Having Fun With Serial Numbers

By Neil Shafer, Bank Note Reporter August 31, 2011

This article was originally printed in Bank Note Reporter.
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Notes have serial numbers—so what of it? Most of them have some numeric indicator, and that can’t be much of a story, let alone an article on the subject. Want to bet that there may actually be some real substance to such a thing? Well, if you don’t think so at first, hold on awhile and think of it again after you finish what I’ve written and showed you here—then at that point you may have changed your mind a bit.

I was drawn to the subject of serial numbers as a direct result of an exhibit prepared around 1978 for the Memphis paper money show that was presented by a member of my family. Who was it? Amazingly enough it was my younger son Daniel, who for a very short but intensive few months became interested enough in the subject to consider it a challenge to locate “funny” or strange serial numbers. But even though he had a great and inexhaustible supplier of world notes —me—this particular area of collecting was one where I really could not be of much assistance.

Whereupon Daniel set about finding his own notes at the various conventions he went to with Joel and myself. As an example of what he did, the German 500,000 mark of 1923 you see with this article has an eight-digit radar note he spotted in some miscellaneous assortment he had gone through—pretty good catch I thought. Anyway, I made sure when he took leave of active numismatics that it stayed close to home.

I have to admit that among the first-ever world notes I obtained (around 1954 or thereabouts) is a little Danish private issue of 1811 that I found of unusual interest for only one reason—it bore a handwritten serial number. It is illustrated with this article. As would be expected, over the years my interest in this aspect of paper money collecting has grown, until today it is as strong as any other in the field.

But I still have not shared a lot about what I believe makes numbers so attractive. When you think of a date on a note, how often would you first look at its serial number? In a number of instances the first two digits signify the year, as you can see on modern West African States issues. Sometimes serial numbers also contain the series, making the number look much longer than if only the actual number of the note was involved. Brazilian and Peruvian notes are good examples of issues with such long numbers.

How many times does a serial number have to appear on a note? Of course there is no set figure, but wouldn’t you think one or two is enough? Well, how about five or six? Take a look at notes from the Belgian Congo from the 1940s; I believe serial numbers may appear that many times on some pieces.

There are times when the serial number itself, being in a certain range or with some specific series designator, gives the note a completely different history than its ordinary lookalike counterpart. Some great examples where this situation arises are seen with notes that look like regular French Equatorial Africa issues. These special pieces have prefixes and numbers in a designated range showing them to be issues of the French colonies of Reunion or St. Pierre during World War II. Naturally these special notes are worth a lot more on today’s market than the normally issued pieces.

Another group of wartime issues, now widely known, have to do with a portion of Philippine notes dated 1936 and 1941. The exact story of these very special issues came to my attention as far back as 1959, during the time I was living in the Washington, D.C. area. I had joined the U.S. Air Force Symphony stationed at Bolling Field, participating there from 1955 to mid-1959. The rehearsal schedule allowed me time to pursue a master’s degree in music plus hours per day of research time at the National Archives and Bureau of Engraving. That research concentrated on background data for U.S.-Philippine coin and paper money issues. There was a virtual treasure-trove of material on both aspects, with each becoming a separate book fully covering all the details I was to uncover.

At the Archives I was merrily examining all sorts of documents dating from around 1901 to 1937, when the whole episode came to an abrupt end with a notice in the research pile that from 1937 on the files were all classified SECRET and not available for study. I was totally shocked, but had no choice except to cease my work there.

My next stop was to the Bureau of Engraving, hoping against hope that their files were accessible but since one place was closed I fully expected the next one to be off limits as well. But to my great surprise and glee it turned out to be open for study, and I was simply able to pick up exactly where I had left off at the Archives. Little did I know what surprises lay in store for me.

Factual data regarding Philippine coinage dwindled by the end of 1939, but the background facts behind the clandestine paper money issues of the war were just beginning to unfold. I recall literally stumbling onto the story of how the War and Navy Departments had called for special printings in 1943 and 1944 of 1936-dated and 1941-dated Philippine currency notes. It’s all in the books now, but I remember sitting there, more and more wide-eyed as the full story came out, especially the part about having a certain group tumbled around with floor sweepings, coffee grounds etc. to resemble used notes to drop over the guerrilla fighters. I knew with great elation that I was the first to have found out all these details about occurrences no one ever dreamed had taken place.

And as if you didn’t already know, the reason I relate such a story to you here is because of a single fact: The only distinguishing features separating these special printings from regular notes are their serial number ranges.

There are many other ways of demonstrating the importance of serial numbers on notes. Often certain prefix or suffix letters, or the lack of same, indicate replacement notes. With issues normally using six-digit numbers, the millionth number of each run is usually set by hand, creating a highly sought variety. Then there are errors involving serial numbers; at times such pieces may have a spectacular appearance.

In any discussion of serial numbers we must also include such aspects as the use of different numeral styles, often a quick identifier of the printers. Special printings may be indicated by color variances. Handwritten numbers are most often used in times of emergency. Certain kinds of sequences are sought for their own sake. So you see, there is really a lot more to the study of these numbers than you might have thought.