Star notes can also be used to replace damaged notes after the sheets are cut into 100-packs. It's impossible to find 100 consecutive examples in a row. This causes these star notes to enter circulation much more randomly, and are much more difficult to find in bulk. The stacks of non-mistake notes and replacement sheets continue down the line and eventually get cut into 100-packs. Depending on the mistake they are use to replace, one sheet or a few sheets might be used at a time. They are typically printed in lower quantity - usually 640,000 notes or less per run. The stacks would then continue down the production line and eventually get cut, packed, wrapped, and shipped to a Federal Reserve Bank. If the BEP's automated systems catch the error, that individual sheet would be pulled out of the stack and replaced with a single sheet of star notes. Let's say something went wrong before the cutting process occurred - like a sheet gets folded, over-inked, or a serial number mismatch.

The sheets are later put into stacks of 100 that are then cut into individual 100-packs containing consecutive serial numbers. Paper money is printed in sheets of 32 or 50. The most relevant part to know is that paper money is not printed one bill at a time. They have a useful page detailing the process here. This is an important piece of information in determining the rarity of a star note.īefore digging in further, it's useful to have a basic understanding of how the Bureau of Engraving and Printing produces paper money. The difference between the two types is when in the printing process the star notes are used to replace damaged items. They look exactly same - which is why using the tables and lookup is so important.

The Star Note Lookup and production tables have a 'type' column that shows either 'REGULAR' or 'SHEETS.' If you have a sheet-type star note and a regular-type star note, nothing visible will indicate which is which.

Starnotelookup