Web notes are an interesting case study of how being cheap goes wrong and helps the numismatic hobby.
CS-Web Notes.
For the longest time, U.S. currency has been printed on intaglio sheet fed presses
that can handle between 8,000 to 20,000 sheets an hour.
Between 1992 and 1996, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing tried using an
intaglio web fed press. You have probably seen video of newspapers being
made, with massive rolls of paper, going over rollers and through the next
printer in the line. The paper being printed can go on for a mile in one large
run to print the newspaper. That is very similar to the intaglio web fed printing
process.
The thought of using the web press was that it could print faster and save money,
however after several attempts they found that they could not keep up the
continuous runs due to one problem or another, and they were constantly having
breakdowns, and at the end, the finished product was often below standards.
The simplest way to tell if you have a web note is to look on the back side of
the Note, In the white space in the center of the back of the note and on the right
side is the plate number used to print the back. On a CS-Web Note, that number
will be over or above the “ONE” and on Intaglio sheet fed presses, that number
will be printed below the “ONE.”
The years and series for CS-Web Notes are 1988A, 1993, and 1995.
CS-Web Note Values.
CS-Web Notes are sought after simply due to the fact that they are CS-Web Notes, to the
larger whole, they are rarer than a standard printed note. While some CS-Web Notes can reach
astronomical prices such as the 1988 A F 00000001 M, This note has other considerations that make
it valuable, such as: it is a low note, the first in the series, CS-7OAK, and so on, these alone increase
it’s value, then being a CS-Web Note on top of that increases its value even further.
There are subsets of collectors who attempt to get one note from every run and are building a
collection of CS-Web Notes, at the end of the day, no collection of U.S. Paper currency is complete
without at least one CS-Web Note in the collection.
The values discussed below are for the everyday, average run printed Note in average condition, and
can be higher or lower in value depending on the demand.
1988 A B..L 6 Partial mixed run of web and regular notes May 1992 Unknown $300 - $1.3K
1988 A F..* 3 Partial mixed run of web and regular notes Jun 1992 Unknown $300 - $1.3K
1988 A F 704 00001 L - F 768 00000 L Jul 1992 2 $25
1988 A F 832 00001 L - F 896 00000 L Jul 1992 2 $25
1988 A F 000 00001 M - F 064 00000 M Jul 1992 2 $25
1988 A F 576 00001 N - F 768 00000 N Sep 1992 1 $10
1988 A C 640 00001 A - C 768 00000 A Sep 1992 1 $10
1988 A A 256 00001 E - A 320 00000 E Nov 1992 2 $25
1988 A A 384 00001 E - A 448 00000 E Nov 1992 2 $25
1988 A A 576 00001 E - A 640 00000 E Nov 1992 2 $25
1988 A A 000 00001 F - A 128 00000 F Dec 1992 1 $10
1988 A E 448 00001 I - E 640 00000 I Feb 1993 1 $10
1988 A E 448 00001 K - E 640 00000 K Apr 1993 1 $10
1988 A A 832 00001 F - A 960 00000 F Jun 1993 1 $10
1988 A A 000 00001 G - A 192 00000 G Jun 1993 1 $10
1988 A G 448 00001 P - G 576 00000 P Jul 1993 1 $10
1988 A G 448 00001 Q - G 512 00000 Q Aug 1993 1 $10
1988 A F 512 00001 U - F 576 00000 U Oct 1993 2 $25
1988 A F 640 00001 U - F 704 00000 U Oct 1993 2 $25
1988 A F 896 00001 U - F 960 00000 U Oct 1993 2 $25
1988 A F 064 00001 V - F 128 00000 V Oct 1993 2 $25
1988 A F 192 00001 V - F 256 00000 V Oct 1993 2 $25
1988 A F 384 00001 V - F 448 00000 V Oct 1993 2 $25
1988 A F 576 00001 V - F 640 00000 V Oct 1993 2 $25
1988 A F 768 00001 V - F 832 00000 V Oct 1993 2 $10
1988 A F 896 00001 V - F 960 00000 V Oct 1993 1 $10
1993 B 192 00001 H - B 256 00000 H May 1995 2 $25
1993 B 384 00001 H - B 448 00000 H May 1995 2 $25
1993 C 384 00001 A - C 448 00000 A Jun 1995 2 $25
1993 C 512 00001 A - C 576 00000 A Jun 1995 2 $25
1995 A 320 00001 C - A 448 00000 C Sep 1995 1 $10
1995 D 640 00001 C - D 704 00000 C Nov 1995 2 $25
1995 F 832 00001 D - F 960 00000 D Dec 1995 1 $10
1995 B 320 00001 H - B 384 00000 H Apr 1996 2 $25
1995 B 448 00001 H - B 512 00000 H Apr 1996 2 $25
1995 A..D 13 Partial mixed run of web and regular notes Jul 1996. Unknown ?
Note: This page contains excerpts and basic information from the book "The Green Guide to Fancy Serial Numbers". Please consider adding a copy to your library, thank you.