One of the neat things about dollar bills versus coins is that bills are unique. This is because they have a serial number, but who cares about that? Well, if you’re lucky enough, you might get a bill with a valuable one.

A basic special serial number is a "radar" number. This is a number that reads the same forwards and backwards. An example would be "23644632". These are called "radar notes" because the word "radar" is itself the same forwards and backwards, called a palindrome. It’s important to remember that the letters don’t matter with radar notes. Having the same letter on either side of the numbers makes no difference as long as the numbers are arranged correctly.

What makes these radar notes so special? The chances of finding one are rather small, one in ten thousand to be exact. And that’s before other collector’s pull them from circulation. Because of this, radar notes command a premium and can sell for anywhere between ten and fifty dollars over face value depending on the denomination and age. Of course, the older and higher face valued notes command higher premiums.

Radar notes are fun too because they’re a challenge to get, yet they’re easy to spot. A lot of notes will have numbers that are one digit off or have a couple places swapped. This gives the frustration, and what would a challenge be without some frustration? But if you take just a second to look over the serial numbers, it’s not hard to tell if the number is the same forwards and backwards. The brain will naturally notice this. Remember- there’s no math involved either!

So scan your radar, I mean wallet, to see if something bleeps. Hopefully, something will, and if not, keep searching. That about does it for this first edition of "In Your Wallet". Hope you liked it!

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