It depends on what you mean by "rare." $20 notes end at 96 million per block before starting a new block. i.e. EA 96000000 A goes next to EA 00000001 B (A block ends at 96 million then B block starts at 1.) The star block your note belongs to ended at 6.4 million notes. The star notes for that series chart out as follows: ea 10176000* 10.1 mil ef 06400000* 6.4 mil eb 00320000* .32 mil el 06400000* 6.4 mil eg 07040000* 7 mil ec 12800000* 12.8 mil ej 03200000* 3.2 mil ee 06400000* 6.4 mil As you can see, it's not the rarest star of the series. As you also may have noticed, not one of the star blocks made it to 96 million notes. High end: 12.8 ; low end: .32 To check rarity of a note within a series I recommend http://www.uspapermoney.info/serials/ To check rarity of that particular series I recommend http://www.uspapermoney.info/serials/f2004_v.html It should be noted that the uspapermoney web site is updated on a continual basis -- as the facilities continue to print more to the newest series. The maintainer of that web site puts "end of series" at the bottom of the chart when the series is done and the next series starts.
I forgot to mention, anything above the 96 million (up to 99,999,999) may be used as collector sheets. The BEP doesn't advertise how many of these they make, so those are not charted at that web site. If you're interested in US paper money then I highly recommend that site. It has tons of info.
Personaly if i could afford not to spend it then yes I would keep it as long as it is in good condition (I like Star Notes LOL)
I keep them all. They are part of my emergency fund. With the Star Notes, you seriously evaluate whether it's truely an emergency before you spend them (or if time permits, sell them).
i'd spend it. i really don't know whats' special with star notes. i just relized there is no point in keeping common star notes. i keep the rare ones still, but if its common, it goes into my wallet.
You're picking up coinlover. Star notes can get real expensive real fast even at face value. Unless you're trying to assemble the whole set from that series or it's CU (Crisp Uncirculated) I'd spend it. I did this with the first "big head" designs for the 20s and 50s. Dropped several hundred dollars real fast but did get notes from XF-CU. Gotta admit I still do have them all too.
I still save em. I don't have enough of them where i can pick and choose the best and put the rest back into circ. I have only a few of each denomination, and no $50 or $100 yet. So for the time being i save all my star notes. Maybe one day i''ll have so many i can toss a few on ebay or something. I even save all pre-1995 notes. Just today I found a $1 1995 series that was kinda worn. Nothing special about the serial, but it's only $1.
i'm starting to not like the common notes. i admit, i spent my old style bills. nothing special just 1995 series. do you know how long that will take to get a premuim? just like a 1963 $5 red seal is only worth $7-$8. paper money is just not worth it. thats why i like coins. i bought a 1943 silver quarter a couple years ago for $1.25. i can easily sell that to a collector for around $2. i just made a 75 cent profit off that in 2 years. say i saved a 1963 series $5 bill red seal in 1968. i save it until 2007 and try to sell it. rember i got it for face. i go to a dealer and sell it for $8. $3 profit for all those years. i could have been saving silver coins, but those bills were in the way. i still save rare star notes, crisp pre 1995 notes, sequal pre 1995 notes, or star pre 1995 notes. thats why i also spent my 1993 and 1981A $1 bills. just not worth it.
I don't consider my hobby an investment. Sure i like having things of value, but i have zero intention of ever selling them. One coin in my collection is a 1909 wheat cent my grandfather took out of circulation probably in the 40's thinking it was a VDB and all 1909's were worth something. He kept it, gave it to me and now i'll end up giving it to my kids in 30-40 years or so. I don't have many notes yet anway. I have dozens and dozens of silver coinage and coins from the 1800's, but i prob only have maybe 100-150 notes in my collection...most common circulated 1935 silver certs