Posted 02/24/2010 12:42 pm
Joseph W Barr was Secretary of Treasury under President Johnson for a mere 31 days(12/21/68-1/20/69, the end of Johnson's Presidency) but the Barr $1 notes(only denomination with his signature) are not really rare since almost 500 million were printed. They do represent the shortest tenure of a Treas Sec and are less common than other notes of the same era. A star note, aka replacement note, is printed to replace a sheet that did not pass QC at the BEP. The star notates it as a replacement but the serial number does not match the original note. For obvious reasons, the number of star notes printed is much smaller than regular notes.
