what is a mule?

i recently had a 1899 $2 note graded that had the following comment ...
" [FONT=&quot]John Burke Back Plate #1005"

when i asked them what they meant they wrote back ...
[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]From what I got from the graders is that that means the note is a mule. On that specific note, the back plate has 2 positions. One for Frank White and one for John Burke. The reason that this is a mule is because the John Burke position is on the Frank White position. It is kind of hard to explain what a mule is, but hopefully this has helped.[/FONT]

Their response totally confused me. (back plate positions?) Does anyone know what it means if a note is a mule (and is that better than another note of the same type that is not a mule)

And why do they call it a mule?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Well its exactally what you wrote.it means that the reverse they were supposed to use,they used an alternate plate instead.

 

This is the note in question

 

ohh ... so you mean the note was signed by White ... but they messed up and printed the back of the note with the plate that was meant for the notes signed by Burke

so it's sort of like an error note?

So a "mule" is basically an error note?

 

A 'Mule' notes is simply a note that has a micro size check number on one side and a macro size check number on the other. Mico numbers measure .06mm high, and macro check numbers measure 1.0mm high.

As for if their better or more expensive, I don't know.

 

basically in a nutshell

 

did a little price scanning for an 1899 $2 silver certificate and found prices from 90-2000 USD, so i spose it's worth something.

 

I dont believe there is a "real" price guide for mules.its based on a percentage and amount of availability

 

hence why my figures where so far apart, thats just where the 10 i found where priced between, even 90 dollars is better then nothing.

 

That's true for the small-size mules in the 1934 series. The note under discussion here is a large-size mule. For those, it's not the size of the plate number that was changed, but rather the location of the plate number.

Mules aren't errors, because the BEP printed them on purpose. What happened was that the BEP made some change to the plate manufacturing process (standardizing the plate number location, or increasing the plate number size), and so for a while they had both old plates and new plates in use. So some notes ended up being printed from an old-style back plate and a new-style face plate (or vice versa); those are mules.

In some series and denominations, mules are rare. In others, non-mules are rare. Usually, both are fairly common. I have no idea which category the 1899 $2 SC falls into.

 

thanks for all your info -- it's been helpful!

yes, i think my note is worth about $720 (greensheet bid)

i dont think the mule aspect adds any value at all.

 

error-def. Mistake

 

in any case, i wonder where the term "mule" came from ??

that certainly doesnt seem intuitive.

 

it's funny because there is a large currency note that is called the Mule Note ... because it has an eagle on it that if you turn the bill upsidedown ... the eagle looks like a mule

you would think the "powers that be" would have come up with a different term for these "pseudo error" (or mismatched front and back) notes

 

OK,one set of plate numbers is larger than the other,the term mule was used,just like coins,that have one side that is not supposed to be.

 

A "mule" is when the two sides of a coin or note were not meant to be paired together. A dime on the obverse and a cent on the reverse would be an obvious mule. Yours is a more subtle one, as explained above.

I don't know where the term originated, but I suspect that it is called a "mule" since a real mule is an offspring of a horse and donkey, much like a "mule" coin or note is the "offspring" of two different parts not meant to be "mated" together.

By the way, that is a beautiful note!!!!!! Where did you get it.

 

so what does that have to do with a mule?

is it something like a mule is half horse and half donkey? front half horse -- back half donkey or something (sorry I am not an animal expert!)

 

bobeth 87 ... sorry you posted just as I was posing ... ok i get it

1/2 one animal 1/2 the other

i guess they could have called it a cayote (1/2 dog 1/2 wolf)

 

thanks! i got it on ebay back in january

 

what did it grade.from the pictures it looks 62-64ppq+