Does Your $20 Bill Have a Star On It? Could Be Worth More Than $20

(KMDL-FM) Perhaps over this holiday gift-giving season, you were gifted the second greatest gift of all, cash. If you were gifted a $20 bill, the one with Andrew Jackson on it, before you spend it, you need to check that note to see if it is what numismatists, or coin collectors, would be willing to pay a lot more than face value for.

In the world of coin collecting, what makes a piece rare or extremely collectible is often a mistake in the minting process. Sometimes the dates are double-stamped, or the mint mark is incorrect. Or in the case of the $20 bills you might have in your possession, they are replacement bills for money that didn't meet the standards of the United States Mint.

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Granted, some coins and bills are extremely valuable just because they are rare. That rarity is brought on by various reasons, but in the case of these particular $20 bills, the reason they are "rare" is that they have a star where part of the serial number should go.

What Is a Star Note? How Much are They Worth?

If you look at any United States Legal Tender Notes, you will notice there is a serial number for each bill. The reason for the numbers is so that those in charge of creating money for the U.S. money supply know exactly how much money they have printed.

As we mentioned, when the Bureau of Engraving and Printing reviews the money they have printed, they do a serious quality control check. If there are tears, smudges, or other errors on the bill, it is destroyed. However, that serial number still needs to be represented in the list of bills that were created.

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When a replacement bill is minted instead of a final letter of the alphabet for its last character in its serial number, the letter is replaced by a star. The bills are called "Star Notes" for that reason, and collectors love them.

Star Notes represent less than 1% of the notes that are printed. It's this built-in scarcity that makes them very attractive to collectors. But not every Star Note you have in your possession will make you rich. In fact, many of the Star Notes are worth their face value only, but there are exceptions.

How Much More Than Face Value is a Star Note to Collectors?

The rarity of a Star Note is determined by how many replacement notes had to be produced. A replacement run of less than 640,000 is considered to be "small" in the minds of collectors. Some replacement runs have produced as few as 16,000 Star Notes, making those incredibly collectible.

If you've discovered that you have a Star Note in your possession, here's how you can find out its approximate value on the open market. Use this Star Note Lookup tool. Remember, it doesn't have to be a $20 bill; it could be any U.S. Banknote.