WaCkY Serial Numbers!

While the ladder serial number is impressive, the SPECIMEN overprint is what makes it truly rare.

 

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ALL specimen notes have ladder serial numbers or all 0's.

 

These are all really wonderful notes.. I never seem to find any, especially in circulation............

 

WOW there is some amazing Notes posted here. That specimen with the full ladder is awesome! Steve those 1's are cool too!

 

You really don't want to get me started Just a few from the collection.

 

A star note is a bank note that has an asterisk (*), or star, after the serial number. These have been used by various countries around the world including Australia and United States. In the US, The Bureau of Engraving and Printing inspects currency for printing errors prior to releasing notes into general circulation. When notes are discovered that have been printed incorrectly (such as having the serial numbers upside down, etc.) the misprinted "error notes" are replaced with star notes because no two bills within a certain series can be produced with the same serial number. They are used to maintain a correct count of notes in a serial number run. By their nature, star notes are more scarce than notes with standard serial numbers and as such are widely collected by hobbyists. Some of the highest prices paid for modern (post-1928) U.S. banknotes have been for star notes.
A star note was also substituted for the last note in a block rather than printing a note with a serial number consisting of eight zeros. This practice is no longer in use, as the highest range of serial numbers is now reserved for uncut sheets sold to collectors, so regular notes intended for circulation do not reach the final serial number in the block.

If what you said is true, then there would never be a star note with the serial number CE00000001*.

 

No. If what the original post I was responding to was true, there would never be a star note with the serial number CE00000001* unless there was a defect in the note with the serial number CE00000001. The original post indicated that star notes have the same serial number as the notes they replace except for the star at the end of the serial number. This is not true. There will always be a #1 star for every star series printed.

Defective notes are replaced with a star note with a serial number completely unrelated to the note that is being replaced.

When the BEP starts a print run, the first notes printed are the star notes. The numbers on the star notes will start with 00000001* or whatever the next number for that series would be. (If a print run of 640,000 star notes had already been printed and used, the numbering for the star series will begin at 00640001.) Then the notes with the regular serial number are printed. The sheets with defective notes that are discovered after the serial numbers are applied are replaced with a complete sheet of star notes (even if only one note on the sheet is defective.) The star sheet is placed in the stack of uncut sheets and the notes are cut. (If defects are discovered on sheets prior to the serial numbers being applied, the sheet with the defective note is replaced by a sheet without serial numbers and will receive a regular serial number not a star.)