Tuesday, May 21

Your $20 Bill Could Be Worth More Than You Imagine: How to Find Out

Avatar of Lore Ramírez

By Lore Ramirez

Apr 30, 2024, 4:30 PM EDT

It’s time to go get your wallet and Check if you have $20 dollar bills, as some of them could be worth more than you imagine and by spending them you could be losing money. Yeah Have you ever wondered if your $20 bills are special? and they could hide a “treasure”, here we are going to share with you what you have to check.

Keep reading to learn more about the Things you should check and how to look for them to know if your $20 bill is more valuable than it seems. It will take a few minutes, but it’s worth making sure what the market value is.

How do you know if a $20 dollar bill is valuable?

The simplest way to know if your $20 dollar bill is worth more than you think is to find the lookup value of the serial number.

How to find the serial number of a ticket?

One of the More practical ways to find a banknote serial number is by using an online tool like Fancy Serial Checker or Banknote Serial Checker; In the latter you will only have to enter the serial number of the $20 dollar bill and other details such as its denomination, to discover if your bill is rare or common.

This tool even provides a link to eBay where you can See similar $20 bills on sale; something very convenient when you are trying to estimate the value of a particular bill. And if this is your case and you find a $20 dollar bill that appears to be worth more than face value, you can put it up for sale on eBay, Heritage Auctions or save it as part of your special collection.

The serial number on your $20 bill will help you figure out if it is more valuable or not.
Credit: Keith Srakocic | AP

What is the banknote serial number?

The serial number is a unique combination of 11 numbers and letters that appears twice in different places on the front of the banknotes.. The first letter indicates the year of the series, also known as the year the Secretary of the Treasury approved the design, but could also indicate the year a new secretary or treasurer’s signature was added to the bill’s design.

Year of the series

The first letters of a banknote serial number correspond to a year and here is a breakdown that can serve as a guide:

  • A: 1996
  • B: 1999
  • C: 2001
  • D: 2003
  • E: 2004
  • F: 2003A
  • G: 2004A
  • H: 2006
  • I: 2006
  • J: 2009
  • K: 2006A
  • L: 2009A
  • M: 2013
  • N: 2017
  • Q: 2017A
  • Q: 2021

Why do some banknotes have a star?

Some bills have a star instead of the final letter and this happens well, an imperfect sheet is found during the manufacturing process and it is necessary to replace it with a star sheet. lStar banknotes have their own unique serial number with a star and could be more valuable than those who do not have it.

What are special or ‘fancy’ serial numbers?

According to Paper Money Guaranty, a third-party bill grading service, Sophisticated or fancy serial numbers are those special serial numbers as repeaters or super pedigrees. Those bills with ‘fancy’ serial numbers are considered more valuable and these are the types that PMG recognizes:

  • Superpedigree: When the serial number prefix is ​​what makes the serial number super.
  • Combinations: When sophisticated serial numbers are combined, such as radar, repeater and rotator.
  • Rotator serial number: When the serial number does not change when read backwards.
  • Solid serial number: The entire number is made up of the same number except the prefix.
  • Serial Number 1-10: A serial number that is one of the first 10 banknotes printed.
  • Repeater Serial Number: At least two digits are repeated at least twice within the serial number.
  • Radar Serial Number: A serial number that reads the same forward and backward.
  • Serial number 81 million: A serial number with a number from 1 to 100 followed by six zeros.
  • Binary serial number: Serial numbers that contain only ones and zeros.
  • Ascending and descending ladder serial numbers: These serial numbers increase from low to high or high to low.

Quickly verifying the serial number of your $20 bill could make a difference

Although most of your $20 bills probably aren’t worth more than face value, there’s a chance they may be, and the best thing is that your bill doesn’t have to be very old. You just have to look around eBay to realize that there are bills of all denominations that were printed in 2017 and range from hundreds to thousands of dollars. Checking your $20 bills will only take a few minutes and that small period of research could generate you a considerable amount of money.

Keep reading:
– What are the 7 most valuable banknotes you could sell in 2024?
– $1 dollar bills that can be worth up to $150,000 dollars
– How dirty are the bills in circulation?