Interesting Eagle and Star Stamps on This $100 Bill
I received the above bill in a Craigslist transaction over the weekend (I’m on a mission to list one thing a week there to help declutter and make some side $$$!), and when I turned it around I found two pretty interesting designs stamped on it.
Stamp #1: Eagle’s head!
Stamp #2: Blue Star with “L” Inside and Upside down “WLV”?
I have absolutely no idea what either of the symbols mean, but I’m halfway tempted to hold onto it just to be added to my collection :) Is it worth keeping $100 out of circulation though?? And do these stamps really make it worth anything more?
You may get lucky and find someone willing to pay a small premium for it if they collect such things, but it’s probably a long shot. Technically stamps and doodles/writings ruin collectible value! So instead I’ll just submit it over to my friend Richard over at MoneyGraffiti.com and then throw it into my savings and watch it grow.
It was a fun thing to find in circulation though!
*UPDATE* I posted this up on Reddit and two awesome commenters helped decode the purpose of these stamps:
From O2C:
Those are chop marks. Money changers will sometimes mark their bills with their stamp when it passes through their hands. This is their way of identifying it as not counterfeit both when it’s out in circulation and if it comes back into their hands.
From zcs90:
These stamps are from money exchangers in foreign countries. Counterfeit U.S. Currency is much more rampant in South America and Africa, where these stamps are most likely from. The local exchangers would stamp the bills to show the locals they are authentic, like a chopmark.
I should have guessed this since I have about half a dozen COINS with chopmarks on them (hah!) but for whatever reason it escaped me… So thanks guys! And for those reading this right now, check out Reddit’s sub-categories for paper money collectors and coin collectors. Lots of knowledge (and fun) in those forums :)
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About The Author
Jay
I love coins, beer, and my kids. Not particularly in that order :) You can check out all of my online projects here: jmoney.biz.
Great find, J$;). I’d love to know the story behind it, too. Now that you’ve made it famous, it may be worth a premium to some collector. Before you part with it, it’d be worth finding out; holding on to it may pay you higher dividends in the long run than interest in a savings account. Let’s discuss . . . !
You can have it for face value if you’d like :) Come down and visit me over some coffee!
A further thought on your statement that, “Technically stamps and doodles/writings ruin collectible value!”
I wish you’d tell that to the money-stamping political protest group that I’ve been nagging on Twitter and in various articles: http://www.budgetsaresexy.com/2014/04/is-it-or-is-it-not-illegal-to-draw-on-dollars/
(BTW, they’ve blocked me from following them so I can no longer see their tweets; but I suspect that they’re still actively recruiting people to muck up our money supply.) Since I can no longer monitor them, maybe you or your readers can keep me posted on their activities?
Hah! They got tired of you, did they? :)
You already know where I stand on that stuff so I won’t comment there, but I will say that for the purposes of collecting anything that modifies a coin/bill is usually bad. Of course with some exceptions.
Have you ever seen a 100 with a star on the back of it I never seen one that had a star on back I would post a pic but don’t know how to
Not so much that they got tired of me but as someone suggested to me, they were concerned that I was causing people to have second thoughts about the legality of rubber-stamping their money. Yesss!
If you ever get a chance to travel overseas, you’ll notice that ANY hundreds you receive from moneychangers will be loaded with these stamps.
Oh, really? That’s pretty cool! Yet another reason to get out and travel more :)
100 dollar bills withh small blue star and blue circle around the star does anybody know what it means?
Neat!
I’m not sure what it means myself, or who/what company stamped it on there, but I know after researching around since this post that unfortunately it doesn’t add any value to the bills unless you happen to find someone who loves and collects them and wants to add a premium to it.
Still, it’s super fascinating to try and figure out the origins of it, so hopefully you keep going and then let us know if you get to the bottom of it :)
Hello, I found many dollar bill with the serial star and twenty, and a hundred dollar bill also. I have a dollar bill with different serial color. And some rare coins.
Cool!
You can check to see how rare those star notes are here :) It means they’re “replaced” notes and some are pretty valuable.
http://www.mycurrencycollection.com/reference/star-notes/lookup
Can anyone help me with this I have a 100 bill an on the back there is a star under the 100 number it doesn’t like like someone stamp it if anyone could help me out it would be a big help
Is the star next to the serial number? If so it’s a “star note” which are replacement notes that get printed to replace faulty ones.
Here’s a good site you can look them up and check out their rarity :)
http://www.mycurrencycollection.com/reference/star-notes/lookup
(If it’s not a star note it’s probably a stamp, unless the star was printed incorrectly on it? Is there just the one star or multiple stars? Star notes should have one next to each serial number. Google “star notes” and see if the star matches in its design or if it’s different)
I got a 100 bill that has a eagle stamp on the front i like to know if this bill worth more money