Generally, collectors consider runs of 640,000 notes or less to be rare. Star notes get their rarity from the quantity printed and released into circulation. If a partial run is printed, the next run will start at the next closest multiple of 3.2 million. Sometimes, this many notes are not needed, in which case less are printed. The anticipation of finding the next newest, rarest star note often drives value up initially. There is often a delay of a few months or more between receiving those reports and the notes being found in circulation. The BEP releases monthly production reports of which series and denominations are printed. The value of a star note can change depending on whether more notes are printed prior to the series being retired.Īlso for series that are currently being printed, there is usually a frenzy around “fresh” star notes. Current Series Star Notesįor series that are currently being printed (like series 2013 now in February 2017), there is the unknown of future printings. The whole notion of print runs gets diluted.

Additionally, many reference books don’t break down older-series star note value estimates beyond FRB letter. Older star note series typically get collected by FRB, so the total quantity printed is more important. Completing star note sets by print run is more common among modern star notes. This deflates the value of notes in those first two rarer runs.įor older series notes, their run sizes matter far less. If a FRB has three print runs – 320K, 640K, and 3.2 million – the collector can ignore the first two runs and complete the set with a cheaper, less rare note from the run of 3.2 million. When a FRB has a few print runs of star notes, there are more notes out there to find or buy to fill the slot in their set. Some collectors try to complete sets with one star note per FRB. Also Consider The Total Quantity Printed Per FRBĪnother consideration is the total quantity of notes printed for the specific series/denomination/FRB combination.

Some have been printed in quantities of 16,000 or less. Many small runs are printed between 160,000 and 640,000 notes. 640,000 is generally the threshold of run size when star notes start being considered more rare. Run size can vary greatly – 3.2 million notes is the largest print run size, but they can also be much smaller. It will be relatively easy to find or buy a note from the runs of 1.28+ million, but getting one where the print size is only 32,000 will be very difficult.

Naturally, the smaller the run, the harder they are to find. Many collectors try to complete star note sets by obtaining a specimen from each star note print run.

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