Circulation Finds - Low & Fancy Serial #'s & A Star Note Surprise

I don't really collect low & fancy serial number notes, but do pull some from circulation that catch my eye..

Thought I would share them here.





I also recently read the thread requesting members post their Star note finds, and before posting there, thought I would give the back story on a series 2001 F-* note I've had about a dozen years in storage..

I used to pull star notes from circulation and sell them as a set with a BEP $150.00 bag of Shredded Currency (from years past that would net me 50 cents profit per sale)..

From the late 1990's to around 2004 I shared a spot with another Coin Dealer doing shows in the New York Tri-State Area (NY,NJ,CT), then opened a ebay Store after a dispute..

Long story short, I stopped all public sales back in April 2006 after my ebay Store was hacked into, and both ebay & PayPal refused to provide information on who the hacker/hackers were, as I wanted to pursue Legal Action against them.. (I did learn that online criminals have legal protection due to privacy laws)..

In checking to see what stars I had left over, I noticed a series 2001 F-* note
that I've handled numerous times when setting up & breaking down years ago, and never noticed until today that the back displays a weak 3rd print serial number transfer opposite the right serial number..

The serial is F00172721*, and the transfer serial on back was partial, and weak (assuming the ink was almost dry when inserted), requiring me to dust off the ole' stereo microscope and change the 10x to 20x eye pieces to examine the serial number..

The serial number I came up with and believe to be 90% correct is B35329186B..

The only way to locate exact info, and check to see if it is remotely possible that this could be a genuine 3rd print transfer, was to check the BEP info on uspapermoney.info, and what I found was interesting..

The F00172721* was printed in March 2002 and B35329186B was printed in June 2002..
From November 2001 to June 2002, The BEP printed the following Blocks, A-A, A-B, B-A, B-B, C-A- F-A, F-B ,F-C ,F-D ,F-E, and the only Star replacements printed were 10,000 sheets each for both the A-* & F-* Blocks (320,000 run each)..

Star Replacements for rejected serials in the B & C blocks could have only been replaced with A-* & F-* Notes..

I also find it interesting that there were No Star notes issued for the "B" Block series 2001 replacement, yet there were 106 Runs with a total of 678,400,000 notes for New York..

.
http://www.uspapermoney.info/serials/f2001_s.html

What did catch my eye was the COPE plate number & Sheet plate number are both B3..











The front of this note is held to a light so I could compare both serial number registrations from the back of the note..



Here are a few mirror image photos of the serial number..









So, is this a possible transfer error that replaced a rejected B35329185B note with this star note? - maybe, either way I don't think it can be proven 100% as a genuine transfer error and therefore will never mark it as a error note..

Had I noticed this in 2006 when Mr. Escobar was Operations Manager for PMG, I could have telephoned him and request he check it out for his Expert Opinion and could have included it with the other rare error notes submitted back then.. In 2016, PMG leaves me shaking my head at what little they know on errors, and can't list serial numbers a 5 year old could figure out.
If I sound a bit negative on PMG, with what they charge, and their claims to be experts, I just had to make the necessary changes to the last 2 Pakistan double serial number errors, including listing the correct serial numbers..
I even had to change both grades as one was over graded & the other under graded, it seems they don't know the difference between Pin Holes & Staple Holes from Notes issued in 100 Piece Books (stapled together).. I held these since 2007 and kick myself for not submitting them 9 years ago..



And this is what a Star note with a $150. bag of shredded currency looked like in my ebay Store - $3.00 a set with $1.00 Stars & $4.00 a set with $2.00 Stars..