Star Trivia

Star notes are used by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to replace misprinted/damaged currency before it goes into circulation.
These replacement notes are printed like normal notes, except there is a star printed in the serial number.
On Federal Reserve Notes, the star is where the block letter normally is (the last letter of the serial number).

On Legal Tender notes and Silver Certificates, the star is where the prefix normally is (the first letter of the serial number).

Star notes are printed in what are called "runs." For the current printing systems used by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the maximum run size for star notes is 3.2 million notes (100,000 32-note sheets). Sometimes, this many notes are not needed, in which case less are printed. If a partial run is printed, the next run will start at the next closest multiple of 3.2 million. Star notes get their rarity from the quantity printed and released into circulation.

Hope this helps

Right you are rggoodie, right you are. Add FRBN to the suffix replacement and Gold certificates to the prefix list as well.

I had read somewhere the rational behind the hollow star versus the solid star, but cannot remember the source (which is very abnormal for me), so it remains a topic that I want to learn more about.

The first replacement notes were printed in 1910, although stars were used as suffix characters on a few issues much earlier than that (ie USN of 1869, Treasury notes of 1890). Stars were not the only strange characters used as serial number prefixes and suffixes however.
There were several other shapes, neither numeric or phonetic, but more hieroglyphic in appearance, used on US currency, but not to signify replacement, but rather merely the beginning or end of that particular serial number.

I will refrain from showing examples of each of these various types of star notes as it is fairly clear that the consensus of forum subscribers are interested strictly in FRN.

It would not surprise me at all if my response to your question is balked at by other forum members trdhrdr007, but that is alright, we all have differing tastes and speculative views of futuristic value.

Star notes of earlier series (1899-1934) were not so much noticed or collected when they were in circulation, nor were they issued in huge numbers, and therefore, survivability of these early stars was relatively low, and today they are scarce.
Survivability of 1935-1957 silver certificates in star form is considerably higher due to the fact that silver certificates were printed in large quantities and backed by a silver exchange option.
When these notes were recalled for the final exchange to silver, many a speculator held onto their silver certificates in vast quantity in hopes that they would soon become collectible and worth more than the current silver exchange rate of that time. Smart idea, but too many folks had the 'same' idea. So much of this hoarding took place, that today, decades later, the collector market is flooded with silver certificates (including star notes).

FRNs (which I assume your note is) are a different story. They are not backed by anything other than the population's speculative faith in the notion that a dollar today will still be worth a dollar tomorrow.

FRNs are printed and issued in extremely high numbers. Star notes are avidly collected and hoarded on sight with notions that eventually they will be worth increasingly more. While this line of thought may hold some degree of merit, to me, it is reminiscent of the hoarding of the silver certificates (for the same reason).

While the BEP takes in and destroys FRNs on a recurring basis as they are returned from banks, collectors hoard the star notes.

What may be the result of this in decades to come? It would not surprise me to see that the collector market gives premium to non-stars as stars may turn out to be the predominant note available due to today's hoarding practices.

Is your $100 star note worth a premium? Not to me it isn't, but to many a person, it may well be, (depending on several factors such as condition, series, and serial number). To me, this star note below is desirable, but I realize that to most folks here, it is heavily circulated, it isn't an FRN or even a one dollar note, and therefore, uninteresting and undesirable. That's okay!

Deja vu.