Check your currency for errors
May 21st, 2009 | by mbhunter |I got a bit of a bonanza at the credit union today. I’ve been in the habit of asking for funny money when I go there mainly because it’s fun to spend money that’s a little unusual. Today I was able to withdraw a substantial number of $2 bills and a substantial number of half dollars.
As the teller was counting them out I could see that there weren’t any red-seal $2 bills, but they’re still neat to spend. Since I didn’t really know too much about what kinds of currency errors were out there, I checked on eBay to see what people were selling. Here’s what I found in the way of currency errors:
- Misalignment errors when cutting. Normal notes have an even border around the engraved picture on the front and back. Sometimes the cutting gets off alignment, and you’ll have uneven borders, a chopped-off design, or even part of the next note’s picture on it.
- Misalignment in one of the printings. The green seal that overlaps the spelled-out denomination to the right of the portrait on the front, as well as the serial numbers on the bills, are applied in the third printing. (The first and second are back and front, I believe.) If this printing is misaligned, the seal will be off-center, or the serial numbers will overlap some other part of the bill’s design. (One of the 1976 $2 bills I got has a misaligned seal.)
- Miscut bills. Have you ever gotten a magazine in which your had to tear apart some of the pages because they weren’t cut perfectly? Some notes come out that way. There might be an extra flap on one corner of the bill.
- Ink smears. Just like what it sounds: black ink applied during the printing process gets loose on the bill.
- Printing on the wrong side. Sometimes the seal and serial number are printed on the reverse rather than the obverse.
- Gutter folds or butterfly folds. If the note gets a fold in it during the printing process, part of the note’s design will be offset from the other part. Gutter folds go from one side of the note to the other, and butterfly folds go from one side to a perpendicular side.
- Light or missing design. If the application of the front printing is poor, the seal and serial numbers will stand out more than normal.
- Mismatched series. The letter in the black seal and the letter preceding the upper right and lower left serial numbers should all be the same. Sometimes they’re not.
There’s a fair bit of interest in currency errors so check your wallet to see if you have some extra cash hiding in there!
