I've been doing coins now for about 8 months. Figured I'd start doing bills because I wanted something new. I'm still in the buy circulated/find them myself from going through bank money. That being said, I'm wondering what exactly a "mule" not is. I read online that it was when the wrong reverse was used with an obverse, and that a "tell" for that was if the numbers on the front were a different size than those on the back. I've been going through one dollar bills today, and I've found plenty that have different sized numbers on both sides. However, they are all things like "FW B 312" and the back says "335" in a larger font. First off, what do these mean? Second, why is it that the bills with the two extra letters in front aka FW have a different size font than the font on the reverse?
The notes you are finding with the FW, designate they were produced by the BEP in the Fort Worth facility. Clay Irving, a member here, explains "mules" here at his website; http://www.panix.com/~clay/currency/mule.html I'll add that finding mules in today's circulating currency would be rare. Looking for stars and fancy serial numbers can be done quite easily by looking at just the front of the note. Mules were mostly produced by in the early 30's, and again in the early 60's when they switched from Silvers to Fed's.......I don't believe they have produced mules in 50 years, but I may be wrong.
This might seem a little redundant, but I'm kind of new to bills too (jeeze...my collecting interests are getting spread), and this is what I'm doing: reading. I bought two references for U.S. Military Payment Certificates (MPCs) and familiarized myself with the series before I bought my first note. I still only have 3 - I wanted to start my collection by snatching up the easy ones to come by in high grade that don't cost a lot of money. I'm also interested in Confederate currency. I have since bought two books - one serves as an introduction to Confederate currency (the "Hows and Whys of the series) and the other is a comprehensive guide to the series. I have not bought a note yet because I don't think I know enough to determine if the prospective note is worthy to be in my collection. I'm taking it slow. If I was interested in error notes, I think I would find a good reference and go from there. No harm in looking at notes from the bank or in circulation though! Anything you find is at face value so nothing lost!
JWT - You need to jump in on the Confederate currency, there are a ton of issues that are extremely affordable even in nice grade...
Ohh yea..Another one bites the dust!! Welcome to paper..buhhahaha The Dark Side is full of nasty habit forming Banknote purchases just luring you in further and further into the Davy Jone's Locker of Paper Money. It can be complete insanity, obsession, compulsive impulse disorder, tax refund planning..I want I want I want...your are doing the right thing by studying first, decide on a direction and follow it! Good luck!
