Simple question? Why did the BEP stop using individual Federal Reserve Bank seals on higher denomination bills and change to the "unified" Federal Reserve seal? Was this an anti-counterfeiting measure, or was there another reason? Thanks
Probably just simplification on engraving requirements. The banks they are issued from are still identified by the serial numbers and the bank code on the front of the note. [FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]1 - A [/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Boston MA[/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][/FONT] [FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]2 - B [/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]New York NY[/FONT] 3 - C Philadelphia PA 4 - D Cleveland OH 5 - E Richmond VA [FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]6 - F [/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Atlanta GA[/FONT] [FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]7 - G [/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Chicago IL[/FONT] [FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]8 - H [/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]St. Louis MO[/FONT] 9 - I [FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Minneapolis MN[/FONT] 10 - J [FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Kansas City MO[/FONT] 11 - K Dallas TX [FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]12 - L [/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]San Francisco CA[/FONT] Jeff
dont confuse the District letter and the letters in the serial number. they are not the same. a serial begining with the letter A does not necesarily come from Boston.
I agree..for the newer currency use the second letter of the serial number. on the left side of the note (of a $20) you will see the number and code of the district. I have a $20 in front of me. The serial number is EF82336746A the code below it in black ink is F6 The second letter is F = Atlanta The F6 is also the district as I posted already. I hope that answered your question. Jeff
My theory is that they started using a Letter for the series date in the serial number so that at some point, they can use optical recognition to automate the removal of obsolete series. I have nothing to back that statement up. I don't read many publications, so if anyone has any links or references, it would be appreciated.
gatzdon Thats is probably a good reason for the change. They have been trying to use RFID technology and plan on doing it in the future, however the technology is not cost effective for a good implementation at this point. The European Central Bank may embed RFID chips in the euro note. Apparently up front to combat counterfeiters and money-launderers, it would also enable banks to count large amounts of cash in seconds. Unfortunately, such a move would also makes it possible for governments to track the passage of cash from individual to individual. Cash is the last anonymous way to buy and sell. With RFID tags, that anonymity would be gone. In addition, banks would not be the only ones who could in an instant determine how much cash you were carrying; criminals can also obtain power transceivers. Casinos are already using RFID techonogy (http://www.news.com/Vegas-casino-bets-on-RFID/2100-7355_3-5568288.html) in the gaming chips and tokens and has provided positive results in their operations. I have been selling and developing automatic identification systems for 17 years and this movement in the currency market would be very significant and has a lot of privacy issues attached to it. Jeff
