Curious for information here... I've collected coins over the years, passively most of the time (snagging a wheat penny out of pocket change), to occasionally actively searching (coin roll hunting). Snagged some interesting finds such as a proof Franklin half dollar that way. However, dumping the coins after coin roll hunting became a hassle and since I deal with paper currency near daily I figured I'd try my hand at the paper version of coin roll hunting for a while and start studying them a bit closer. While of course finding notes worth more than face value would be a welcome surprise, my goal is more so for the entertainment value. Any tips, tricks, fun ideas for a new collector are welcome. Which leads me to my question, what are people doing to collect circulating currency besides saving the obvious (star notes, radars, etc)? My coin analogy would be besides saving the obvious pre-1964 silver, foreign coins, etc what else are you looking for (completing a state quarters set for each mint mark, finding the nicest examples of coins from your birth year, etc). Looking for ideas on a challenge that could be completed within a couple years by looking at a few hundred notes per week.
Besides star notes and fancy serial numbers, I’ve seen some collectors focus on block collecting. Depending on where you live and the amount of cash you handle on an everyday basis, block collecting can be an interesting challenge. Also, finding errors is always cool.
Some collectors even seek and collect by obtaining one of each Face Plate Serial Number (lower right on $1)....
Related: Keeping plenty cash on hand in case of a Puerto Rican shut down of the power grid (no cell, no card, no TV) (2009 Lincoln Cent var., ca.2005-6 Jefferson 5c. var.)
Perhaps a "oh so close" collection? Just found this... Keeping it for now as it is the closest I have come so far to a real "fancy" number.
Can you help me out here, what is block collecting? Also, what are some common errors to look for? Thanks for the help!
The common things are: Star Notes Radar Notes 2 and 4 digit Repeater Notes Bookend Notes Ladder Notes Reverse Ladder Notes Dropped Digit Notes Misfolded Notes Miscut Notes Printing Errors Missing Information Notes Face Serial Number Notes Block Notes Mismatched Serial Numbers All Federal Reserve Branches within the same year Just a start
The "block" is the combination of letters that appears in the serial number--so for example K12345678G is from the KG block. Some collectors try to get all the different blocks that were printed in a particular denomination/series. It's a bit more of a challenge than just collecting all twelve districts; the Series 2013 $1 has had 107 different blocks printed so far, for example, and might yet get a couple more before Series 2017 takes over.
Sometimes if I get brand new $1s in change, I'll save them. I recently got a new $1 from a self- checkout from the 2013 LL block - saved it, it's only a buck. I've seen them up to LW - usually not new ones, of course.
If you're interested in older notes you can ask bank tellers what they have available in the course of your regular transactions with them. When I go up to a teller to do a withdrawal or what have you I will often ask them if they have any "cool small face" bills available. Most of the time when they do it's an old fifty or hundred but sometimes they have old fives, tens or twenties. Sometimes they will have a group of older notes available that are typically of the same denomination. Older ones are by far the easiest to find (along with twos but only down to series 1976) because the design hasn't changed much since 1963. Because of this, older ones from 1963 or later aren't filtered out by bank tellers, counting machines, third party cash processing centers, or the government. Out of 1,000 singles I've gone through so far this year I've found notes from series 1969D, 1985, 1993 and 1995. Something to keep in mind is you're not likely to get rich from collecting or finding notes from circulation. Rather, it's something to be seen more so for fun or the "thrill of the hunt".
