# Counterfeit Bills or lucky find? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 19, 2004, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-bills-or-lucky-find/235232 "2004-03-19T16:57:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ookpik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c68b51/32.png) [@ookpik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ookpik)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-bills-or-lucky-find/235232/1 "2004-03-19T16:57:06Z")
A friend of mine has 2 bills in a safe deposit box that she has been holding onto for several years. She acquired these bills while working as a bank teller in the mid-sixties. The reason she kept these bills was that both have identical serial numbers. My first reaction was that they must certainly be counterfeit. She seems quite certain that they are genuine, and was well-trained at the time to spot fakes. Also, the fact that these bills are singles pretty much rules out the possibility of them being couterfeit, even though this was 40 years ago. Couterfeiting a one dollar bill, and doing such a great job of it that a teller misses it would seem like a waste of time and talent for the couterfeiter for such a poor return. My questions: Could these two bills be genuine? Would it have been possible for this type of error to occur with the technology available in the 1960’s? Assuming that they are real, would this be something a collector would value and pay a decent price for? Thanks, Ook. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-bills-or-lucky-find/235232/2 "2004-03-19T17:09:31Z")
Unless your friend has an amazing photographic memory for the serial numbers on random bills, I assume that she got the bills at the same time, which to me indicates counterfeit. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-bills-or-lucky-find/235232/3 "2004-03-19T19:29:29Z")
Have your friend look at the series (year) on each bill. The Federal Reserve states that “no two bill of the same denomination _and series_ will have the same serial number”. It is possible for same denomination bills of different series (ex. 1999 and 2001) to have the same serial number. See the website “Where’s George” for examples. If the bills are of the same series, I can’t imagine how a duplicate serial number error could have occured during printing. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-bills-or-lucky-find/235232/4 "2004-03-19T19:31:04Z")
The [Secret Service](http://www.secretservice.gov/counterfeit.shtml), in addition to protecting our President from the hazards posed by gays, Al-Qa’eda, and pretzels, is also responsible for ensuring U.S. Currency retains its value by taking counterfeit money out of circulation and prosecuting counterfeiters. I imagine they’ve got a case officer who’d be intrigued at your friend’s find. ---
**Author:** ![LemonThrower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@LemonThrower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LemonThrower)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-bills-or-lucky-find/235232/5 "2004-03-19T20:09:27Z")
a star at the end of a serial number indicates it is a reissue of a previously used number, such as one that was mutilated and removed from circulation. There is not supposed to be bills with the same serial numbers out there. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-bills-or-lucky-find/235232/6 "2004-03-19T20:30:54Z")
> [@LemonThrower](#): > > a star at the end of a serial number indicates it is a reissue of a previously used number, such as one that was mutilated and removed from circulation. Almost. The star indicates a [replacement note](http://money.howstuffworks.com/question703.htm), which is produced in the event of a printing error: > [@](#): > > This star represents what is known as a replacement note. When a printing error occurs during a normal press run and renders a set of bills unusable, replacement notes are used instead. With replacements notes, a set of serial numbers can still have the proper number of bills even if some of the original bills had to be pulled. The replacement notes have a sequence of their own, using the star as their final “letter.” Mutilated notes which are pulled from circulation do not have their serial numbers reissued.