I've heard a lot of people talk about different serial number combinations on bills being worth more money, but what are some examples? I know what a solid is, and I see online people charge more for 666 bills and stuff, but what makes one valuable other than obvious things like those? I had a $20 bill that I had to use, but when I saw it started and ended with 222, it got me to wondering whether I screwed up by spending it? I also have bills that start with 99999.......are things like this worth anything?
Fancy SNs [PMG] Cool Serial Numbers What makes them valuable is collector demand and the willingness to pay more than the next collector, as well as rarity among the rest of the notes printed of that Series, Block and district, and something that impacts any note, condition (grade). What makes them more valuable is no big mystery. Some collectors may collect notes with three repeating digits but that is a very common amount of repeating numbers, and not widely thought to be 'fancy'. However, your notes with 5 repeating digits may start to catch the interests of collectors and you may find others willing to buy those from you, all dependent on the condition of the note, what you will get above face just for the SN being that way.
To be honest - I don't get this serial number business being no one number is any more rare than another.
To be honest - it's just another irrational aspect of collector behavior. Humans are quite adept at spotting and tend to enjoy identifying patterns, groupings and such things that stand out from all the others. All those other unique SNs which are not repeating, ladders, binary, etc. are less dynamic looking and do not stand out as much from the greater design of the face of the note to our eyes as do solids which easily leap out at us. To be honest, colors of red to brown on copper coins isn't at all special, tone on coins is a full spectrum and humans have varying degrees of color blindness (particularly males), tone is utterly random as to when and how it forms, stops changing and the colors it takes on, and while appealing to some, really it's just a trendy (it wasn't always popular, and isn't popular in all countries) and subjective feature of a coin collecting. We could come up with a list of all kinds of things about collecting and collectors that defies logic or are invented to make more out of a hobby and it's objects than is necessary to appreciate and maintain the hobby. However we may feel about this or that, there is something out there for everyone and if we don't like it or understand it, it just means it's not what floats our boat and we can focus on something else instead that does. I hope that helps shed some light on fancy SNs by putting them in the context of other aspects of numismatics.
Collecting fancy serial numbers is like any other collecting. It's pursuit and accumulation. The hunt is the name of the game. Intriguing numbers like solids, ladders and radars (to name a few) command a higher prices than those notes with random, nonsensical numbers because there are more collectors interested in them. It's no different when a coin collector shows a person (without the collecting gene) a penny that he just spent $5,000 on. The reaction is usually "but it's just a penny!". There's no convincing that person of the rarity or desirability of the coin, it'll always be "just a penny". This also applies to matchbook covers, salt and pepper shakers, comic books or whatever.
As an idea, the last currency auction I was at, there was a beat up $5 note prbably in the VG to Fine condition. It had a near solid serial number much like krispy's example and it sold for over $40. There is definitely demand out there for fancy serials to those type of collectors.
So you're saying I might have been able to fetch some money for my $20 with the 222 at the beginning and end?
Yes, as you said "might have". There is no way of knowing ahead of time what collectors might be in the market when you go to sell. The cost of selling will be present, regardless.
You never know how these auctions go with demand for fancy serials, but as sam saif you "might have".
I have a collection of 03000030 radar $1 to $20 notes. It just so happened they all showed up within a couple of weeks of each other, so now I have a collection.
