Every day when you handle currency, you probably pay the
most attention to the numbers in the four corners in the front and back which
indicate the bill’s denomination. There are other numbers found on currency
that we’ll review in this post.
Denomination
The denomination is also spelled out on the front and back.
With denominations, five dollars and higher, there will also be field of small cluster
of “05”s, “10”s etc. found on either the front or the back. With the five, the
cluster is found on the front, left of Lincoln’s head. With the twenty, the
cluster is found on the back, left and right of the White House. For those with
exception near vision or with the aid of a magnifying glass, the denomination
is also microprinted in various locations as a security feature. Some examples
of the microprint are in the security thread (can be viewed when held up to
light) and other locations depending on the denomination such as “20 USA 20”
found between Jackson’s shoulder and the signature of the Treasurer of the United
States. Bills of denomination five and higher, have a security watermark. With
the five, it is a large 5 on the right-hand side; with the twenty, the watermark
is a portrait of Jackson on the right-hand side. The locations of some of these features are shown below.
Serial Number
The serial number of U.S. currency is printed twice on the
front. It consists of one or two letters, followed by eight numbers and ending
in a final letter. See my prior posts about the eight-digit serial numbers. If
the bill has two leading letters, the first letter corresponds to the “series”
of the currency – the series is also listed just right of the portrait, near
the signature of the Secretary of the Treasury. When the bill’s serial number
has only one leading letter, the letter corresponds to one of the twelve
Federal Reserve Banks (this would be the second letter on newer bills having serial numbers beginning with two letters). In the example note shown above, the letter N corresponds to the 2017 Series and the letter L corresponds to the 12th Federal Reserve Bank - San Francisco. Older notes would list the bank by name left of the
portrait, but newer notes use a common United States Federal Reserve System
symbol left without listed the specific bank of the portrait. On the front of
the bill, there should also be number printed two to four times that matches the
Federal Reserve Bank serial number letter designation – 1 for A, 2 for B, etc.
Newer bills, this number is also found with a repeat of the corresponding
letter, for instance A1, B2…L12.
Plate numbers
Modern currency is not printed one bill at a time, but in
sheets of 32 or more. Each note’s position on the sheet is designated a small
letter and number. The plate position designation is found on the left-hand
side (G3 in the above example). For the sheets of 32, the sheet is divided into four quadrants designated
by the numbers 1 through 4 and the position within the quadrant is denoted by
the letters A through G. The plates that print the bills are also serialized.
Their number is printed on the right-hand side and consists of letters and
numbers (FW G 3 in the example). In slightly larger font, the plate position letter designation is
repeated in the middle of the plate serial number (G in the example). The back of the bill will
also have a plate serial number and is typically just a one-, two- or three-digit number.
Star numbers
My favorite find is a bill that has a serial number ending in a star instead of a letter. The star notes are used when a bill is removed from a printing run because it was misprinted, damaged or otherwise did not meet quality standards. When the bill is removed, the physical count of bills for that run no longer reconciles with the serial numbers. Re-printing the removed bill is too costly, so it is replaced with a star note. The star notes serial number will be different than its neighbors. I have found star notes in multiple denominations. A sample is shown below. 
Here are some excellent resources for learning more about U.S. currency:
The United States Bureau of Printing and Engraving.
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