Special Banknote Serial

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KEVIN BALLARD·THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2016

The following serials are good to look for but please note,
most polymer notes will only be worth a tad over face value
and will not usually sell at all unless they are aUNC or UNC
as a minimum. Personally, if a note has more than a
centerfold i won't bother. That is unless it is the rarer types
like full solids, 8 digit radars/repeaters/ladders and very
high/low numbered notes which are good to keep in most
grades if not all. Paper notes have it a little easier in terms
of what is sought after. Otherwise if you don't plan on
making a profit from your cool number finds, you may as
well keep in any grade. People sometimes like to collect sets
like solid notes from 111111, 222222... to 999999 etc and for
them grade isn't important or they will keep it till they can
upgrade it to a nicer one. A lot of these numbers below are
just examples of what has been collected by some, others
will not collect anything even remotely close to what is
listed. Radar notes - Notes that have a serial that can be
read back to front - can be either 6 7 or 8 digit. 8 digit
radars are quite rare and sought after. Examples:
 AA 06 123 321 (6 digit radar)

 AA 06 123 216 (7 digit radar) - not collected by

everyone

 AA 06 122 160 (8 digit radar)

8 digit radars are rare, only 1 in every 11,111 notes.6 digits

radars are more common, one in every 1,111 notes.
IMPORTANT: Radars are usually only considered if using
the last X digits, i.e (10 550 1)56 i wouldn't really consider a
radar, but 10 (534 435) is, using the last digits, with 7 digit
radars, multiple times better to use only one of the year
digits than both, i wouldn't bother with (12 454 21)5 as it
uses both year digits For paper notes the serials above all
apply (but limited to six digits). 5 digit radars etc are still
preferred over normal serial notes like AAA 765671, but will
bring only a marginal premium above normal value, maybe
5% unless its a nice one like 211122 as an example.
Repeater notes - Notes that have a repeated section of the
serial. Can either be 2 3 or 4 digit and of varying lengths)
Examples:

 AA 12 341 234 (number 1234 repeated twice)

 AA 12 123 123 (number 123 repeated twice)

 AA 12 312 312 (number 312 repeated along with first
two digits also matching the pattern)

 AA 12 121 212 (number 12 repeated four times)

 AA 06 121 212 (number 12 repeated three times)

 AA 06 161 616 (number 16 repeated 3 times with 2nd

digit also matching the pattern)

You get the idea - lots of ways to repeat. 3 digit repeater are
1 in every 1,111 notes. 2 digit repeaters are rarer, 1 in every
12,345 notes Radar repeaters - basically a combination of
both, and a little rarer. These usually bring higher
premiums than both standard radars and repeaters (for
obvious reason)

 AA 06 121 121 (6 digit radar repeater)

 AA 12 211 221 (8 digit radar repeater)

Radar repeaters are rarer still, 1 in every 11,111 notes.

Binary notes - Stem from the above basically either or
both consisting of two numbers only. thus the 4th example
is a binary note. Binary notes need only contain two
numbers, and do not need to be in specific orders like
repeaters or radars. True binary notes only contain the
digits zero and one. These are not really collected
 specifically, but cool to have and an interesting note none
the less.

 AA 06 060 606 (2 digit repeater over 8, binary)

 AA 06 666 660 (Binary radar, also a solid note)

 AA 10 110 101 (True binary)

Mirror (upside-down) notes - Serials that are identical

front to back even if you flip them. Some of these will be
radars, most will not be radars. IMPORTANT: They MUST
read the same number when flipped (minus the prefix of
course) to be a true upside down note. As with binary notes.
these are not really collected, but cool to have and
interesting none the less. No real premiums on a lot of these
notes. Example:

 AA 00 696 900 (if you flip this the serial will still be
easily read)

You can also count standard notes with serials consisting of

only 6, 8, 9 , 0 and maybe a 1 as upside down notes even if
they don't read the same back to front. E.g

 AA 00 688 800

If you flip this the serial will read 008 889 00, not the same,
but is readable upside down. Not really collected and no
 premiums IMO. Solid notes - Simple but can have all solid
or near solid. Near solid arent nearly as cool, full solids will
bring a hefty premium of a few hundred dollars. There will
ofcourse be a very select few 8 digit solid notes coming
about soon with prinitng runs occuring in 2011. Solid radars
also exist Examples:

 AA 11 111 111 (8 digit solid - extremely rare) 1 in every

999,999 notes

 AA 11 222 222 (6 digit solid - rare) 1 in every 111,111

notes

 AA 05 111 222 (semi solid - rare) 1 in 11,111 notes - not

overly demanded

 AA 06 455 555 (still considered semi-solid to some) 1

in every 11,111 notes - not overly demanded unless paper

 AA 12 222 221 (solid radar note, extremely rare) 1 in

every 999,999 notes

The 1 in a million notes are definitely nice and very

overlooked in my opinion. To see how this works lets do the
maths. For a note to be 8 digit solid, the year must be same
digit, aka 2000, 2011, 2022, 2033 - so every 11 years the
chance comes along. To be a solid, all the other digits must
be the same as the digits of the year. For 2011 (AA 11 as am
example) there is only one note that fits that - the one with
the serial 111 111. therefore 1 in 999,999 notes (technically 1
in a million because they do not release 000 000). For a
note to be an 8 digit solid radar the note must end in the
opposite to the year, so for 2006 (AA06) the last two digits
must be 60. The only number that makes a solid in the
centre is the number 666 66, only found on note 666 660 to
666 669 (but we need 60 for the year) meaning, like the 8
digit solid, only 1 in 999,999 notes. For paper notes, solids
are extremely rare, and generally values are opposite to that
of polymers (being that for polymer notes, $5/$10/$20
notes do better over face value for solids than $50 or $100
notes). The higher the denomination, the more valuable
with papers usually. This is because long ago when
collecting wasn't a big thing, if people found a $1 or a $2
note with a solid serial it was easy to keep being small face
value. Higher denomination notes with cool serials weren't
really kept because of the higher associated cost for
something which back then was "cool" to have but not really
collected. Also, let it be known that the number of UNC
Johnston Fraser $2 and Johnston Stone $1 notes is
immense, id estimate at a bare minimum quarter million of
each are perfectly preserved through private collections and
dealers, So fancy numbers - solids especially can be easily
 pulled from these in UNC condition. In addition to this,
older notes - COA's wheeler's knight's etc are also more
desirable. A recent trend is the collection of semi solid notes
in the paper series where 5 digits out of 6 are the same.
More desirable if its a lead or lag digit, such as 211111 or
111112. However serials such as 121111 and 666646 or
333433 etc are also becoming more and more collected.
These are quite nice to have with consecutive prefixes.
Ladder Notes - when numbers go up or down. Also can be
found as radars, can be up, down or both. Can also have
double digit ladders. Most of these do not have a premium,
however in the U.S a full ladder note is highly valuable
($1000's) Examples:

 AA 06 123 456 (6 digit ladder)

 AA 01 234 567 (8 digit ladder)

 AA 06 654 321 (6 digit descending)

 AA 98 765 432 (8 digit descending)

 AA 12 344 321 (ladder radar 8 digit)

8 digit ladders are extremely rare, equal with 8 digit solid

serials, being 1 in 999,999 notes, however not all notes have
them, as the year can only be 98 or 12. The next opportunity
is in 2023 for AA 23 456 789. This actually makes the rarity
 of these notes much higher. High and low serials - self
explanatory, I don't know who really decides what is
deemed high or low, up to the individual I presume.

 AA 06 000 005 (low serial, I believe anything under 5

is low)

 AA 06 999 995 (high serial, I believe anything above 95

as high)

For paper serials, anything last digit I think

 AAA 000009 or lower

 AAA 999990 or higher

Serials such as 000001 and 999999 demand significant

premiums, usually in excess of $1000 if in UNC condition.
Word Notes - Notes where the prefix makes a word. These
have only really started to pop up recently, or I've only just
noticed them... Only applies to paper notes, where the three
letters form a word in the prefix, such as ACE, ANT, SEX,
BAN, TNT, BOB, ATE, EAT, etc... some are more appealing
than others for obviously reasons. As for a price, i can't put
a figure on it and probably never will be able to because it is
so subjective to individuals. Personally, I won't collect them,
but if I had the option of note A with a word serial and note
B without in the same grade and numbers, id take the word
 serial. I have seen a $20 note on eBay holding the serial
ACE 000001 - and its very cool! Basic percentages in a
run of 999,999 notes

 9 6 digit solid serials or 0.0009%

 1 8 digit solid serial or 0.0001%

 90 radar repeaters 0.009%

 99 8 digit radars 0.01%

 900 radars 0.09%

 900 repeaters 0.09%

 10 Low or high serials 0.001%

 8 True 6 digit ladders 0.0008%

 1 True 8 digit ladder 0.0001%