By their nature, star notes are more scarce than notes with standard serial numbers and as such are widely collected by notaphilists.
They are used to maintain a correct count of notes in a serial number run.
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. In the US, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing inspects currency for printing errors prior to releasing notes into general circulation. These have been used by various countries around the world including Australia and the United States. Many early issues carried the star in front of the serial number. Both paper and polymer replacement notes exist as this control mechanism.Ī star note is also a bank note that has an asterisk (*), or star, after the serial number.
Some banknote collectors go after these rather unusual banknotes as their specialty. There is no guaranteed way to know the rarity of replacement banknotes as they are only introduced to replace defective ones. Nigeria uses "DZ" in the serial number to mark replacement banknotes.ĭifferent countries may also have their own numbering or marking schemes.Serbia uses "ZA" in the serial number to mark replacement banknotes.Thailand uses "5 OS" in the serial number to mark replacement polymer banknotes.Zambia uses "X3" in the serial number to mark replacement polymer banknotes.Iraq uses prefix "Letter/99" in the serial number to mark replacement banknotes.Indonesia uses "X" in the serial number to mark replacement banknotes.Singapore uses "Z/0" in the serial number to mark replacement banknotes.Scotland, Hong Kong and Mongolia use "ZZ" in the serial number to mark replacement banknotes.The Bahamas, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Guatemala use "Z" in the serial number to mark replacement banknotes.Argentina uses "R" in the serial number to mark replacement banknotes.The United States, India and the Philippines use, and Australia used until 1972, the "★" in the serial number to mark a replacement banknote.A replacement note will have its own serial-numbering system that separates it from the normal numbering system. It is rare that the replacement banknote has the same serial number as the original faulty one. This saves time and money compared to re-printing exactly the same serial number that was used before. It would be very costly to collect $100 bills just because of their serial numbers.As quality control finds defective notes in the printing process after the serial number has been overprinted, they are taken out with their serial number written down and replaced with another banknote printed specifically for this purpose, so that the number of banknotes being printed stays the same in each production batch. A $100 bill is already worth $100, so it takes a really important serial number to add a lot of extra value there. However, the same fancy serial number on a $100 bill won’t make it worth $2,500. Of course, both bills would need to be in comparable condition. So, a $100 bill with a radar repeating serial number will be worth a similar increase to worth over its original $100 face value as the $5 bill with a radar reapeating serial number. The higher value bills will be worth a comparable face- value increase than lower face- value bills.
Also, the denomination of the bill is factored into the value as well, but plays less of an impact than you woud imagine.