the volume they do, they can afford to sell at a small profit. Most of them have "pickers" all over the country that know the dealer will give them a fair price for notes that they find. It's also good advertising for them to have a steady flow of notes for sale. I've made contact with several of these sellers who can find notes for me, usually in a pretty short time frame, just because they have so many leads.

Like any other hobby, it takes knowledge, time and dedication with a little bit of luck to be successful. Looking at notes you receive in change is a start but to increase your odds you have to increase the volume of notes you look at.

If you start by searching stacks, you have to have seed money to do it. A minimum of $5,000 will get you started if you want to get serious about it. But, this also means you have to convert that money into stacks several times a day or several times a week.

Nothing is easy. If finding rare and collectible banknotes was easy, then they wouldn't be rare and collectible.

 

Keep looking Detecto, I just put a decent $20 star note back into circulation a few days ago because well, I don't collect them or care for paper notes as much, especially from 2006.

Oh and I don't usually pull cash that often, I probably look at less than 100 notes within a given year. :yes:

 

qft

 

This applies to only $1's, but I usually will get a full strap or two ($100-$200) every week, and search through them (sometimes more if I have the time). Sometimes I find stuff, and sometimes I don't, but I've managed to pull some pretty neat things from circ, that way. Nothing really valuable, but plenty of older notes, stars, interesting serials, etc.

The key is persistence...and volume of notes searched. If you just search your pocket change, and nothing else, you probably won't find much, if anything.
However, if you buy straps, and ask bank tellers if they have anything old/interesting in their tills, you will start finding stuff.

Never be afraid to ask. The worst they can say, is no....and if that is the case, don't get discouraged. Just keep plugging away.

Good luck!

 

Over the past couple years I have found 8 star notes in change but only one serial number worth keeping. (not searching straps) I am surprised you haven't even found a single star note, I am likely going to put mine back into circulation since I don't collect them.

 

When I first read a thread about a star note and realized they were worth saving, I checked my wallet and found one. That was more than a year ago and I've only found two since. Funny how that works.

 

They hide all of the good stuff when they see him coming.

 

Want collectibles for face value while making money? Get a job as a cashier.

Srsly.

I can't tell you how many star notes, $2 bills, silver coins, wheat and copper memorial pennies, foreigns, etc I found while working at McDonald's a few years ago. A good chunk of my junk silver and nearly ALL of my star notes came from my cash registers. Keep about $20 in various denominations on you at all times and switch out the good stuff you find - and you'll be going through thousands of dollars a day that way, increasing your chances of finding good stuff. My managers never cared if I switched things out, as long as the register balanced out correctly in the end. The best part? It's a JOB, so you GET PAID TO DO IT, meaning you can buy more stuff or save up for college or bills or whatever while earning valuable real-world work and people experience and building up a work ethic because cashiering and customer service is HARD.

Yes, it's tough work, not gonna lie, but the fun of searching through your drawer and finding that treasure balances it out. You might not get all the crisp, mint-state bills and coins, but as a younger collector I think it's one of the best ways to get a collection of anything going while also earning money and, more importantly, valuable work experience.

 

If he got a job he wouldn't have time to search Ebay for evil-doers or attend auctions to fight the rich and greedy hoarders.

 

If you were nice to your banks and credit unions tellers(did you know they like little non-monetary gifts?) you will find stuff coming out of the woodwork like crazy.

 

Where do you go to look? I go to my local bank and talk to the tellers and see if they would look for certain items I'm looking for. Some do not mind, while others keep some too. Every now and then, when you get some nice notes or coins from one, buy them lunch. It helpes. In the past I have received a $100.00 1928 gold note series, next a $500.00 1934A Chicago note, So, think. I also got several notes of $10.00 that were star notes UNC. This happoned two times. Then another time, about 12 $20.00 notes that were over indirect over prints, all UNC. Think outside the box. -O):thumb:

 

Your post from July 6th of this year (just two short days before you posted saying you haven't found anything):
[h=2] Found my 1st star note! [/h]

Been looking through my paper money for about a year, I've been through about $3,000 worth in change.

This is my 1st star note, but sadly, it's in poor condition.


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Guess you did find something didn't you?

Just not rare enough, eh?

 

This is no star note but different, this thing is full of sixes.

 

Nice note. Sixes rock!

My luckiest find was an ATM withdrawal a few years back. I pulled out a crisp uncirculated $20. Not a fold, crease or smudge could be found; and it had gem centering. At the time I didn't know about grading services or what I could possibly get for such a note. But I did know it was a star note, and that it had a cool serial number.

It was a 2004A $20 bill with the serial number GF 00066600 *

A 666 star note? **** yea! I put it up on eBay and walked away with $101 when it was said and done. Part of me wishes I hadn't sold it. Another part of me wishes I could still find photos of the listing. I even tried contacting the buyer a few times to get a photo of it, so I could post it here. He never responded. And unfortunately the listing is so old, eBay doesn't have the photos anymore. And neither does archive.org. Oh well.

 

Exactly. Stars while a small percentage, are still a percentage of a very large number.