I came across an odd $20 bill today, the serial number appears to have been stamped onto the paper instead of printed. It came into my possession with another 20$ from same series/mint that doesn't have the issue. It is almost like the numbers from a credit card you can feel the numbers and a few of them you can make out on back due to how deep they are stamped. It impacts both serial numbers on bill. I tried to find info on this error and could not. Does anyone know how common an error this is and/or how it would impact value? Bill is in circulated condition but not overly worn.
The serial numbers are printed separately from the rest of the note, using a letterpress printer. This does leave them embossed (ie, the numbers are pressed into the paper) so you have a raised surface like a credit card. Some are embossed more than others, I'm not sure why. So what you're seeing is a normal part of the printing process.
Thanks, I had never seen this before and felt ever other bill I had and couldn't detect any other raised surface, and then on the other one from same series the TWENTY over the green seal was down slightly lower than normal so I didn't know if there was a batch that had print issues. (Series MB from B2 mint) Thanks for the response.
