Fancy Serial Number Price Guide
A fancy serial number price guide estimates what a patterned banknote is worth by pattern and condition. Because paper-money prices swing with grade and demand, every figure here is a range rather than a fixed number, and each row is labelled with how confident the estimate is.
Enter your bill’s 8-digit serial number above to see its rarity score, any matched patterns and an estimated value range. Nothing is uploaded. The check runs entirely in your browser.
Value chart by pattern and condition
Estimated ranges in US dollars, grouped by rarity tier. Each row shows a confidence rating; see the notes below the table.
| Pattern | Circulated | Very Fine | Uncirculated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solid | no recorded sales | no recorded sales | $6,325–$9,6002 sales · indicative |
| Ladder | no recorded sales | no recorded sales | $660–$3,6003 sales · indicative |
| Radar | no recorded sales | $40–$2884 sales · indicative | $228–$48029 sales |
| Binary | no recorded sales | $55–$1563 sales · indicative | $84–$37814 sales |
| Broken ladder | no recorded sales | no recorded sales | $89–$3123 sales · indicative |
| Low serial (under 1000) | no recorded sales | no recorded sales | $116–$2952 sales · indicative |
| Repeater | no recorded sales | $53–$531 sale · indicative | $135–$2238 sales |
| Birthday note | $20–$201 sale · indicative | $5–$51 sale · indicative | $14–$5410 sales |
| Low serial (under 100) | no recorded sales | no recorded sales | no recorded sales |
| Super radar | no recorded sales | no recorded sales | no recorded sales |
Last updated 2026-09-09.
Bands are the range of recorded sold prices. “Indicative” marks a small sample: what has been paid, not a reliable market range. Blank combinations have no recorded sales and are left empty rather than guessed.
How to use this price guide
This page leads with numbers. The chart above sets out an estimated value range for every pattern the checker detects, split across three conditions (circulated, very fine and uncirculated) and grouped by rarity tier so the scarcest patterns sit at the top. Read across a row to see how much condition changes the outcome for one pattern, and down a tier to compare patterns of similar scarcity.
Treat the ranges as a fancy serial number chart for orientation, not a quote. Two notes with the same pattern can sell for very different sums depending on eye appeal, grading and who happens to be bidding that day.
If you need to identify the pattern on a specific note before you price it, run the serial through the fancy serial number value checker on our homepage, then come back to the matching row here.
What estimate and indicative mean
Every row carries a confidence label. "Estimate" means the figure is a placeholder or rests on thin data: a sensible starting range, but one to treat with caution. "Indicative" means the range is backed by a reasonable sample of recent sold listings and is firmer, though still a range and not a promise.
Right now most rows read "estimate" because the underlying sold-listing dataset is still being assembled. As real results are gathered for each pattern and grade, rows move to "indicative" and gain a specific source. Nothing here is invented to fill a gap; where the data is thin, the label says so plainly.
What drives fancy serial number value
Four forces set the price of a patterned note, and the pattern itself is only one of them. Weigh all four before you settle on a figure.
- Condition. A crisp, uncirculated note can be worth several times the same note after years in a wallet, which is why the chart splits every pattern by grade.
- Denomination. A pattern on a $100 note starts from a higher base than the same pattern on a $1 note.
- Rarity of the pattern. A solid or a true ladder is far scarcer than a radar or a birthday date, and scarcity sets the ceiling.
- Demand. Some patterns are simply more wanted than others, and collector fashion shifts over time.
Star notes add a further premium because replacement notes are printed in smaller numbers. The checker flags a star automatically and factors it into the score, so a starred note usually sits above the plain range shown here.
How the tiers break down
The chart sorts patterns into rarity tiers so you can see the shape of the market at a glance. Exceptional patterns such as solids and true ladders are the trophies, changing hands infrequently and commanding the widest ranges. Very rare patterns like super radars and single-digit low serials follow close behind.
Below them, radars, repeaters and mid-tier low serials are the workhorses of the hobby: genuinely collectible, widely traded and far more affordable. Birthday dates and trinaries fill the common tier, where the appeal is often personal rather than financial. Use this fancy serial number list of tiers to set your expectations before you look at a single price.
How to read the market yourself
The most reliable way to value a note is to look at what comparable notes have actually sold for. Search completed sold listings for the same pattern, denomination and grade, and ignore optimistic asking prices that never closed. Recent auction results range widely, so gather several data points rather than anchoring on one.
For anything genuinely scarce, third-party grading from a recognised service makes a note easier to sell and usually lifts the price, because buyers trust an independent grade. Start from the ranges here, then confirm against live sales before money changes hands.
Sources
Value ranges are built from realised sale prices, not asking prices. Figures are currently placeholders while the sold-listing dataset is assembled.
- Heritage Auctions
- Stack's Bowers
- eBay sold listings
- BEP production reports
- PMG and PCGS grading standards
Related guides
- What is a fancy serial number?
The full taxonomy of patterns, explained on the hub page.
- Low serial number values
How the three low-serial tiers are priced.
- Radar and super radar prices
What palindrome serials tend to fetch.
Comments
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