Series Year and Federal Reserve Bank Indicators
A new series will result from a change in the Secretary of the Treasury, the Treasurer of the United States, and/or a change to the note's appearance such as a new currency design. After the Secretary of the Treasury changes, a new series year is adopted (e.g. 1999). When the Treasurer of the United States changes, a suffix letter is added to the current series year (e.g. 1999A). Additional changes of the Treasurer, whereby the Secretary of the Treasury remains the same results in subsequent letter changes to the current series year (e.g. 1999B, 1999C, etc.).
On newly designed notes, the series year may appear on the right or the left of the note’s face side. The year in which the currency is actually printed is not indicated on the note.
Beginning with Series 1996 Federal Reserve notes, there are two prefix letters to the serial number. The first prefix letter indicates the series year. The second prefix letter indicates the issuing Reserve Bank. Table 1 (below) shows the relationship of the series year to the first prefix letter serial number. Table 2 (below) shows the relationship of the second prefix letter in the serial number to the Reserve Bank. The last letter of the serial number or suffix letter identifies the number of times that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing used the sequence of serial numbers – A is the first time, B is the second time, C is the third time and so on.
Table 1 – Series Year and Serial Number Relationship
|
Denomination |
Secretary/Treasurer |
Series |
First Prefix Letter |
$20 |
Rubin/Withrow |
1996 |
A |
$50 |
Rubin/Withrow |
1996 |
A |
$100 |
Rubin/Withrow |
1996 |
A |
$1 |
Summers/Withrow |
1999 |
B |
$5 |
Summers/Withrow |
1999 |
B |
$10 |
Summers/Withrow |
1999 |
B |
$20 |
Summers/Withrow |
1999 |
B |
$100 |
Summers/Withrow |
1999 |
B |
$1 |
O'Neill/Marin |
2001 |
C |
$5 |
O'Neill/Marin |
2001 |
C |
$10 |
O'Neill/Marin |
2001 |
C |
$20 |
O'Neill/Marin |
2001 |
C |
$50 |
O'Neill/Marin |
2001 |
C |
$100 |
O'Neill/Marin |
2001 |
C |
$1 |
Snow/Marin |
2003 |
D |
$2 |
Snow/Marin |
2003 |
D |
$10 |
Snow/Marin |
2003 |
D |
$100 |
Snow/Marin |
2003 |
D |
$1 |
Snow/Cabral |
2003A |
F |
$2 |
Snow/Cabral |
2003A |
F |
$5 |
Snow/Cabral |
2003A |
F |
$100 |
Snow/Cabral |
2003A |
F |
$20 |
Snow/Marin |
2004 |
E |
$50 |
Snow/Marin |
2004 |
E |
$10 |
Snow/Cabral |
2004A |
G |
$20 |
Snow/Cabral |
2004A |
G |
$50 |
Snow/Cabral |
2004A |
G |
$5 |
Paulson/Cabral |
2006 |
H |
$100 |
Paulson/Cabral |
2006 |
H |
$20 |
Paulson/Cabral |
2006 |
I |
$5
|
Paulson/Cabral |
2006 |
I |
$1 |
Paulson/Cabral |
2006 |
I |
$10 |
Paulson/Cabral |
2006 |
I |
$50 |
Paulson/Cabral |
2006 |
I |
Table 2 – Reserve Bank and Serial Number Relationship
|
Reserve Bank |
Letter Designation |
Number Designation |
Serial Number
2nd Prefix Letter*
|
Boston |
A |
1 |
A |
New York |
B |
2 |
B |
Philadelphia |
C |
3 |
C |
Cleveland |
D |
4 |
D |
Richmond |
E |
5 |
E |
Atlanta |
F |
6 |
F |
Chicago |
G |
7 |
G |
St. Louis |
H |
8 |
H |
Minneapolis |
I |
9 |
I |
Kansas City |
J |
10 |
J |
Dallas |
K |
11 |
K |
San Francisco |
L |
12 |
L |
* The first letter in the serial number corresponds to the issuing Reserve Bank.
* For $1 and $2 denominations, the first prefix letter of the serial number is the issuing Reserve Bank.