Sheet Layouts for Special Printings

Nearly all currency produced by the BEP has the serial numbers on each sheet laid out in a consistent pattern. While the patterns have changed occasionally with changes in the BEP's technology, they are broadly consistent for years at a time, applicable to printings of regular notes, star notes, and even uncut sheets for collector sales.

However, a few very small special printings in recent years have used highly nonstandard sheet layouts. Often, these layouts involve the printing of notes in several different serial number blocks, or even notes for several different districts, on a single sheet. The known cases are described below.

Series 1995 $2 Millennium stars

All of these were printed in a single 5000-sheet run, where the first sheet (i.e., the lowest-numbered sheet, which is actually the last sheet printed) was laid out like this:

A1 A 200 00001 *	E1 A 200 05001 *	A3 G 200 00001 *	E3 G 200 05001 *
B1 B 200 00001 *	F1 B 200 05001 *	B3 H 200 00001 *	F3 H 200 05001 *
C1 C 200 00001 *	G1 C 200 05001 *	C3 I 200 00001 *	G3 I 200 05001 *
D1 D 200 00001 *	H1 D 200 05001 *	D3 J 200 00001 *	H3 J 200 05001 *
A2 E 200 00001 *	E2 E 200 05001 *	A4 K 200 00001 *	E4 K 200 05001 *
B2 F 200 00001 *	F2 F 200 05001 *	B4 L 200 00001 *	F4 L 200 05001 *
C2   waste?	G2   waste?	C4   waste?	G4   waste?
D2   waste?	H2   waste?	D4   waste?	H4   waste?

However, the notes printed in position B3 (serials H 200 00001 * through H 200 05000 *) were apparently defective in some way, as they were reprinted in another, even smaller, run. Oddly enough, this replacement run used 1000 sheets, so that the great majority of the positions were apparently wasted:

A1   waste?	E1 H 200 00001 *	A3 H 200 01001 *	E3   waste?
B1   waste?	F1 H 200 02001 *	B3 H 200 03001 *	F3   waste?
C1   waste?	G1 H 200 04001 *	C3   waste?	G3   waste?
D1   waste?	H1   waste?	D3   waste?	H3   waste?
A2   waste?	E2   waste?	A4   waste?	E4   waste?
B2   waste?	F2   waste?	B4   waste?	F4   waste?
C2   waste?	G2   waste?	C4   waste?	G4   waste?
D2   waste?	H2   waste?	D4   waste?	H4   waste?

A note with serial number J 200 05000 * from position D3 has been seen, showing that the serial range of the full printing was actually 200 00001 through 200 10000, and not the perhaps expected 200 00000 through 200 09999. The listings below, therefore, assume that all other printings also have starting serials ending in 01 rather than 00, though this has not been confirmed in any other cases.

Series 2003 $2 premium stars

All of these were printed in a single 8000-sheet run, where the layout of the first sheet was:

A1 A 000 00001 *	E1 D 000 00001 *	A3 G 000 00001 *	E3 J 000 00001 *
B1 A 000 08001 *	F1 D 000 08001 *	B3 G 000 08001 *	F3 J 000 08001 *
C1 B 000 00001 *	G1 E 000 00001 *	C3 H 000 00001 *	G3 K 000 00001 *
D1 B 000 08001 *	H1 E 000 08001 *	D3 H 000 08001 *	H3 K 000 08001 *
A2 C 000 00001 *	E2 F 000 00001 *	A4 I 000 00001 *	E4 L 000 00001 *
B2 C 000 08001 *	F2 F 000 08001 *	B4 I 000 08001 *	F4 L 000 08001 *
C2   waste?	G2   waste?	C4   waste?	G4   waste?
D2   waste?	H2   waste?	D4   waste?	H4   waste?

Notice that the notes for district I all come from positions A4 and B4. These star serials for district I had also been printed for circulation, but serials I 000 00001 * through I 000 16000 * of the circulation printing would all come from position A1. Observed notes with these serials always have positions A4 or B4, so it appears that the first 16,000 notes of the circulation printing were destroyed at the BEP.

Series 2003A $2 premium notes

Each district received its own 1000-sheet run of D-suffix notes. For all districts except I and J, the layout of the first sheet followed this pattern:

A1 _ 200 80001 D	E1 _ 200 84001 D	A3 _ 200 96001 D	E3 _ 201 00001 D
B1 _ 200 81001 D	F1 _ 200 85001 D	B3 _ 200 97001 D	F3 _ 201 01001 D
C1 _ 200 82001 D	G1 _ 200 86001 D	C3 _ 200 98001 D	G3 _ 201 02001 D
D1 _ 200 83001 D	H1 _ 200 87001 D	D3 _ 200 99001 D	H3 _ 201 03001 D
A2 _ 200 88001 D	E2 _ 200 92001 D	A4 _ 201 04001 D	E4 _ 201 08001 D
B2 _ 200 89001 D	F2 _ 200 93001 D	B4 _ 201 05001 D	F4 _ 201 09001 D
C2 _ 200 90001 D	G2 _ 200 94001 D	C4 _ 201 06001 D	G4 _ 201 10001 D
D2 _ 200 91001 D	H2 _ 200 95001 D	D4 _ 201 07001 D	H4 _ 201 11001 D

But for districts I and J, the layout used was instead:

A1 _ 201 12001 D	E1 _ 201 16001 D	A3 _ 201 28001 D	E3 _ 201 32001 D
B1 _ 201 13001 D	F1 _ 201 17001 D	B3 _ 201 29001 D	F3 _ 201 33001 D
C1 _ 201 14001 D	G1 _ 201 18001 D	C3 _ 201 30001 D	G3 _ 201 34001 D
D1 _ 201 15001 D	H1 _ 201 19001 D	D3 _ 201 31001 D	H3 _ 201 35001 D
A2 _ 201 20001 D	E2 _ 201 24001 D	A4 _ 201 36001 D	E4 _ 201 40001 D
B2 _ 201 21001 D	F2 _ 201 25001 D	B4 _ 201 37001 D	F4 _ 201 41001 D
C2 _ 201 22001 D	G2 _ 201 26001 D	C4 _ 201 38001 D	G4 _ 201 42001 D
D2 _ 201 23001 D	H2 _ 201 27001 D	D4 _ 201 39001 D	H4 _ 201 43001 D

In both cases, these are really quite normal layouts for 1000-sheet runs; only the starting serials are unusual.

There were also premium notes printed in the H..C through H..G, and H..L, blocks (and likely several additional suffix letters too); each of those blocks used a separate 500-sheet run where the layout of the first sheet was:

A1 H 888 80001 _	E1 H 888 82001 _	A3 H 888 88001 _	E3 H 888 90001 _
B1 H 888 80501 _	F1 H 888 82501 _	B3 H 888 88501 _	F3 H 888 90501 _
C1 H 888 81001 _	G1 H 888 83001 _	C3 H 888 89001 _	G3 H 888 91001 _
D1 H 888 81501 _	H1 H 888 83501 _	D3 H 888 89501 _	H3 H 888 91501 _
A2 H 888 84001 _	E2 H 888 86001 _	A4 H 888 92001 _	E4 H 888 94001 _
B2 H 888 84501 _	F2 H 888 86501 _	B4 H 888 92501 _	F4 H 888 94501 _
C2 H 888 85001 _	G2 H 888 87001 _	C4 H 888 93001 _	G4 H 888 95001 _
D2 H 888 85501 _	H2 H 888 87501 _	D4 H 888 93501 _	H4 H 888 95501 _

Series 2009 $2 Lucky Money sheets

These were produced in four runs of 1250 sheets each. For the first run, the layout of the first sheet was:

A1 K 888 80001 B	E1 K 888 85001 B	A3 K 888 80001 D	E3 K 888 85001 D
B1 K 888 81251 B	F1 K 888 86251 B	B3 K 888 81251 D	F3 K 888 86251 D
C1 K 888 82501 B	G1 K 888 87501 B	C3 K 888 82501 D	G3 K 888 87501 D
D1 K 888 83751 B	H1 K 888 88751 B	D3 K 888 83751 D	H3 K 888 88751 D
A2 K 888 80001 C	E2 K 888 85001 C	A4 K 888 80001 E	E4 K 888 85001 E
B2 K 888 81251 C	F2 K 888 86251 C	B4 K 888 81251 E	F4 K 888 86251 E
C2 K 888 82501 C	G2 K 888 87501 C	C4 K 888 82501 E	G4 K 888 87501 E
D2 K 888 83751 C	H2 K 888 88751 C	D4 K 888 83751 E	H4 K 888 88751 E

The second run was similar, using blocks F, G, H, and I in the four quadrants; the third run used J, K, L, and M; the fourth, N, P, Q, and R.

Series 2009 $2 premium notes

The K..B and K..C blocks each appear to have come from a separate 1000-sheet run, where the layout of the first sheet was:

A1   waste?	E1   waste?	A3 K 201 66001 _	E3 K 201 70001 _
B1   waste?	F1   waste?	B3 K 201 67001 _	F3 K 201 71001 _
C1   waste?	G1   waste?	C3 K 201 68001 _	G3 K 201 72001 _
D1   waste?	H1   waste?	D3 K 201 69001 _	H3 K 201 73001 _
A2   waste?	E2 K 201 62001 _	A4 K 201 74001 _	E4 K 201 78001 _
B2   waste?	F2 K 201 63001 _	B4 K 201 75001 _	F4 K 201 79001 _
C2 K 201 60001 _	G2 K 201 64001 _	C4 K 201 76001 _	G4   waste?
D2 K 201 61001 _	H2 K 201 65001 _	D4 K 201 77001 _	H4   waste?

It seems likely that the last two positions produced 201 8xxxx serials, which may yet be released. An interesting possibility is that 201 5xxxx serials may also have been printed in the first ten positions, and never issued.

Series 1995 $5 Prosperity sheets

These were produced in two runs of 1125 sheets each. For the first run, the layout of the first sheet was:

A1 (A3) H 888 80001 D	E1 (E3) H 888 84501 D	A3 H 888 80001 F	E3 H 888 84501 F
B1 (B3) H 888 81126 D	F1 (F3) H 888 85626 D	B3 H 888 81126 F	F3 H 888 85626 F
C1 (C3) H 888 82251 D	G1 (G3) H 888 86751 D	C3 H 888 82251 F	G3 H 888 86751 F
D1 (D3) H 888 83376 D	H1 (H3) H 888 87876 D	D3 H 888 83376 F	H3 H 888 87876 F
A2 (A4) H 888 80001 E	E2 (E4) H 888 84501 E	A4 H 888 80001 G	E4 H 888 84501 G
B2 (B4) H 888 81126 E	F2 (F4) H 888 85626 E	B4 H 888 81126 G	F4 H 888 85626 G
C2 (C4) H 888 82251 E	G2 (G4) H 888 86751 E	C4 H 888 82251 G	G4 H 888 86751 G
D2 (D4) H 888 83376 E	H2 (H4) H 888 87876 E	D4 H 888 83376 G	H4 H 888 87876 G

The second run was similar, using blocks H, I, J, and K in the four quadrants. For both runs, both sides of COPE were loaded with right half-sheets, so all notes actually have plate positions in quadrants 3 and 4, never 1 or 2.

Series 1995 $10 premium notes

All of these were printed in a single 2000-sheet run, where the layout of the first sheet was:

A1 A 999 96001 Y	E1 A 999 98001 Y	A3 (A1) E 999 96001 Y	E3 (E1) E 999 98001 Y
B1 B 999 96001 Y	F1 B 999 98001 Y	B3 (B1) F 999 96001 Y	F3 (F1) F 999 98001 Y
C1 C 999 96001 Y	G1 C 999 98001 Y	C3 (C1) G 999 96001 Y	G3 (G1) G 999 98001 Y
D1 D 999 96001 Y	H1 D 999 98001 Y	D3 (D1) H 999 96001 Y	H3 (H1) H 999 98001 Y
A2 I 999 96001 Y	E2 I 999 98001 Y	A4 (A2) A 999 92001 Y	E4 (E2) A 999 94001 Y
B2 J 999 96001 Y	F2 J 999 98001 Y	B4 (B2)   waste?	F4 (F2)   waste?
C2 K 999 96001 Y	G2 K 999 98001 Y	C4 (C2)   waste?	G4 (G2)   waste?
D2 L 999 96001 Y	H2 L 999 98001 Y	D4 (D2)   waste?	H4 (H2)   waste?

When this run was printed, both sides of COPE were loaded with left half-sheets, so all notes actually have plate positions in quadrants 1 and 2, never 3 or 4. Note that 8000 notes were printed for district A, but only 4000 for each other district.

Series 1999 $10 premium notes

All of these were printed in a single run, which used at least 2000 sheets. If it was another 2000-sheet run, then the layout of the first sheet would be:

A1 BA 999 96001 Y	E1 BA 999 98001 Y	A3 BE 999 96001 Y	E3 BE 999 98001 Y
B1 BB 999 96001 Y	F1 BB 999 98001 Y	B3 BF 999 96001 Y	F3 BF 999 98001 Y
C1 BC 999 96001 Y	G1 BC 999 98001 Y	C3 BG 999 96001 Y	G3 BG 999 98001 Y
D1 BD 999 96001 Y	H1 BD 999 98001 Y	D3 BH 999 96001 Y	H3 BH 999 98001 Y
A2 BI 999 96001 Y	E2 BI 999 98001 Y	A4   waste?	E4   waste?
B2 BJ 999 96001 Y	F2 BJ 999 98001 Y	B4   waste?	F4   waste?
C2 BK 999 96001 Y	G2 BK 999 98001 Y	C4   waste?	G4   waste?
D2 BL 999 96001 Y	H2 BL 999 98001 Y	D4   waste?	H4   waste?

But I have so far been unable to examine any notes with serials under 999 98000, so I cannot be certain that the run was not longer than 2000 sheets.

Main Page