Expert: Brad Swain - 5/6/2010

Question
Dear Mr. Swain: I have three 1950 star notes ($20). One is a Kansas City issue (J), good crispness and only creases are very small ones on each of the left corners; second is San Francisco (L), some crispness, has a very slight blue ink smudge in bottom right corner; and third is Chicago (G), has some fold creases, very little crispness, some dirt and wear. I hope you are recovering.  Kind Regards, Tom

Answer
Hi Tom, Collector value of a note depends on date, denomination (face value), series letter or signature and condition, including amount of wear, any folds, tears or stains as well as collector demand.
Star note definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_note
When notes are discovered that have been printed incorrectly (such as having the serial numbers upside down, etc.) these misprinted notes (error notes) are replaced with star notes because no two bills can be produced with the same serial number.
The regular 1950 $20 notes may be worth about $20-@5 with wear to maybe $50 without wear (uncirculated). A star note without wear may be worth about $300. Ones with wear depend on the amount as well as collector demand.
You might try Ebay.com for similar pieces for comparison.
U.S. small size paper money values can be found here:
http://coinsite.com/html/uspapermoneyprices(sm).asp
and
http://www.bestcoin.com/U-S-Currency-FAQ-Values.htm
Brad