ladders

Discussion in 'Paper Money' started by Joseph seaman, Nov 13, 2019.

  1. Joseph seaman

    Joseph seaman THE DUKE

    I have 2 bill's that have all 8 digits but not in order/
    i am trying to find a value when i check ebay i find listings like
    broken ladder, mixed ladder,scattered ladder
    what is the correct name and what would the value be
    Scan.jpgbroken ladder2.jpg broken ladder.jpg
     
    GoldFinger1969 likes this.
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  3. Stevearino

    Stevearino Well-Known Member

    IMHO, those terms designate notes that someone is trying to sell using "creative marketing." Check eBay for "Sold listings" to see if they have any value over face.

    Steve
     
  4. SteveInTampa

    SteveInTampa Always Learning

    A phrase comes to mind concerning putting lipstick on a Pig.
     
  5. paddyman98

    paddyman98 I'm a professional expert in specializing! Supporter

    Only True Ladders are collectable in my book.
     
  6. Mountain Man

    Mountain Man Supporter! Supporter

    I'd say two dollars, period. There may be someone out there that collects jumbled serial numbers like yours, but I wouldn't pay more than face value. Spenders.
     
    GoldFinger1969 and Stevearino like this.
  7. PlanoSteve

    PlanoSteve Well-Known Member

    Well Joseph, @Stevearino & @SteveInTampa pretty much nailed it. Let me see if I can put it into perspective from another angle.

    While the notes you posted may appear to have a "special" quality, things are not always what they seem. You may choose to keep them in your collection because you like them, or because you found them in the "wild", but I'm afraid you will find that as "special" SN's they are really spenders.

    When collecting "special" SN notes in general, condition is critical, of course, especially when anticipating flipping it for profit. Your notes, especially the first one lack this quality.

    Secondly, generally when looking at a "special" SN, you want it to jump out at you, to be very obvious. On your 2 notes, you really have to look hard to see that they use 8 consecutive digits only once...they don't have that "esthetically pleasing" appearance.

    And lastly, while you may think this is a rare occurrence, it is not. Let's do a little arithmetic on just the consecutive sequence 1 thru 8 (keeping in mind there is also 0 - 7, 2 - 9 & 3 - 0):

    Using your "mixed" ladder:
    the first digit can be one of 8.
    the 2nd digit can be one of 7.
    the 3rd digit can be one of 6....and so forth, so we end up with:

    8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 40,320 ways to make a mixed ladder with the digits 1 thru 8.

    Now lets look at an actual ladder using the same digits 1 thru 8:
    If the 1st position is 1, then
    the 2nd position must be 2, then
    the next position must be 3, and so forth until the number 8, so we end up with:

    1 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 = 1, one way to make a true ladder out of 1 thru 8.

    OK, this is over simplifying it but you can see the relative rarity of a true ladder versus the "made up" uniqueness of a "mixed, broken, or scattered" SN.

    People may view "special" SN's with a bias based on what they want to see, whether it's a "special" alignment, or a "birthday" number, or whatever, since collections are very personal to each collector. But in the realm of collectables which are valuable (read: attractive) to others, there is a different set of criteria.

    Hope this helps!
     
  8. Joseph seaman

    Joseph seaman THE DUKE


    thank you

    i understand a ladder is 8 numbers in a row but i see on ebay is all sorts of combos of numbers for sale. the question should be do i want to make quick 5 times face value or more and make someone happy . so when the next time i go to the bank and get a brick of bills, do i use my there money or mine
    thank you again for the details
    Joe
     
    PlanoSteve likes this.
  9. SteveInTampa

    SteveInTampa Always Learning

    Sellers on eBay have always found a way to separate a fool from his money...
    45233D4A-1A82-4E5D-AC40-EF2BFBCD63A0.jpeg
     
  10. paddyman98

    paddyman98 I'm a professional expert in specializing! Supporter

    That's because those sellers are looking to make money from people who don't know better. We call those buyers bidiots :facepalm:

    It's should be a crime.
     
  11. Michael K

    Michael K Well-Known Member

    They look cool, but that's all.
    Yes you can sell anything on EBay. Put it out there, who knows.
    To me, it's two dollars. But I have been wrong before.
    Probably today.
    Definitely today.
     
  12. GoldFinger1969

    GoldFinger1969 Well-Known Member

    Damn, I missed this one. Why didn't you post this earlier ?

    Any more like it, let us know. And keep it QUIET -- I/we don't need no bidding war.:D
     
  13. Johnny Nashville

    Johnny Nashville Smile.. It's Better to Rock than Roll

    Yeah I found this $20 bill other day... Broken ladder and some zeros... Not lie enough but I still liked it... The $5 is also broken... Not as Kool...was hoping for more doubles or something.... The 2's jumped out at first... But... Just s spender... LoL
     

    Attached Files:

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  14. Endeavor

    Endeavor Well-Known Member

    Generally there is "fancy" or "not fancy", but I for one think there is an area in between those two. Some collector's would refer to this note as having a "cool serial number". I kinda like that description. Some serial numbers are a little more interesting than pure random, even though they might not be full blown fancy.

    EDIT: Something like ladder wouldn't really make sense for something like this since the numbers don't ascend or descend left to right or vice-versa. Perhaps something like "non-repeater" would be a better name. Not one of the numbers ever gets repeated as you read it from end to end.
     
    Johnny Nashville likes this.
  15. Johnny Nashville

    Johnny Nashville Smile.. It's Better to Rock than Roll

    Thanks for clarifying that for me!!
     
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