Terry D. asks: A friend showed me an unusual silver certificate dollar bill. He received it as pay in the service when stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia. The the two serial numbers are on the front of the bill are different. The second digit differs. I believe it is a 1957 series. He asked if it had any value. He carried it in his wallet for years and it is stained brown from his wallet getting wet. He remembers the government trying to buy them back for double value at the time but he kept this one. Do you have any info on this bill?
Mismatched serial numbers are caused by a jammed counter and are known to exist on both silver certificates and Federal Reserve notes. They have been observed on $1, $2, $5, $10, $20 and at least one instance on a $1,000 note. Mismatched serial numbers are also known on large size (pre 1928) U.S. paper money also, but they are extremely rare.
Though the Bureau of Engraving is quite careful, all kinds of errors appear. There is a strong collector market for error notes. The government has never offered to buy paper money errors from the public and in fact has no mechanism by which to do this except through your local bank. Generally, the tellers who count money, delivered to them by companies such as Brinks, are the source of the most obvious errors. Instead of “turning them in” they sell them to dealers or collectors at a profit. Other errors that require closer scrutiny (such as mismatched serial numbers) often go unnoticed or are found in circulation by knowledgeable collectors.
Value is dependent on condition. Damaged pieces, with stains for example are worth far less than undamaged notes. Approximate Value Range:VG (very good) – CU (crisp uncirculated) – $20 -$100+.
