OK, I feel dumb for asking this but I've been reading through a book I just picked up, the Schwartz and Lindquist Small Size Paper Money guide. Why do certain districts have lower print runs than others? I know star notes get lower print runs, but why the variations between districts in the "non-star" notes?
The Fed orders money from the BEP. If the NY FRB asks for $5,000,000 in $1.00, then $5,000,000 in ones get printed for the NY FRB. If the KC FRB does not need $1.00 notes because they have an adequate supply or they only need $1,000,000, then that is all that is printed. The numbers are simplified for sake of illustration but that is the basic process.
Districts such as New York, Chicago and San Francisco serve highly populated areas. New York also supplies U.S. currency for foreign needs. Typically these banks have lots of FRNs. Other banks feeding less-populated areas, such as Minneapolis, Kansas City and Dallas, need less notes.
That makes sense. So I guess the lower the print run, the higher the value of the note (assuming the condition is nice?)
Generally that is the case. If a note comes from a lower print run and is desirable, you can expect to pay more for it than a New York or Chicago note.