How to Tell If Your Paper Money Is Worth More Than Face Value
Look up the value of your money’s serial number and go treasure-hunting in your wallet!
Paying cash? You may want to give your paper currency a quick look before using it to make your next purchase. If your money has a “fancy” serial number, it could actually be worth more than face value!
All US paper currency is marked with a series year and an eight-digit serial number.
The series year shows the year in which a new design was approved by the Secretary of the Treasury or the year in which the signature of a new secretary or treasurer was added to the design. Letters following the series year appear when there is a significant change in the bill’s appearance.
The serial number appears twice on every paper note and usually begins and ends with a letter, making it 10, sometimes 11 characters long. If a note’s serial number is unique, interesting, or in any way “fancy,” currency collectors may be willing to pay big bucks for it!
Generally, one-dollar bills with fancy serial numbers will yield the most profit, since their face value is lower. But it’s definitely worth looking at all your paper money because you never know what you’ll find!
Which serial numbers on your currency may be valuable?
Here are the different types of serial numbers that may increase the value of your paper money:
1. Low Serial Numbers – The lower the serial number, the more valuable your currency may be to collectors. Notes with very low serial numbers, like those less than 100 (00000100) or 1,000 (00001000) could be worth quite a lot of money!
2. High Serial Numbers – Some collectors seek out bills with high serial numbers, and these can be even more prized than lower serial numbers because there are fewer in circulation. Notes marked with 99999900 and higher are especially valuable.
3. Flippers – A serial number that can be read right side up or upside down (like 06800890) is known as a “flipper.”
4. Repeaters & Super Repeaters – Strings of repeating digits (like 14714714) can increase the value of a serial number. A two-digit repeating number (like 89898989), is called a super repeater, and it’s even more valuable.
5. Solids & Near-Solids – A solid serial number is one where every digit is the same, like 11111111. Since these notes are so rare, near-solids (where only one digit differs) can be valuable too, like 11181111.
6. Binaries, True Binaries, & Trinaries – Paper currency with a serial number containing only two different digits (like 37377337) is a “binary bill.” A near-solid serial number would also be a binary, as it only includes two numbers. A true binary bill only contains ones and zeroes, like machine code.
Trinary bills (which contain only three unique digits) are relatively rare, too.
7. Ladders & Near Ladders – When a serial number ascends or descends in numerical order (like 12345678 or 87654321), it’s called a “Ladder.” If there is a digit or two out of place, it’s called a “Near Ladder.” These can be valuable too, although they’re worth less than a true ladder.
8. Palindromes – Also called “radars”, palindrome serial numbers read the same backwards and forwards, like the word “radar.” A “super radar” is a binary bill on which just the two end digits are different from the numbers in the middle (like 35555553).
9. Doubles – A serial number that includes pairs of numbers, such as 43458867 is called a “Double.” The most valuable type of Double is a “Quad Double,” which is a serial number that has four sets of doubles (like 44887755).
10. Double Quads – Different from a Quad Double (confusing, right!?), a Double Quad has two sets of four identical numbers. The serial number 22229999 is one example of a Double Quad.
11. Bookends – A serial number that has the same two or three digits on both ends is called a bookend. Three-digit bookends, like 31256312, are more valuable than two-digit bookends, like 31256531.
12. Consecutives – If you have two or more consecutive serial numbers on different bills, (like 12031644 and 12031645) they may be valuable. Consecutive serial numbers aren’t that uncommon, since you can get them at any bank, but they can be of interest if they also fall under another category on this list.
13. Star Notes – When a bill was printed to replace another bill with a printing error, the mint replaces the letter at the end of the serial number with a star. Because printing errors on currency are relatively uncommon, there aren’t a lot of star notes in circulation.
14. Birthdays & other special dates. Some collectors are looking for a number with a specific year or date in it. This could be a birthday, anniversary, or a date with historical significance. For example, 06132019 might be valuable to someone whose child was born on June 13, 2019.
Serial numbers that just include a special year may be sought-after too, like 10401976 or 10912009.
How to look up the value of your money’s serial number
If you think you might have some currency with a fancy serial number on it, there are websites where you can look up serial numbers online.
Bank Note Serial Checker can give you a good idea of how common or rare your serial number is.
My CurrencyCollection.com has a Fancy Serial Number Checker that will assign your note a percentage on the “Universal Coolness Index,” and it has a designated Star Note lookup, too.
The Univeral Coolness Index was created by CoolNumbers.com using a formula that evaluates numbers according to their unique properties. There are five different tiers of coolness on the UCI:
- Extremely Cool – 99% or higher
- Very Cool – 95% – 98.9%
- Cool – 90% – 94.9%
- Almost Cool – 75% – 89.9%
- So-So – 50% – 74.9%
- Definitely Uncool – 49.9% or lower
Just for fun, I tried looking up the serial numbers of some one-dollar bills that I had in my wallet. None of them looked very cool to my untrained eye, and this was confirmed by the Fancy Serial Number Checker I used.
But there was one dollar bill with a serial number of 42428828 that scored a whopping 98.3% on the Universal Coolness Index, earning it a designation of “Very Cool!
Here’s what makes this serial number “very cool,” according to MyCurrencyCollection.com:
- All of the digits in 42428828 are powers of 2. Only 0.070% of 8-digit numbers have this property.
- It contains 2 triples and 1 pair. Only 0.20% of 8-digit numbers have this combination.
- All of the digits in 42428828 are even! Only 0.39% of 8-digit numbers have this property.
- It has 3 unique digits. In 0.71% of 8-digit numbers, there are 3 or fewer unique digits.
If you find you have some paper currency that scores high on the Coolness Index, you may be able to sell it to a collector! Just keep in mind that there are many other factors to consider when estimating the value of paper money.
Other factors to consider when looking up the value of your money’s serial number
The value of paper money is heavily dependent on its condition. Values are significantly less for notes that are in circulated condition, so if your currency looks a little used like mine does, then you’re probably not going to get top dollar for your dollar, even with an extremely cool serial number.
In addition to your note’s condition, other markings like the series year, series identifier, and Federal Reserve identifier can impact the worth of your currency to a collector.
Still have questions about the value of your paper money?
If you’re new to the world of fancy serial numbers, knowing the exact value of your currency can prove to be difficult. Like most other collectibles, it’s only worth the amount that someone else is willing to pay for it.
A good place to find the potential value of your note is to check online auction sites like eBay and Heritage Auctions. There, you can see the final sale price of similar notes.
If you have questions about a specific bill, you may also want to ask in a currency forum like Coin Talk or Reddit’s r/papermoney. Speaking with a local currency dealer or collector can be very informative, too.
If you’d like to try out one of the dollar bill serial number lookups mentioned in this post, please let us know in the comments below. We’d love to hear whether you find any fancy serial numbers!
Who knew?? Guess this is the thing I learned for today! Will have to check out my dollar bills next time I have some. 🙂
So glad you enjoyed this post, Tracey! Hoping you might spot some of these on your bills! 💵❤️
I never knew this was a thing! I checked my bills and my highest coolness score was 98.8, which is “very cool”!
The bill number is 10012003. I thought it was cool because it could be somebody’s birthday, October 1, 2003. The reason it’s cool is all eight numbers add up to seven. Only 0.0064% of eight-digit numbers add up to at most seven. This number also has four of a kind and a pair.
This was fun. Thanks for posting!
You’re so welcome, Teresa! 🤗 That is SUPER cool! Thanks for sharing with us! Happy to hear you had fun with this! 💕
Also other valuables including misprinted dollars or even dollars that are cut unevenly can be worth money too!
Good to know that these can be worth more money too, Vanessa! 🙌 Thanks for sharing! 💞
I’ve been watching old TV shows on Amazon Prime Video and just watched an episode of The Flying Nun that was about just this! Talk about timing!
Thank you for posting. Never new this was a thing.
You’re so welcome, Tammy! 🙌
Great tips, the Banknote Serial Checker site also checks star notes and can check similar note Values via eBay sales, found it a great tool for growing my collection!
Can’t let a note pass through my hands without being checked
Thanks so much for sharing the site you you use to check notes, Ray! 🤗 Much appreciated! 💗
Just remember that as far as the bank is concerned a dollar is still just a dollar.
I have a $20 note its 2017 A serial # 55557777 uncirculated.
Hi I have a $5 2013 ladder I don’t want to sell it but I have to sell it I’m in Los Angeles California can someone please put me in the right direction where to sell it
You could double check through those links in the bottom of the post for help with that, Lisa. 🤗❤️
I Have Bills over 91 percent to 98.7 is There Any Worth to Them In Coins, Can You Please Directe To A Collector That Will Buy Them?
You might try the links in the bottom of the post for additioinal help with your bills, Tonya. Hoping they can help answer some of your questions! 🤗💞
I have a couple of $1 bills that ranked 95.3 and 98.3 are they valuable
We have a couple of links in the bottom of the post that may be helpful to look further into the value of your bilss! Hoping that helps! 🤞❤️
yes,i have in here on my table a twenty dollar bill with the serial number #ph79779974 A n im thinking from what i read its worth more then face value to someone . now is it?
You could always double check those tips and links in the very bottom of the post for additional help with your bill! 💞🤗
Hi I have 12 bills diferente nominations where appears the prime serial number what’s that means
Interesting! Great question, Fernando! Maybe head through that link in the bottom of the post to see if you might be able to reach out for any details on that. 🤗💞
I have a dollar bill serial number is 78883888 I can’t seem to fine nothing on it unless I’m doing something wrong looking it up
I have a 20 and serial # is 24444442 its 2013 its circulated. And i have a 10 and its serial # is 22222277 and its 2017A also circulated can you give me a estimate the worth.??? Or even an idea they both come up EXTREMELY COOL
Any idea what a 49494949 five dollar bill worth? I tried many books to find approximate price to no avail. Any help world be appreciated. it was circulated once from a new bundle of fives from Wells Fargo as change. Crisp, no creases looks good to me
Please rate these bills for me. $1 bills, 38766660 series 2003, 84983388 series 2003, 46993333 series 2003 and 11908937* 2003. Condition of bills are some what good but the 3333 is in clean condition.
Hi there! Be sure to head through the links above to check the details on the bills you have. 🤗
Great article! Had a fun afternoon looking up my bills. Out of twenty five 100.00 dollar bill’s, I found I had a few interesting bills. Had 4 not cool, 10 so so, 7 almost cool, 3 cool and 1 very cool! The very cool bill 55571735 it scored a 95.9. All odd numbers, 0.39% of 8 digits have this property. 4 of a kind and a triple together were the factors for the 95.9 rating. Thank you for writing the article.
Great article! Had a fun afternoon looking up my bills. Out of twenty five 100.00 dollar bill’s, I found I had a few interesting bills. Had 4 not cool, 10 so so, 7 almost cool, 3 cool and 1 very cool! The very cool bill 55571735 it scored a 95.9. All odd numbers, 0.39% of 8 digits have this property. 4 of a kind and a triple together were the factors for the 95.9 rating. Thank you for writing the article. I will now check all my paper bills.
You’re very welcome, CJ! Happy to hear you enjoyed looking up your bills! 💵❤️
Hey there, my name’s Luke. I’m living in London. I think I have come across an interesting $1 note, which is from 2017 and the serial number is 26699966, it scored a 98.8 rating on one of those websites you suggested having a look at.
I have (2) one dollar bills with 4cosecutive numbers and it starts with the zero or 7!!!!
I have2 one dollar bills 4cosecutive numbers YES they start with zero ,or7. G70000584,07244446
I have (2) one dollar bills with 4cosecutive numbers and it starts with the zero or 7!!!! 70000584, 07244446
I have2 one dollar bills 4cosecutive numbers YES they start with zero ,or7. G70000584,07244446
I have (2) one dollar bills with 4cosecutive numbers and it starts with the zero or 7!!!! 70000584, 07244446
i have one that is 6513287 how much is it worth
I have a 2017 1 Doller bill serial number F00000067☆ and the seiral numbers are Staggered in great shape
I have a Dollar Bill with a Blue seal series 1935 Silver Certificate
I looked up my 2013 duplicate $1 star note on mycurrencycollection.com and banknoteserialchecker.com the second one was as helpful as the first but both gave info on my bill. Your article is very insightful and helpful. I appreciate you posting it