Dollar Bill Serial Number Checker
Type the serial number from your bill and this page will tell you which collector patterns it matches, how many of the 100 million possible serial numbers share each one, and what the letters around the digits mean.
Everything runs inside your browser. Nothing about your note is uploaded or stored.
Or try an example:
Patterns matched
This serial does not match any of the patterns collectors track. That is the normal result — the great majority of notes in circulation have unremarkable serial numbers, and they are worth exactly their face value as money. Condition, series, and whether the note is a star note can still matter, so it is worth checking those separately.
This tool identifies patterns and reports how common they are. It does not appraise your note — a pattern is only one of several things that set a price, and condition usually matters just as much. See what actually sets the value below.
Where to find the serial number on your bill
On every modern US note the serial number is printed twice on the front, in green ink: once in the upper right area and again in the lower left. The two should match exactly — a mismatch is a classic sign of a doctored or counterfeit note.
The structure depends on the denomination:
| Denomination | Serial format | Example | What the letters mean |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1 and $2 | letter + 8 digits + letter | L 12345678 A | First letter is the Federal Reserve district. Last letter is the block letter. |
| $5 through $100 | 2 letters + 8 digits + letter | MB 12345678 C | First letter identifies the series, second letter is the Federal Reserve district, last letter is the block. |
| Star notes (any denomination) | … 8 digits + * | L 12345678 * | A star replaces the final block letter. See the star note guide. |
The series year itself is not encoded in a way you need to decode — it is printed on the face of the note, to the lower right of the portrait, as "SERIES 2017A" or similar. The letter that follows the year on a redesigned note indicates a change of Treasury signatures rather than a new design.
Every fancy serial number pattern, and how rare each one is
"Fancy serial number" is the collector term for a serial whose digits form a recognisable pattern. The counts below are exact: there are 100,000,000 possible eight-digit combinations, and the third column says how many of them match each pattern. Serial numbers actually start at 00000001, so 00000000 is never printed.
| Pattern | What it looks like | How many of the 100 million | Roughly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solid | 77777777 | 10 | 1 in 10,000,000 |
| Ladder | 12345678 | 6 | 1 in 16,700,000 |
| Super radar | 10000001 | 90 | 1 in 1,100,000 |
| Super repeater | 12121212 | 90 | 1 in 1,100,000 |
| Double quad | 11112222 | 90 | 1 in 1,100,000 |
| Very low serial (1–100) | 00000042 | 100 | 1 in 1,000,000 |
| True binary (0s and 1s only) | 10011001 | 254 | 1 in 394,000 |
| Flipper (reads the same upside down) | 16891689 | 625 | 1 in 160,000 |
| Seven of a kind | 77777771 | 720 | 1 in 139,000 |
| Radar (palindrome) | 12344321 | 10,000 | 1 in 10,000 |
| Repeater | 12341234 | 10,000 | 1 in 10,000 |
| Double pairs | 11223344 | 9,990 | 1 in 10,000 |
| Binary (any two digits) | 75577557 | 11,430 | 1 in 8,700 |
| Six of a kind | 15555556 | 22,680 | 1 in 4,400 |
| Trinary (any three digits) | 12121233 | 695,520 | 1 in 144 |
Counts are combinatorial totals for the eight-digit number space, calculated by exhaustive enumeration. Categories overlap: 10000001 is a super radar, a true binary and a flipper at the same time, which is exactly why overlapping notes attract the most attention.
Birthday and date serials
A serial that reads as a calendar date — 07041776, 12252023, 20260725 — is the most popular entry point into fancy serials, because the appeal is personal rather than mathematical. There is no fixed premium: a date note is worth whatever the person whose date it is will pay. Notes reading 07041776 are the exception and hold broad demand.
A note on leading zeros
Collectors read leading zeros as padding, not as part of a pattern. Serial 00000001 is a very low serial, not a "seven of a kind", and this tool follows that convention. The one place zeros count is in a ladder: 01234567 is a genuine, recognised ladder.
Federal Reserve district letters
The letter immediately before the digits identifies which of the twelve Federal Reserve Banks issued the note. On $1 and $2 notes the same information appears again in the black seal to the left of the portrait, with both the letter and its number. Redesigned $5 and higher notes use a single universal Federal Reserve seal, so the serial letter is the only place the district appears.
| Letter | Number | Federal Reserve Bank |
|---|---|---|
| A | 1 | Boston |
| B | 2 | New York |
| C | 3 | Philadelphia |
| D | 4 | Cleveland |
| E | 5 | Richmond |
| F | 6 | Atlanta |
| G | 7 | Chicago |
| H | 8 | St. Louis |
| I | 9 | Minneapolis |
| J | 10 | Kansas City |
| K | 11 | Dallas |
| L | 12 | San Francisco |
District alone rarely changes what a note is worth. It matters when you are assembling a district set — one note of a given series from all twelve banks — because some districts print far fewer notes of a given denomination and series than others.
What actually sets the value
A pattern is one input among several. In rough order of how much they move a price:
- Condition. The gap between a folded note and a crisp uncirculated one is usually larger than the gap between two adjacent pattern tiers. A circulated radar may bring a few dollars; the same serial uncirculated can bring many times that. See the grading guide.
- How strong the pattern is. Solids and ladders are in a different category from radars and repeaters, which are in turn well above trinaries.
- Overlap. Notes hitting two or three patterns at once — a low-serial star note, a binary radar — draw bidders from more than one collecting speciality.
- Star note status. A star note always adds something, and a star from a genuinely short print run can matter more than the pattern itself.
- Denomination and series. A pattern on a $1 note is the most common case, because $1 notes are printed in the largest quantities. The same pattern on a $50 or $100 is scarcer, and older series are scarcer again.
- Third-party grading. For anything genuinely rare, a graded holder from a recognised service turns a claim about condition into a documented one, and that is what lets a note reach its full price at auction.
Before you do anything else: if your note matches a strong pattern, stop handling it. Do not flatten folds, do not clean it, do not tape anything. Put it in an archival currency sleeve. Pressing, washing and trimming are all detectable and all reduce what a note is worth — often to less than it would have brought untouched.
How to find out what yours is worth
This tool deliberately does not print a dollar figure, because any honest number depends on the specific note in front of you and on what the market is doing this month. The reliable way to price a fancy serial is to look at what comparable notes have actually sold for:
- Search completed and sold listings on major auction sites for your exact pattern name plus the denomination and series — "1 dollar radar serial 2017" rather than a generic search.
- Check the archives of the specialist currency auction houses, which publish past results.
- For a note you believe is genuinely rare, get an opinion from a dealer who is a member of a recognised numismatic trade body before you list it anywhere.
Treat asking prices with caution. Anyone can list a note at any price; only completed sales tell you what buyers pay.
Serial number questions
Do the two serial numbers on a bill have to match?
Yes. Both printings of the serial on the face of a genuine note are identical. If the upper-right and lower-left serials differ, the note has either been altered or is counterfeit. It is one of the quickest checks you can make, and it takes a second — see the counterfeit detection guide for the rest.
Can two different bills have the same serial number?
Yes, and it is normal. A serial number is only unique in combination with the denomination, series, district letter and block letter. Once a block runs from 00000001 to 99999999, the block letter advances and the digits start over, so the same eight digits reappear in a different block. Genuine duplicates within the same block do occur as printing errors and are collectable in their own right.
What does a star at the end of my serial number mean?
It marks a replacement note. When a sheet is damaged during production, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing prints a replacement rather than reusing the serial, and that replacement carries a star in place of the final block letter. Star notes are always scarcer than regular notes, but how much scarcer depends on the size of the print run they came from. The star note guide explains how to interpret run size.
Is a low serial number valuable?
Single and double-digit serials are genuinely scarce and sought after. Below 100 there is a consistent premium; below 1,000 a smaller one; below 10,000 a modest one. Above that, low serials stop being remarkable. Condition matters throughout — a worn 00000007 is still interesting, but an uncirculated one is in a different price bracket entirely.
Does the Federal Reserve district make my bill rare?
Not usually on its own. All twelve districts issue notes in large numbers. District becomes relevant when a particular bank printed an unusually small quantity of a given denomination and series, and when collectors are completing a twelve-district set.
Can I look my serial number up in a database of valuable serials?
No such official database exists, and sites promising an instant valuation from a serial number alone cannot deliver one — the serial does not carry condition, and condition is half the answer. What can be checked, and what this page does, is whether the digits form a pattern collectors pay for, and how rare that pattern is.
Keep going
How serial numbers are structured
The full anatomy of a modern serial, block letters, and how numbering runs progress.
Star notes
Why replacement notes exist, how to read a print run, and when a star is genuinely scarce.
Grading and condition
The grading scale from Poor to Gem Uncirculated, and what separates one grade from the next.
Starting a collection
Choosing a focus, storing notes properly, and avoiding the usual beginner mistakes.
Sources and method
- Serial number structure, district letters and star note practice: Bureau of Engraving and Printing and Federal Reserve published descriptions of US currency.
- Pattern rarity counts: exhaustive enumeration of all 100,000,000 eight-digit combinations. Every figure in the table above is a computed total, not an estimate.
- Pattern names follow established collector usage. Where usage varies between collectors, the more widely used name is given.
No valuation on this page is a formal appraisal. For a binding value on a specific note, consult a professional currency dealer or grading service.