Interesting Eagle and Star Stamps on This $100 Bill

100 bill front

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!

eagle design 100 dollar bill

Stamp #2: Blue Star with “L” Inside and Upside down “WLV”?

blue star l 100 bill

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!

100 bill back stamps

*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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