How to read a serial

On small-size U.S. notes the serial is printed twice. Read either one. The usual shape is one or two letters, then eight digits, then a letter. A star note keeps the letters and digits and puts a star where that final letter would have been.

Ignore spaces and the fancy type. The characters that matter are the prefix, the eight digits, and the ending. L01234567A and L01234567★ are the same block of digits with a different suffix. The fancy serial checker reads those eight digits either way.

Write the serial as it is printed, including the star if one is there. A note can carry two serials, one at each end, and they match. Either one is enough to check. Plate numbers and the series year are separate from the serial and are not part of the eight digits.

Federal Reserve districts run from A, Boston, through L, San Francisco: A Boston, B New York, C Philadelphia, D Cleveland, E Richmond, F Atlanta, G Chicago, H St. Louis, I Minneapolis, J Kansas City, K Dallas, L San Francisco. On current $1 and $2 notes the serial prefix usually matches the letter in the black district seal.

On $5 and higher, the serial prefix is a print-cycle letter, not the district. Read the district from the black Federal Reserve seal on the face. A K prefix on a $1 is Dallas. A K prefix on a $20 is not a district code, and the seal is the place to look.

The final letter advances as the Bureau works through a numbering block. It is not the district. When a sheet is replaced, that letter is dropped and a star is used instead, so the replacement is not confused with a regular note that already received that number.

Older notes follow the same idea even when the typeface differs. If the serial ends in a star, record it as a star note. If it ends in a letter, it is a regular suffix, and any collecting interest is in the digits, the seal, or the series.

The Fancy Serial Number Checker looks at the eight digits, whether the serial ends in a letter or a star. It reports a low number under 1,000, a radar, a repeater, a ladder, a binary, or a solid.

Star note lookup matches a star to its print run. That search needs the denomination and series, because the same digits sit in different runs. A fancy pattern with no print-run row is still reported here. The pattern is about the digits, not about how many notes were printed.