United States Dollar Star Note

For the very first post on this blog, I will explain what a star note is. Star notes are replacement notes issued by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in order to supplement banknotes damaged during production. Star notes are a lot more rare than ordinary notes, and can be distinguished by the star at the end of the serial number, instead of the typical block letter: A, B, C, etc. (as seen in the top picture). However, there are several star notes that are more readily desired because of their extremely low printings. Star notes can be classified as "rare" if there were 640,000 or less printed.
Even though many star notes are still a lot more rare than ordinary notes, many common runs of over 1,000,000 are not widely collected, and therefore not as valuable. For collectors, the most desirable stars are lower denomination notes, especially $1 bills. Higher denomination, modern star banknotes usually struggle to carry a premium, simply because there is so much value tied up in their nominal worth.

Here is a screenshot of an eBay auction from April 4, 2018. The banknote being auctioned is a rare, J- Kansas City, Missouri District star note coming from a single run of just 250,000. Usually, there are several (large or small) runs for a given district. Therefore, it is most scarce when a banknote originates from an incredibly small, single run.

Condition, district/run size, denomination, and series are four of the most important factors in determining a star note's value. The note below, unfortunately, would only be worth face value. This note would not be desirable for a collector because of the fairly recent series, higher denomination, and graffiti present on the obverse (front of the note), although the low run of 640,000 would certainly be a plus.