Web Notes
The BEP's experimental web-fed press was used from 1992 to 1996 to print $1 notes in Series 1988A, 1993, and 1995. This press was intended to speed production by printing both sides of the notes in a single pass, on a continuous roll or "web" of paper rather than the 32-note sheets used by the standard presses. But the notes printed on the web press were sometimes of rather poor quality, and the press itself was unreliable and broke down too often, so the experiment was declared a failure.
The $1 notes printed on the web press can be identified by several differences in detail. On an ordinary note from a sheet-fed press, the back plate number will be located at the lower right corner of the central white space; the face plate number will be preceded by one or more letters; and a position indicator will appear near the upper left of the face of the note. On a web note, the back plate number will be located just to the right of TRUST; the face plate number will appear alone, with no preceding letters; and the position indicator will be absent. The scans below illustrate these differences.
| Sheet-fed (normal) note | Web note | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |  |  | |
The following table lists serial numbers of the notes printed on the web-fed press, in order of production.
| Series | Block | Run(s) | Serial Numbers | Date Printed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988A | B..L | 6 (part) | (see below) | May 92 |
| F..* | 3 (part) | (see below) | Jun 92 | |
| F..L | 12 | F 704 00001 L - F 768 00000 L | Jul 92 | |
| 14 | F 832 00001 L - F 896 00000 L | Jul 92 | ||
| F..M | 1 | F 000 00001 M - F 064 00000 M | Jul 92 | |
| F..N | 10-12 | F 576 00001 N - F 768 00000 N | Sep 92 | |
| C..A | 11-12 | C 640 00001 A - C 768 00000 A | Sep 92 | |
| A..E | 5 | A 256 00001 E - A 320 00000 E | Nov 92 | |
| 7 | A 384 00001 E - A 448 00000 E | Nov 92 | ||
| 10 | A 576 00001 E - A 640 00000 E | Nov 92 | ||
| A..F | 1-2 | A 000 00001 F - A 128 00000 F | Dec 92 | |
| E..I | 8-10 | E 448 00001 I - E 640 00000 I | Feb 93 | |
| E..K | 8-10 | E 448 00001 K - E 640 00000 K | Apr 93 | |
| A..F | 14-15 | A 832 00001 F - A 960 00000 F | Jun 93 | |
| A..G | 1-3 | A 000 00001 G - A 192 00000 G | Jun 93 | |
| G..P | 8-9 | G 448 00001 P - G 576 00000 P | Jul 93 | |
| G..Q | 8 | G 448 00001 Q - G 512 00000 Q | Aug 93 | |
| F..U | 9 | F 512 00001 U - F 576 00000 U | Oct 93 | |
| 11 | F 640 00001 U - F 704 00000 U | Oct 93 | ||
| 15 | F 896 00001 U - F 960 00000 U | Oct 93 | ||
| F..V | 2 | F 064 00001 V - F 128 00000 V | Oct 93 | |
| 4 | F 192 00001 V - F 256 00000 V | Oct 93 | ||
| 7 | F 384 00001 V - F 448 00000 V | Oct 93 | ||
| 10 | F 576 00001 V - F 640 00000 V | Oct 93 | ||
| 13 | F 768 00001 V - F 832 00000 V | Oct 93 | ||
| 15 | F 896 00001 V - F 960 00000 V | Oct 93 | ||
| 1993 | B..H | 4 | B 192 00001 H - B 256 00000 H | May 95 |
| 7 | B 384 00001 H - B 448 00000 H | May 95 | ||
| C..A | 7 | C 384 00001 A - C 448 00000 A | Jun 95 | |
| 9 | C 512 00001 A - C 576 00000 A | Jun 95 | ||
| 1995 | A..C | 6-7 | A 320 00001 C - A 448 00000 C | Sep 95 |
| D..C | 11 | D 640 00001 C - D 704 00000 C | Nov 95 | |
| F..D | 14-15 | F 832 00001 D - F 960 00000 D | Dec 95 | |
| B..H | 6 | B 320 00001 H - B 384 00000 H | Apr 96 | |
| 8 | B 448 00001 H - B 512 00000 H | Apr 96 | ||
| A..D | 13 (part) | (see below) | Jul 96 |
The first run of web notes, Series 1988A block B..L run 6, had some normal sheet-fed notes mixed in. The web notes, actually making up less than a third of the run, are the last 60,000 of each 200,000 serial numbers in the run. The serial number range for this run is B 320 00001 L to B 384 00000 L. So serial numbers 320 00001 to 321 40000 are sheet-fed notes, 321 40001 to 322 00000 are web press notes, 322 00001 to 323 40000 are sheet-fed notes, 323 40001 to 324 00000 are web press notes, and so on to the end of the run.
Similarly, the last run of web notes, Series 1995 block A..D run 13, also had some sheet-fed notes mixed in. In this case, the run consists mostly of web notes; the sheet-fed notes are only the first 20,000 of each 200,000 serial numbers in the run. This run covers serial numbers A 768 00001 D to A 832 00000 D. So serial numbers 768 00001 to 768 20000 are sheet-fed notes, 768 20001 to 770 00000 are web press notes, 770 00001 to 770 20000 are sheet-fed notes, 770 20001 to 772 00000 are web press notes, and so on to the last web note, A 832 00000 D.
There were 640,000 web notes in Series 1988A with serial numbers in the F..* block. Their serial numbers are the last 20,000 of each 100,000 numbers from F 064 00001 * to F 096 00000 *. That is, they bear serial numbers 064 80001 through 065 00000, 065 80001 through 066 00000, and so on to 095 80001 through 096 00000. These notes were actually produced by mistake; the BEP had not intended to use web press notes as replacements. Most of the web star notes were still in the BEP's possession when the error was discovered, and so were destroyed before reaching circulation.
Main Page