Specimen bill

I have recently obtained a $20 bill with the word "specimen" in red located on two places on the front of the bill. It has a serial number of E00000000D.

Does anyone know anything about this type of note?
Any information is appreciated.
Thanks ,
pjl112

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Pictures?

 

pictures would help a lot. if it is a real specimen note its worth big money. where were you able to get this note?

 

He would have had to broken into an FRB and stole it. It also must be an older series, since it only starts with one prefix. Sounds fishy to me, but once I see it, I will believe it.

 

I should be able to post a picture on Saturday. Meanwhile read someone on this forum said it must be an old series because it only had one prefix, so I checked again and it actually has two - it reads EE00000000D. My initial post stated one E. I never saw anything like this and my initial reaction was that it was some kind of fake money, but with all kinds of information available I did what everyone does today when they need information - I GOOGLED the serial number and numerous sites came up - most indicating it is some kind of fake. I'm not a collector so I have no idea if this is fake or used for some kind of displays or what. Since "cointalk" came up on my google search I joined the forum and posted, assuming there would be someone familiar with what this is. The bill is slightly smaller than a "normal" $20, the print is not as "sharp", and directly under the "EE" part of the serial # on the left side of the bill is "E5", and directly under that is the vertical word "specimen" .
As I said - I should be able to post a photo Saturday,,again - thanks for your input.

 

I'm not familiar with specimen notes but reading that the bill is 'slightly smaller' than your 'normal' twenty indicates that the note may be counterfeit. Perhaps someone simply printed your bill off the internet. Your note is from series 2004, hold the note up to some light and look for the vertical $20 strip and the portrait of Andrew Jackson. Do you see either of these?

 

I just found a photo of what looks like the same bill on a MONEY/CNN website http://money.cnn.com/2003/05/13/news/economy/twenty/

The bill I have is exactly the same except the print directly under the seal on the left side is a little blurry - which makes me think it's a fake of some sort.

 

Again, where did you get this note?

 

This is one of the most ridiculous statements I have read on this board.

Check the Heritage archives and you will find many specimens of modern US notes. Did they all break into a Federal Reserve Bank also?

Many of these specimens entered the collector market from sources overseas. Specimen notes have been provided to banks and other institutions in other countries where control over these items is not as tight as it is in the US.

Based on the description of the smaller size it is likely that this is not a genuine note.

 

Not necessarily. Here's the one I own:

 

I'll post this view also.

 

Yes, but they're not S/N 00000000 that is saved in the federal archives! Clay, show me a specimens note with S/N 00000000 and then I will change my original comment. Sometimes I think people on here don't think straight. And where is this picture? It's been days now with nothing. It's a fake.

 

Never with S/N 00000000 though. I guarantee that much.

 

Here's a set of 10 notes with serial numbers 00000000

http://currency.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=3516&lotNo=16588

 

Early Small Size Specimen notes (Series 1934, for example) had 00000000 serial numbers. Later Specimen notes (Series 1957, for example) had 12345678 serial numbers. Even later (Series 196X and later) have 23456789 serial numbers.

There is even rumored to be a $1 Federal Reserve Note with a 00000000 serial number and no SPECIMEN stamp in a private collection.

 

A $20 Federal Reserve Note with an "EE" prefix would be a Series 2004. Series 2004 $20 Specimen notes have 23456789 serial numbers. Look at the Specimens below that I borrowed from the United States Secret Service Web site. Use of terms like "lightly smaller" and "not as sharp" suggest that the note is not authentic considering it's a "Specimen" which is used as a standard reference to identify real notes.

 

Those are all older series notes. Regulations weren't as harsh back then. Show me a newer colorized note like that. I stand by my original comment.

 

See my prior post. I agree with you. :yes:

 

People obviously misunderstood my original comment. I never said that it would be impossible to obtain a specimen note. I said that it would be impossible to obtain a specimens note with all 0's that is from a newer more recent series.

 

That's not a rumor...the note is 1969A $1 A00000000A, and is pictured in the old O'Donnell catalog. Back when the BEP used to run the serial numbering all the way up to 99999999, the last note of the last strap of each block (the one *after* the 99999999) was printed with serial 00000000, because there weren't enough digits to print 100000000. The zero note was supposed to be treated as an "error" and replaced by a star, but in this one case, the inspector missed it and it went out into circulation.

The entire 4000-note brick beginning with A99996001A was actually snagged by an alert bank teller and sold into the collector market. The 1969A A..A block is a bit scarce (only 800,000 printed), but it's not as expensive as some other scarce blocks, thanks in part to those 4000 notes. At one point, the 99996001 and 00000000 notes were part of the same collection, along with the BEP label from the brick showing its serial range; but I have no idea whether they're still together.

As for the specimens you posted, though: the last four look very odd, with the typeface of the serial numbers being completely different from that used on the issued notes of these series. Without the PCGS holders I'd've called these very bad fakes, and even *with* the PCGS holders I'm not entirely sure what to think....