Hey CT Paper Money experts I have a question about plate position numbers. Are there many collectors out there who collect notes based on plate position numbers? If so what types of plate numbers or combos make it collectible. The limited research I did indicated that each note is printed 3 times the reverse, the obverse and the 3rd print being seal and serial numbers. I have a note that has all 3 plate positions as #1 how rare is that I also have one that is 1-2-3. I'll try to get some photos up a little later but was hoping someone could shed some light on this. Thanks in advance!
I'll be honest, plate numbers never really grabbed my attention, but I won't speak for others. I did go out of my way to find some "295" fort worth error notes, but that was the extent of it for me. I also see Schwartz and Lindquist listing prices based on printing runs, but that never piqued my interest either.
i agree with gatzdon... i never heard anyone collect by plate number. I;m not saying it doesnt exist i just never heard of it. also, i have no idea how rare a note with all 1's... I will say this ... if you enjoy collecting that way .. who are we to say otherwise. Collect how and what ever makes you giddy i know i do
You seem to be confusing the ideas of "plate position" and "plate number".... The plate numbers identify the particular face plate and back plate used to print a given note. The plate position identifies where the note was located on its original sheet, and is also engraved into the face plate. The third printing, of the seals and serial numbers (better to just call it the "overprinting" now, as the new Kodachrome designs have *four* printing operations), doesn't have any of these identifying numbers in it. Before Series 1957, the plate position is a single letter. Beginning with Series 1957, the notes are printed in sheets of 32, so there aren't enough letters to label all the positions; that's why they're now letter/number pairs instead. (You can tell somebody doesn't know what they're talking about when they say a modern note is from e.g. "position B" without giving the number. In particular, most of the TPGs do this.) But these numbers only range from 1 through 4, so getting a number 1 isn't very exciting. Plate numbers, on the other hand, can get well up into the thousands on some older notes. More recently, the BEP has decided to restart them at 1 with each new series, so they don't usually get past a few hundred. On the other hand, relatively short series will have mostly very low plate numbers--in the extreme case, the 1963 $2 plates only got up to 3. But on a relatively long series, a note with 1/1 plates might be scarce enough that some collectors would pay a slightly increased premium for it. Some specific notes are typically collected by plate number combinations; web notes and FW295 errors come to mind here. This sort of collecting usually only catches on when the set of combinations is small enough to be manageable; I'm not aware of anyone trying to collect an entire $1 FRN series in such a way, or anything like that. Certain individual plates are interesting because of some error or feature specific to the plate, like the aforementioned FW295 plate. Other examples are some of the late-finished plates in the 1934/34A notes, or the 1974 $1 back plate 905, which was misnumbered (it should have been 1905, and the number 905 is far lower than any other found on 1974 $1's).
Thanks Numbers your right I was referring to plate numbers. The reason I started this thread is I'm a coin guy don't know much about paper money and I sold some paper currency for a friend a while back on eBay and someone had sent a question asking what the little number was on the back of the note under the E in the word one. I never asked him why just let him know what it was. Since then I now have a habit of checking my paper money now like I do my pocket change. LOL Anyway I found a fairly crisp 2006 $1 bill with plate numbers D1 upper left fw D1 lower right and 1 on the reverse under the E. Thought that was a little unusual so was just curious if anyone else payed attention to plate numbers. I've since found another one 2006 $1 bill H1 upper left fw H2 lower right and 3 on the reverse. I think I'll just keep checking them and saving the ones with these rare patterns something new. LOL Thanks again!
out of order plate number. 1,2,3,5,6,4 . is it a error. when the serial numbers are 1,2,3,4,5,6.on the plates.
I do have a friend who collects notes with Face Plate =1 or Back Plate = 1; he gets real excited with a 1/1 combination.
Hello, what are the chances all 3 plate numbers on a dollar bill being the same number? Front letter/number, front plate serial number, and back plate serial number. Is there a market? Thanks in advance for your help
Hello CT World, I have 2 $20 bills from W& FW. The front plate numbers are a mix of macro and micro. Is this common now? Also misalignment and bold numbers on another $20 bill.. is it close enough to call it an error?
Interesting question @Grbose. I collect currency, but the only time I even bother to look at position numbers is when I'm dealing with an error, like misaligned cut, or shifted print.
@Numbers has deftly articulated how plate #'s work (that they identify the position of the note on the sheet & which plate was used). It can be relevant: a) to identify WEB pressed notes as discussed in that thread (where the plate # is actually in a different position (take a look at the thread) b) to identify errors (as @Numbers explained) once an error has been identified the plate # are usually noted & the search to find others kicks into gear c) to identify "mules" Think of a "mule" as a mix breed note where the backplate was too worn to continue & another substitute back plate had to be employed. Usually the 'experts' document what back plate numbers to look out for. I used to think that the back plate numbers were high for mules but saw on another forum, this isn't necessarily the case (they're documented in the catalogues). So, I'm just learning about "mules" & if there's anybody else out there who'd like to add- please do.
I think you may have misinterpreted Hommer's "no." You asked two questions, and I think his response was to the second, "Is it...an error?" Your first question was whether the mix of large and small print was common. The answer to that is a definite yes. All of the bills printed in Forth Worth have that small FW on them, like a mint-mark on a coin. Those without are printed in D.C. The bill is a common $20 bill and is worth $20.
Thank you everyone for the help.. My question in 2 parts: #1- micro and macro..both 20 dollar bills have a large and small face plate within the # ..top corner number Fw 48 the 4 is smaller than the 8, and the W 245 the 4 is smaller than the 2 and 5.. is this common?.. #2- for the misalignment bottom right almost touching the #20.. I now understand what @Hommer no is it is not close enough to be an error note.. You are all helpful thanks again for the time, help and input.. Happy hunting
