United States "Star" Notes *

It's been a while since I blogged on a currency collectible, so tonight I thought I would break out this crispy little gem I pulled from circulation a few years ago.  It may not be worth that much...$10 probably...maybe a little more...but it is definitely collectible due to the star at the end of the serial number.

As a kid, I knew that a star note was a special note, but I never really knew why.  Well, a star note is actually a replacement note.  When the treasury prints up its regular run of notes and an error or damage occurs, they will pull these notes and replace them with a star note.  A complete description of this and other reasons for these notes can be found on this site.  

While star notes are much more uncommon than a regular note...there are often many of them printed.  This $10 D note from 2003 had 1.2 million numbers printed.  This is compared to total production of $10 bills for 2003 of 249,600,000 according to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.  So...while not super rare...the odds of finding this note are not that high.  Some star notes though, are quite rare.  For example, the 1B run of series E $10 notes from 1999 only had 3,200 star notes printed!  Not very many.  See this site, for a great list of data of this kind.

Anyway...next time you see a star note in change, pull it aside and show it to your kid, or keep it for yourself!

Until next time...

Blogging here on Sundry Collectibles and at Disney Postcards on, you guessed it, Disney Postcards!