History of the Star Note Lookup
You may not know this, but the Star Note Lookup was the birth of this website. I was a beginner collector and beginner web developer. My main currency interest was star notes, because I could grow my collection on the cheap by searching from packs of circulates notes. A single pack of 100 $1 notes sometimes yielded as many as five star notes (with the exception one uncirculated pack of star notes). Many were in tatters and most were from full print runs, but it was always a thrill to hope the note was from a run of less than 640,000 notes. Building the first version of the Star Note Lookup made searching star note production numbers much easier than wading through massive tables.
The Star Note Lookup and other reference pages have continually grown in popularity. In 2016 alone there have been over 165,000 star note lookups, compared to 99,000 in 2015 and 45,000 in 2014. As more collectors come to My Currency Collection for reference information, the more motivated I am to provide easier-to-use tools and more in-depth data.
New Updates
The Star Note Lookup received its latest round of updates a few weeks ago which should improve understandability, general look-and-feel, and add a few features.
Rarity color chart
In one of the first few revisions to star Star Note Tables, colors were added to distinguish rarer, small print runs. Most who have used the Lookup over the years know that yellow to red indicate smaller runs. Now, first-time visitors can get a sense of what the different color results indicate.
Sharing + Permalinks
You can share your search result on Facebook and Twitter, if you are so inclined. You can also link others to your results by copying the address in your browser's URL. For example, a series 2013 $1 with serial number A0123456* can be found here: http://www.mycurrencycollection.com/reference/star-notes/lookup/1/2013/A00123456*
Estimated Run Size Indicator (unpictured)
Sometimes we find star notes in circulation that haven't been reported by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. We do our best to estimate the size of the run based on serial numbers and plate positions, but until there is a correction from the BEP, they are educated guesses.
Picture Comparison
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Old
I'm always looking for ways to improve My Currency Collection. Please let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions for something you'd like to see here.
Please do not contact me for appraisal requests.
They will be ignored and/or deleted. I receive too many to handle. Read the article "What Is My Note Worth?" to learn how to determine your note's value.