The 2013 $1 New York Duplicate Star Note
In Series 2013, the BEP printed $1 New York (district B) star notes at both Washington, DC and Fort Worth using overlapping serial numbers — creating duplicate serials. Here’s what that actually means for value, and how to check your note.
What happened
Star notes are normally unique, but for the Series 2013 $1 New York district, two facilities printed the same serial-number ranges. That means two physical notes can share the exact same serial number — one printed in Washington, DC, the other in Fort Worth, Texas.
The duplicated serial ranges
- DC: 1–250,000 (250,000 notes)
- FW: 1–3,200,000 (3,200,000 notes)
- DC: 3,200,001–6,400,000 (3,200,000 notes)
- FW: 3,200,001–6,400,000 (3,200,000 notes)
- DC: 6,400,001–9,600,000 (3,200,000 notes)
- FW: 6,400,001–9,600,000 (3,200,000 notes)
If your 2013 $1 note has a ★ and a serial in these ranges, it’s part of the duplicate. Our lookup tool flags it automatically.
How to tell DC from Fort Worth
Check the small face plate number in the lower-right of the front of the note. An “FW” before the number means Fort Worth; no FW means Washington, DC. A matched pair — one DC and one FW with the same serial — is the prize.
What it’s really worth
Be realistic: a single 2013-B duplicate note (just one half) typically sells for about $25–$100, not thousands. The big money is a verified matched DC + FW pair — the same serial number on one Washington note and one Fort Worth note — which has sold for several thousand dollars (a graded pair reportedly reached $25,000). Matched pairs are genuinely scarce; most listings advertising “worth thousands” are single notes priced on hype.
Why the duplicate happened
US star notes are meant to be unique. In Series 2013, demand for $1 New York replacements outran one facility’s output, so production was split between Washington, DC and the Western Currency Facility in Fort Worth. Because of how the serial ranges were assigned to each plant, the same numbers were printed at both — an administrative overlap that created roughly 6.6 million notes with a “twin” somewhere out there. It’s the only modern instance of duplicate star serials at this scale, which is why collectors find it so compelling.
How to find a matching pair
Finding the twin to your note is a needle-in-a-haystack hunt — both halves circulated independently across the country. Collectors pool sightings in community registries (the best known is the volunteer-run Project 2013B) where owners log their serials hoping to match. If you have one half, record its serial, condition and DC/FW status, and watch those registries and dealer want-lists. A confirmed pair is worth getting both notes professionally graded.
Should you keep or spend it?
Keep it. Even a single 2013-B duplicate is worth several times face and costs nothing to hold. Sleeve it, note whether it’s DC or FW (check the FW plate mark), and look it up in our star note lookup to confirm it falls in the duplicated ranges. If it’s crisp and uncirculated, it’s a candidate for grading and the matched-pair hunt.