Collecting Uncirculated $5's

This denomination is one of the most challenging and rewarding Federal Reserve Note sets to collect in the Federal Reserve Note series. Uncirculated non-star $5's are far more difficult to collect than their $10 and $20 companions. Circulated examples are plentiful enough -- even on the most scarce districts -- to make completing the full set possible. Completing an uncirculated set, however, is a rare feat.

Concerning the first three series (Series of 1928, 1928A, and 1928B), all 12 Districts of the Federal Reserve Bank are available. The next two series (Series of 1928C and 1928D) only have surviving notes from the Atlanta District. With the Series of 1934, once again all 12 Districts were distributed. The Series of 1928B and the Series of 1934 feature notable seal color transitions. These two series have the widest variety of notes.

There are at least a half dozen notes from the Series of 1928 to 1934 that frustrate even the most advanced collector. These notes are roadblocks to most collections. Acquiring them in uncirculated grades will likely demand a great deal of time -- and funds!

Light Green Seals

Treasury seals on Series of 1928 Federal Reserve Notes vary from note to note, with colors ranging from dark green with a hint of teal all the way to a neon-like bright green. Many shades of green have been observed, with some identifying as many as 5 or 6 distinct varieties. The exact reason for these variations is not currently known.

Seal color transitions are for the most part just an interesting observation in the currency collecting world. Agreement on earlier, more subtle color shift remains elusive; however, there is one shift in color that is universally recognized by currency collectors as a distinct variety. This shift occurred on printed notes from September of 1932 onward. Observed serial numbers from this time frame all line up with this change. The ink color changed from a medium green to a very bright, light green with a hint of yellow hue. Of all the seal color changes, this one is the most dramatic. This color continued on through the Series of 1934 until another color shift (to blue-green) occurred in 1937.

$5 1928 Federal Reserve Note Runs and Hoards

The first in the Series of 1928, the Tate/Mellon signature notes feature a number of challenges on the road to set completion. The keys to this particular series are the 5 and the 8 Districts. In 63EPQ or higher, these are going to be a particularly tough pair. The 1, 2 and 9 Districts are also challenging in higher grade. The 9 District comes up periodically in 63-64EPQ, but GEM graded notes are going to place this note nearer to the 5 and 8 Districts in terms of rarity. Despite not being held as a key note, the 2 District is probably the most underrated rarity on the list. The 11 District is by far the easiest district to acquire, even in GEM. There are very large uncirculated runs on this particular district, making this the go-to type note for this series.

There are no Transitional or Light Green Seals in this set, all are very dark fern green in color.

Replacement notes are nearly impossible in high grade on most districts. Only the 7 District has a number of examples, but even those do not surface that often.

Here are known UNC/GEM runs on the various districts:
District 1 (Boston) - A pair of notes exist on serial numbers A004184##A, but no other evidence suggests a run.
District 2 (New York) - While there are no discernible runs on this district, there are a number of unrelated serial numbers in high grade.
District 3 (Philadelphia) - A half dozen note run exists around serial numbers C160886##A.
District 4 (Cleveland) - While there are no discernible runs on this district, there are a number of unrelated serial numbers in high grade.
District 5 (Richmond) - Rare.
District 6 (Atlanta) - There is one run with a couple dozen note from group F043841##A.
District 6 Star (Atlanta) - Commentary coming soon.
District 7 (Chicago) - There are quite a number of 3-digit and 4-digit serial numbers for this district. In addition to a lot of single UNC/GEM notes, there are known runs from the following ranges: G007526##A, G188913##A, G218790##A, G233926##A.
District 7 Star (Chicago) - For this district there exists about a dozen replacement notes around group G003780##*.
District 8 (St. Louis) - Rare.
District 8 Star (St. Louis) - Commentary coming soon.
District 9 (Minneapolis) - A very small run exists on about a half dozen serial numbers near the latter half of numbers I033995##A.
District 10 (Kansas City) - While there are no discernible runs on this district, there are a number of unrelated serial numbers in high grade.
District 11 (Dallas) - Runs K0170####A and K0171####A are massive. There is also a smaller run around K042711##A numbering dozens of notes.
District 11 Star (Dallas) - Several replacement notes exist around notes K0001474#*.
District 12 (San Francisco) - The majority of fresh GEM notes (numbering in the dozens) come from run L025040##A with a smaller portion of UNC notes from run L096559##A. The later run contains both a changeover pair and a number of nice GEM notes from the Series of 1928A.

$5 1928A Federal Reserve Note Runs and Hoards

This series, on the whole, has some of the easier notes to acquire of all the 1928 series $5 notes. If you were looking for a good place to enter this denomination, this would probably be the best starting point. The keys to this particular series are the 9 and the 11 Districts, both are extremely difficult. It can be argued that the 11 District is the toughest of all Series of 1928 $5 notes. The 6 District is challenging in higher grade, though nowhere near as tough as the top two notes in this particular set. The 12 District is another note that used to be fairly scarce, but a run of high grade notes placed on the market in 2018 have made it easier to acquire. The 2 and 7 Districts are readily available in UNC and GEM. The 4 and 8 Districts are also common in UNC.

There are no distinct Transitional or Light Green Seals in this set, but comparisons reveal some ever-so-slight hue changes on higher serial numbered notes.

Replacement notes are nearly impossible in high grade on most districts. Only the 7 District has a number of examples, but even those do not surface that often.

Here are known UNC/GEM runs on the various districts:
District 1 (Boston) - A dozen note run exists around A162692##A.
District 1 Star (Boston) - Commentary coming soon.
District 2 (New York) - There are a number of runs, making this a very plentiful district in high grade. The largest is from a pack B316221##A. There are also smaller runs from B097340##A, B1111327#A, B2586763#A, B288376##A, B527707##A.
District 2 Star (New York) - Commentary coming soon.
District 3 (Philadelphia) - A small run exists around C212482##A, while there are many single, unrelated UNC/GEM notes out there.
District 4 (Cleveland) - There is one run from which most all high grade notes on this district are found, the D13179###A range. The numbers from this run are all over the place, spanning within a thousand note range. This may signal that a large hoard of these remain.
District 5 (Richmond) - Two runs basically supply all the high end notes for this district. The smaller run E066822##A and a larger run of a hundred or more notes from E06887###A.
District 6 (Atlanta) - A tiny run exists around F1306411#A on this scarce issue.
District 7 (Chicago) - There may be very large numbers of these yet to surface, but current information already suggests possibly thousands. There are large runs on ranges G2342####A, G3234####A, G3737####A, G46892###A, G48335###A, as well as smaller runs on ranges G111111##A, G297048##A, G4900351#A.
District 7 Star (Chicago) - There is one small run of a dozen notes from group G002952##* and a very large run -- possibly around a hundred notes -- from group G003762##*.
District 8 (St. Louis) - One very large hoard, possibly consisting of at least five packs, produced almost all the high grade notes for this district. They all begin with serial number H07495####A.
District 9 (Minneapolis) - Rare, but the revelation in late 2019 of a small run casts doubt about how long this status may last. New notes from this run appear around serial numbers I049185##A.
District 10 (Kansas City) - A small run of a dozen or so notes exists around serial numbers J052610##A, while numerous unrelated single notes exist in UNC/GEM.
District 11 (Dallas) - Rare.
District 12 (San Francisco) - Nearly all surviving UNC/GEM notes from this district come from two sources: L130773##A, which may possibly be a fresh pack that was broken up, and L096559##A, a twenty note run shared with Series of 1928 notes with a changeover pair in the middle.

$5 1928B Federal Reserve Note Runs and Hoards

This is the most underrated series of the 1928 $5 notes. It is true that there are several type note districts which are extremely easy to acquire, however, on the whole these notes are more difficult than most would believe. One reason for this is that most paper money books and guides overlook this series and they often under-price them. This leads to the false impression that these notes are largely common. The C and H in Dark Green Seal are extremely common. Even the L is somewhat overrated. But beyond those, a quick search reveals that nearly half the notes are actually quite challenging in higher grade. The key to this particular series is the K District, this is an extremely tough find. The B, F, G, I and J Districts are moderately more difficult to obtain in higher grade than all the remaining districts.

This particular set contains both Transitional and Light Green Seals -- the latter of the these being particularly difficult to obtain, though the H District Light Green Seal appears more often than the others. We find Transitional Green Seals on the C, F, H and L Districts. Some observers have noted shade variations even between Transitional Green Seals. All of the Transitional Green Seals also have known Light Green Seals, except the C District. These are largely the same color, though there are not enough examples of these to really tell if there are hue variations within this variety.

Replacement notes are also scarce on this series, just as with the two prior series. That said, there is a small group of uncirculated C District star notes known.

Here are known UNC/GEM runs on the various districts:
District 1 DGS (Boston) - Two runs supply most of the known high grade notes, a small run from A159050XXA and a dozen or more notes from A184512XXA.
District 1 DGS Star (Boston) - Commentary coming soon.
District 2 DGS (New York) - There are no noted runs on this very underrated scarcity.
District 3 DGS (Philadelphia) - There are plenty of high grade notes from this district -- both runs and individual notes. None of the runs seem to be particularly large, but we have identified four from the Dark Green Seal variety: C325413##A, C334113##A, C349758##A, and C352660##A.
District 3 DGS Star (Philadelphia) - There is a small run of a dozen or more replacement notes around serial numbers C004388##*.
District 3 TGS (Philadelphia) - A Dark Green/Transitional Green Seal split appears to occur somewhere between C35######A and C36######A. There are two runs that are clearly lighter in color than the DGS notes from this district. These are found around C365677##A and C370538##A.
District 4 DGS (Cleveland) - There are a number of small and medium size uncirculated runs on this district. Smaller runs include notes from the cluster D1829351#A, as well as the several dozen note run on the upper half of pack D212506##A. Another smaller run includes notes from D303129##A. The largest and most plentiful run comes from pack D302639##A. On the whole, this district should not be considered rare given that there are probably well over a hundred high grade notes floating out there in the collecting universe. As a side note, there is slight possibility that the very small number of notes from D3153169#A are actually Transitional Green Seals.
District 4 LGS Star (Cleveland) - Unique. One single note exists on this variety. What is so flabbergasting is the fact that we have no evidence for the survival of any non-replacement Light Green Seal notes from this district.
District 5 DGS (Richmond) - This is a very common district in uncirculated grades with large clusters of notes from the following runs: E085336##A, E086120##A, E086124##A, E086126##A, E094173##A, E136225##A.
District 6 DGS (Atlanta) - This district is quite scarce in high grade. Two very small runs exist: F160368##A and F1713648#A.
District 6 TGS (Atlanta) - Pinpointing the exact ranges for the Transitional Green Seals on this district is difficult because very few high grade examples exist from any part of the color spectrum. Note F20300952A clearly shows a transition to the lighter seal color, but not quite yellow enough to be considered Light Green Seal. This shade appears to extend well into the F22#######A range, but it is unclear what is going on between this range an those notes from F26######A and beyond.
District 6 LGS (Atlanta) - Rare.
District 7 DGS (Chicago) - This is one of the most underrated districts on this series. Often seen as the "easy" district in most sets, the Chicago is one of the more challenging notes to find in high grade. Examples are sporadic.
District 7 DGS Star (Chicago) - Commentary coming soon.
District 8 DGS (St. Louis) - This is one of the most common notes on this series with a host of new examples available to collectors. Notable runs include: H090141##A and H090143##A.
District 8 TGS (St. Louis) - Surviving Transitional Green Seals on this district have been narrowed down to ranges H16######A to H17######A. There are a number of scattered notes within this range, but a couple small runs are noted: H1664358#A and H1788800#A. For whatever reason high grade notes do not appear between ranges H17######A and H24######A.
District 8 LGS (St. Louis) - This is the most common Light Green Seal variety in this set. Examples remained fairly elusive until 2020, when a 20-note run was discovered. H2405335#A is a smaller run, in addition to the much larger run around H271914##A. A couple of isolated serial numbers also exist in uncirculated grades.
District 9 DGS (Minneapolis) - There are not a lot of these in high grade, but a few small runs exist: I051047##A, I0521522#A, and I0576967#A.
District 10 DGS (Kansas City) - This is a scarcer district in uncirculated grades. Most of the known notes come from run J118503##A.
District 11 DGS (Dallas) - Rare.
District 12 DGS (San Francisco) - This district is slightly overrated. That said, there do not seem to be any major runs. Notes in Dark Green Seal are found from ranges L17######A to L23######A.
District 12 TGS (San Francisco) - The only known Transitional Green Seal note in uncirculated condition exists from range L31######A.
District 12 LGS (San Francisco) - No known runs exist on this scarce variety. Uncirculated notes are known from ranges L37######A to L40######A.

$5 1928C Federal Reserve Note Runs and Hoards

The series only has one district with one seal color -- the Atlanta Light Green Seal. This is one of the keys to completing the entire $5 series, though not quite as scarce as the Series of 1928D.

Here are known UNC/GEM runs on this district:
District 6 LGS (Atlanta) - A few scattered uncirculated examples exist on this variety. There is one very small known run that exists on range F279240##A.

$5 1928D Federal Reserve Note Runs and Hoards

The series only has one district with one seal color -- the Atlanta Light Green Seal. This is one of the keys to completing the entire $5 series.

Here are known UNC/GEM runs on this district:
District 6 LGS (Atlanta) - A few scattered uncirculated examples exist on this variety. There is one very small known run that exists on range F2777157#A.