Got A Buck, Illinois? The $1 Bill You Have May Be Worth Big Money

It's not like the economy is so bad that you'll scrounge around in your wallet (and if you're smart, your kids' wallets, and your spouse's wallet) looking for a one-dollar bill that has the potential worth of $150,000...oh wait...yes, the economy is that bad.

On the plus side, I'm not here telling you that you should go through all of your $100 bills, which for me would take about 15 seconds to count all of them the one that I have.

No, we're talking about the plain, simple, George-Washington's-face-splashed-across-the-front-of-it, one dollar bill, and it really could be worth $150,000 to you if you find the right one.

Why Do Typos Or Misprints Make Something More Valuable Anyway? How Does Screwing Something Up Make People Want It So Badly?

It's mostly due to the fact that the printing of currency is an incredibly tightly controlled process. However, like anything conceived of, and run by, human beings mistakes can and do happen. It's just that they happen very rarely when it comes to the printing process for our money.

When they do happen, the world of numismatics (which, according to the United States Mint, is a nice, polysyllabic word for "the study and collecting of things that are used as money, including coins, tokens, and paper bills.") gets very excited about it, especially when there's a potential for a big payday.

The Added Value To These Particular One-Dollar Bills Is Not Because Of An Actual Misprint Or Typo, It's Because Of When And Where They Were Printed

It started back in 2014, when the Federal Reserve sent out an order to the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing for a new issue of one-dollar bills. Those bills were printed, all 3 million-plus of them, with no issue.

The problem occurred when another order was sent out in 2016 for another set of one-dollar bills...with the same serial numbers as the previous set from 2014.

That means that two printings, one from New York, one from Washington, DC, both carried the same serial numbers. That's a problem because all currency is supposed to have unique serial numbers, not shared serial numbers. That's where the value comes in.

Here's What You Need To Know If You're Planning On Checking Your Supply Of One-Dollar Bills

The good news is that there are over 6 million of these dual-serial numbered dollar bills floating around in circulation, the bad news is that to be valuable, you'll need two 1 dollar bills that have matching serial numbers. More good news is that only 9 matching pairs have been found so far.

According to WealthyNickel, dollar bills that could be worth thousands have three indicators:

• The Series date located near the photograph of George Washington should read "Series 2013."
• The bill must have a "B" Federal Reserve Seal above the serial number.
• The serial number must end with a star (*) and fall between B00000001* – B00250000* or B03200001*-B09600000*