mixed numbers:
The hidden meaning
of everyday digits
US Currency Serial Numbers
The U.S. Treasury Department takes great care to ensure not only that money is difficult to counterfeit, but maintains a standard appearance. The actual printing of money consists of many complex steps, most ensuring that each bill is identical. However, one crucial part of the process involves making each bill unique.
The serial number on US paper currency is applied separately from the portraits and symbols that characterize the bill. Printed in bright green ink when the uncut bills arrive at each Reserve Bank, this number represents the bill's unique identity.
A serial number consists of two prefix letters, eight numerals, and a one-letter suffix:
- The first letter of the prefix denotes the currency series.
- The second letter of the prefix indicates the Federal Reserve Bank at which the bill was produced.
- The eight digits represent the bill's sequential order within its group. The one-letter suffix is a further sequential counter within each Reserve Bank's bills in a series.
- The suffix letter advances when the 8-digit number reaches 99999999 (for example, xx99999999B is followed by xx00000001C). The entire alphabet is used for this process except for the letter O.
- Bills with a star in the place of their suffix letter are replacements for bills that did not meet federal standards after the printing process and are subsequently destroyed.
Bills produced before 1996 were printed with the seal of their particular Reserve Bank; new bills feature a universal Federal Reserve Seal.
| City | Number | Letter |
|---|---|---|
| Boston | 1 | A |
| Chicago | 7 | G |
| New York | 2 | B |
| St. Louis | 8 | H |
| Philadelphia | 3 | C |
| Minneapolis | 9 | I |
| Cleveland | 4 | D |
| Kansas City | 10 | J |
| Richmond | 5 | E |
| Dallas | 11 | K |
| Atlanta | 6 | F |
| San Francisco | 12 | L |
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© Patrick Williams 2003-2004
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