I've been researching all the possible SN scenarios that collectors may be interested in. I've gone through my many $2 bills looking at the SNs that I have collected over the past few months. I have come up with a few questions. 1. Is there such a thing as "partial radar" or "near radar"? For example: 18180308 or 19528882 or 29339744 or 92792229? 2. Is there a "near repeater"? Like 35735747 or 06180180? 3. Is there anything for something like 63111888? Or must questions 1-3 always include ALL 8 numbers? 4. Are bookends the same numbers on each end? Like 27760527 or 08825508? Or is it what I would consider a "real" bookend which are mirror images of each other? Like 27760572? Thanks for any clarifications.
I do not believe you will find any real collector paying you anything more than $2 for any of those numbers. Sorry - Very low or high numbers, birthday notes, binaries, solids, repeaters, ladders, and radars are what can get extra money based on condition. Close doesn't really count.
OK, so you're saying that question 1-3 actually need to have all 8 numbers included, not "close but no cigar"? What about the bookends? I actually have two birthdays (09291961 and 10241931). I guess the problem is finding someone who would want the bill.
OK, thanks all. I kind of figured it was a longshot, but had to ask. To verify: bookends have the same two or three numbers repeating on the ends, right? Not mirror images?
Yes, and they're generally only of interest when the remaining digits are solid zeroes--not a random string of digits like the examples you gave. So 27000027, not 27760527. (And the radar 27000072 is probably in more demand than the bookend 27000027 anyway.) You also have to be careful with the term "bookend", because it means at least two other things too. Sometimes it's used to refer to a bill where the prefix and suffix letters match, so J65481387J is a bookend even though the digits are nothing special. And sometimes it refers to the two bills with serials immediately before and after a bill that's of interest for some reason, usually a printing error--so if G15987546B has a printed fold, then the non-error notes G15987545B and G15987547B are the bookends, and all three of them together make a neat display.
Thank you so much for your reply. Great explanation! Ah, OK. Understood. Oh, my bad. I was looking at a serial number website that called the same 2 or 3 numbers on the end "bookends" (not the prefix or suffix). So, in your example of the prefix and suffix letters matching, that would mean that all of my $2 bills issued by Boston, MA bank (District A1), that aren't a B or a Star note, would technically be bookends? Since all of their serial numbers start and end with "A"?
That meaning is also in common use. It's a bit confusing when "bookend" is used to mean three different things, but that's the situation we're in. (The term "mule" is likewise overloaded with definitions.) Yes, under that definition of "bookend", the A..A bookends are definitely the most common. If you want to collect a set of A..A through L..L bookends, it's the H..H, I..I, and J..J that are the toughest to find. None beyond L exist in small-size notes, though you can find large-size notes with R..R and Z..Z and such.
