Replacement Note: What It Is and How Countries Mark It

A replacement note is a banknote printed to stand in for one that was spoiled during production, so the count of notes printed stays exact. In the United States, when a sheet is found imperfect after serial numbering, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing replaces it with a star sheet, because reusing the exact serial number would be costly and time-consuming; each star note has its own serial number with a star in place of the suffix letter (BEP). Other countries use a special prefix or letter instead of a star.

From Wikipedia's list of replacement markings:

• United States and India: a star (★) in the serial number
• Canada: an asterisk before the serial until 1975, later 33 or X prefixes
• Argentina: the letter R
• Bahamas, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Guatemala: the letter Z
• Scotland, Hong Kong, Mongolia: ZZ
• Singapore: Z/0 in the serial
• Indonesia: X
• Iraq and Kuwait: a letter/99 prefix
• Serbia: ZA
• Nigeria: DZ
• Egypt: prefix numbers such as 100, 200, 300 and 400

Markings change over time and by series, so check a catalog for your exact note.

Sometimes. Collectors pay more when the replacement run was small and the note is in top condition. For U.S. star notes, runs of 640,000 or fewer are generally treated as scarce, and the largest run is 3,200,000 (My Currency Collection). Many stars found in circulation come from large runs and are common (GovMint). A worn star from a big run is spent like any other bill. Examples of what the star can add, from Greysheet (September 25, 2026): a 1957 $1 silver certificate star is $2–$160 against $1.50–$210 for the regular note, while a 1928-D $1 star is $1,000–$100,000 against $30–$2,500.

If you searched because a bill is torn, burned or chewed, that is mutilated currency, not a replacement note. The BEP redeems mutilated U.S. currency free of charge. It pays full value when clearly more than 50% of a note identifiable as U.S. currency is present, or when 50% or less is present and the evidence shows the missing part was destroyed. It refuses cases involving intentional mutilation or fraud. The BEP receives more than 22,000 such requests a year, worth over $35 million (BEP). Other countries' central banks run their own exchange rules.

Research and drafting for this page were assisted by AI and checked line by line against the sources listed below. Prices are copied from the named price guide or dealer page with its date; where a figure could not be confirmed we say so rather than estimate. If you find an error, tell us and we will correct it.