At Long Last

You have entered 151,824 Bills worth $385,430
Bills with hits: 11,839 Total hits: 13,333
Hit rate: 7.80% Slugging Percentage: 8.78% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,295.21
Your rank (based on George Score) is #154
(out of 49,161 current users with a George Score. [99.7 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 11 out of 8,155 [99.9]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 6,413,163 miles.
They have averaged 487.6 miles per hit and 205.29 days between each hit.

I just took a look at this blog and realized that I hadn’t posted in two months. I know it’s a far cry from posting three times per week. I’ve been a little busy looking for work, but I do have a link to post.

It’s Use The Two, a site having to do with what the name implies. It’s not much, but I do like finding sites about toms. There’s even a link back to Where’s George.

It doesn’t look like any new $2 bills have been printed, but I have seen 2009-series $1 and a few $20s have been spotted. According to the BEP production reports, the new Hundreds are being printed, although I don’t know that I’ll be seeing any in the near future. I can’t seem to find anything on when they’ll be released. (If you can find an exact date, please leave a comment with a link.)

I’m hoping that the April report will be posted soon.

more bill pictures

You have entered 96,141 Bills worth $270,909
Bills with hits: 7,377 Total hits: 8,382
Hit rate: 7.67% Slugging Percentage: 8.72% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,242.12
Your rank (based on George Score) is #262
(out of 52,364 current users with a George Score. [99.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 17 out of 7,753 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,953,584 miles.
They have averaged 479.7 miles per hit and 189.96 days between each hit.

I found two bills worth posting pictures of. The first is a $1 bill that has been marked up a bit too much. I entered it, but I don’t think I added any of my own markings. Personally, I don’t think I could mark bills this much on a regular basis. Aside from all of the work, you run the risk of people and machines not taking the bills.

The other is a $2 bill with a red mark that looks familiar. It looks like someone took one of those plastic things from a bag of bread and used it to make the mark on the bill. I’m not sure what they used. It looks like magic marker, but I could be wrong.

I’ll let you know if I find any more bills

Lots of news

You have entered 75,903 Bills worth $223,290
Bills with hits: 6,218 Total hits: 7,064
Hit rate: 8.19% Slugging Percentage: 9.31% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,221.51
Your rank (based on George Score) is #315
(out of 52,405 current users with a George Score. [99.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 23 out of 7,547 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,245,665 miles.
They have averaged 467.2 miles per hit and 180.97 days between each hit.

I got to thinking the other day how it might be interesting to be able to compile the series and serial numbers for later entry in to Where’s George. I’ve heard that it’s possible to use film to record images of bills. Since the series and serial number letterings are consistent, it shouldn’t be hard to have the computer compile them into a list for me to copy and paste into the entry form.

I’m not saying that it would work or would even be allowed. I’m just saying that someone out there should be able to put something like this together. (Not that I’m endorsing it, but if you have done this, please let me know how it worked out for you.)

One thing that’s been bothering me is what I’ve come to call semi-sequential bills. I went to the bank last week and got 50 $5 bills which seemed to come from nearby straps. The letters and the first five numbers were all the same, but the last three numbers were different. They were all close, as if they were all within close proximity.

I think that when the bank processes them, the bills get mixed up. This makes it harder to enter; if they were all sequential and had no gaps, there’s a trick I could use to enter them. This tricks is useless with random bills. (Actually, the trick is useless with $5 bills, but it’s still easier to have no gaps.)

On an unrelated note, I’ve had two hits on twos in the past ten days, seen here and here. It’s nice to get them, but they’re pretty rare. A woman at the gas station north of Aventura Mall collects them, so I may not spend them there as often. Notice that both of these have gone unreported for over a year. I think that people either collect them or deposit them in the bank, which is not good. I spend two-dollar bills so that they will stay in play for as long as possible and get a lot of hits.

I also have to other unusual hits, here and here. Both were initially entered 35 days apart, but seemed to end up in the same place. I don’t know if they guy was holding on to them, as some people do sometimes, or if he found them together. I don’t mark my twenties, which means that he’s probably entering everything. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s allowed to enter them at work or swap them out of the register.

On a rather strange note, I seem to have ‘found’ $75 at the casino the other day. I usually put $25 into the machines at any time, then consolidate the tickets later on so that I can keep track of how much I won or lost. Thus, each ticket would have come from $25 or $100 in play.

I figured out that I had brought $500 to play. Somehow I ended up with five tickets from $100 in play and three from $25, meaning that I had put $575 into the machines. I think that I must have put three tickets together instead of four, meaning that some of the tickets had come from $75. I have no other explanation. I’m sure that I started with $500.

I’m sure I’ll figure it out eventually.

Ten Years

You have entered 65,066 Bills worth $185,594
Bills with hits: 5,219 Total hits: 5,935
Hit rate: 8.02% Slugging Percentage: 9.12% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,201.79
Your rank (based on George Score) is #344
(out of 50,565 current users with a George Score. [99.3 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 22 out of 7,307 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 2,614,058 miles.
They have averaged 447.4 miles per hit and 165.22 days between each hit.

I took a look at my last post and realize that it was made last month. One of the problems with working in retail is that I get kind of busy, especially this time of year. I had to decide to make another post today.

I’ve passed 1,200 George Score. It seems like each hundred gets harder and harder to pass. I think it has to do with the natural logarithms used in the formula. I’m almost past the #20 mark in Florida. It looks like there are a few people that like to wait 10 or 15 days before refreshing. Past five days, your score drops one percentage point for every day you way, so that on the fifth day, your score is normal. In the sixth day, you lose 6% of your score. One of these days, I’ll make it to #19.

I also found a strange comment, located here. I can’t make heads or tales of what it means.

I also had one hit removed for reasons that I can’t explain. It’s possible that someone entered the wrong series. It’s also possible that it was a bad hit. There are reasons that someone might try to enter a bill and have it removed.

I’ve also heard that Where’s George turned 10 recently. Apparently, the site came online December 23rd 1998. I started almost 3 years ago. This would be the first milestone anniversary. Here’s the forum thread.

I also have a few strange markings to share, here, here and here. The first one looks like a sports team logo. The second one appears to be a business logo. There is a J & M Scaffolds of Florida located in Key West. I can only assume it’s them, as there were no other direct hits on Google. There do appear to be other places in Key West that do business with a place called J & M, but I don’t think any of those other places are in Key West.

As for the third picture, I think we have another case of way too much time on someone’s hands. I’d love to know if they do this to other bills, or if this was an isolated incident.

I also came across a 1928G $2 bill. It looks like it’s in pretty good condition, considering the age. I’ve only come across a few red-seal bills, all of them $2 bills. This seems to be what the banks have. I’d assume that there are other red-seal bills out there, but since other denominations are requested more frequently, I doubt they last as long.

That’s all for now.

It's not easy spending green

You have entered 57,347 Bills worth $164,885
Bills with hits: 4,627 Total hits: 5,246
Hit rate: 8.07% Slugging Percentage: 9.15% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,187.55
Your rank (based on George Score) is #402
(out of 53,202 current users with a George Score. [99.2 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 25 out of 7,137 [99.6]

It’s not easy using $2 bills. I went to Panera today and ordered lunch. The total was a little over $10. I handed the cashier 6 bills, but she said that she was told not to take them. When I asked why, she said that the bank shredded them, referencing the markings. This bothers me for several reasons.

First, there aren’t many banks in the area and I know that the Wachovia nearby does, in fact, hold on to them. I’ve actually gotten some of my marked bills back from them. It’s possible that they recently switched to the Commerce Bank, but I doubt it.

I also doubt that they shred the bills. I’m thinking that her manager may have meant that the were sent back to the FRB to be shredded, but either way, why would Panera care? If they’re being credited with money, it shouldn’t matter. I guess that the manager (or whoever made the decision) knows that I don’t want them shredded. I guess it’s better to hold on to them and at least spend them somewhere that will hand them back out as change.

Most importantly, it means that they’re not getting them back into circulation. Instead, they’re depositing the bills. For this reason, it’s probably just as well that I not spend them there. If a store is actually refusing them for this reason, there’s very little chance that they’d ever change.

After Lunch, I went to Party City. I wanted to get some glow sticks, but didn’t want to pay $15-$20 in shipping. I was able to get an assortment for very little money and paid for it in… you guessed it… $2 bills. The cashier had to ask someone if it was ok to take them. I guess it was because she eventually took them. This is pretty common, but is still annoying.

I’ve also decided that it’s too much of a pain to spend cash in the Apple Store at the mall. They are able to go through the line and process credit and debit purchases right away, but you have to wait for cash. I was first in line and had to wait at least five minutes to be helped, despite the fact that several cashiers were just standing there. All I wanted was an iTunes card. I even had the money counted out. Could they suspend a transaction and help me? Obviously not. I’m thinking that I should get my iTunes cards elsewhere.

Top Toms update

You have entered 47,120 Bills worth $133,907
Bills with hits: 3,649 Total hits: 4,123
Hit rate: 7.74% Slugging Percentage: 8.75% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,160.49
Your rank (based on George Score) is #470
(out of 53,605 current users with a George Score. [99.1 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 29 out of 6,867 [99.6]

I just happened to notice that Top Toms link that I posted was way out of date. No one had been added at all so far this calendar year. So, I asked and it turns out that someone else is keeping the list. (You can find the list here.) I’ve submitted the information out again and hopefully, it will be added soon. (The person got back to me pretty quickly, si it may even be up there already.) I’m now stamping the bills and hope to have them in circulation later this week or next.

Top Toms

You have entered 47,117 Bills worth $133,904
Bills with hits: 3,639 Total hits: 4,113
Hit rate: 7.72% Slugging Percentage: 8.73% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,160.25
Your rank (based on George Score) is #476
(out of 53,611 current users with a George Score. [99.1 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 28 out of 6,865 [99.6]

Just after I posted about not being able to get $2 bills, I got a hundred of them. That put me over the 2,000 needed to get on the Top Toms list. I sent in the information and hopefully, I’ll be added soon.

I’m not sure if I want to mark them. It’s not because they put me over, but because they’re new. I hate having to mark new, sequential bills. It’s bad enough that I get looks for the marked currency, but people seem to hate new, crisp bills. The manager at the store where I work often alternates between new and old if he can.

I don’t really have much else to report. I just wanted to share.

You have entered 47,017 Bills worth $133,704
Bills with hits: 3,633 Total hits: 4,106
Hit rate: 7.73% Slugging Percentage: 8.73% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,160.04
Your rank (based on George Score) is #481
(out of 53,641 current users with a George Score. [99.1 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 28 out of 6,859 [99.6]

I know it’s been a while. I was out of town and I’ve been closing at work a lot, so I haven’t been writing much. I actually made it to the #25 spot within Florida, but got knocked back down. I may make it back up soon if I keep entering bills.

I have been trying to get twos, now that I’m within a hundred bills of being a Top Tom. (At last count, I have 1,948 twos.) It’s getting harder now that I’m closer. I can’t seem to get more than ten at a time. One bank near Aventura Mall, which usually has them, has been out for a while. There’s a teller at another bank that knows to tell me when she has any, but she wasn’t there the last time I went.

At the bank by work, I’ve been seeing the $2 bills that I’ve been marking. I had stopped spending them at McDonalds, so I can be relatively certain that it’s not them. There aren’t too many places that I spend them and there were a few last time I asked. It looked like it may have been from several deposits.

As for other bills, I found a $5 bill marked with a big purple circle. I don’t speak Spanish, but I think Azul is blue. I can’t make out the first word. If anyone knows what it means, please leave a comment here or on the picture.

On another bill, I also found "Fanfan" and "repent". It looks like it was two different people. I think I may have found a fanfan bill before, but I see so much writing, it’s hard to remember. I’m way too lazy to look back at my previous posts.

You have entered 42,083 Bills worth $117,352
Bills with hits: 3,117 Total hits: 3,526
Hit rate: 7.41% Slugging Percentage: 8.38% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,143.12
Your rank (based on George Score) is #557
(out of 52,002 current users with a George Score. [98.9 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 33 out of 6,716 [99.5]

I got some new fives today. I honestly can’t understand why anyone wouldn’t like them. Sure, there’s that big purple 5 on the back. It’s actually a lot bigger than I expected. And a lot more purple. The demo on the Web site doesn’t do it justice.

I’m going to see if I can get a few in the register at work tomorrow to see how customers react. Most people don’t think that the new bills look like real currency because they’re used to the old design that we’ve had for way too long. I thin we’ve been way overdue for currency redesign.

I did also get some interesting bills recently, including one with a hemp leaf. It had the corresponding "I grew hemp" stamp, but I couldn’t get that one without getting the serial number. This is the first I’ve seen of that bill up close and personal, although I’ve heard of people stamping bills that way.

I found a $2 bill, seen here, that said "Good Luck in 2006" on it. It would appear to be a bit past it’s prime, but it’s a nice sentiment. This one, I’m having trouble figuring out and only part of it has to do with the handwriting. (You have to view the full image to see the handwriting.)

From what I can make out, it says "Who ever receive this bill will be bless /// The Jesus-Christ". I’m thinking it was done by someone who doesn’t speak English as their first language. (I will admit that my fellow native English speakers never cease to amaze me with their poor literacy skills.) I still don’t get why people do this. I appreciate the fact that someone is wishing me well, but I’m an atheist. I don’t believe in God or that Jesus Christ is the savior.

Anyway, I’m not trying to start a religious debate. I started out just wanting to share that I had gotten a few of the new fives and I decided to throw in the pictures. Until next time…

Uphill battle

You have entered 32,837 Bills worth $90,186
Bills with hits: 2,405 Total hits: 2,711
Hit rate: 7.32% Slugging Percentage: 8.26% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,113.02
Your rank (based on George Score) is #670
(out of 51,288 current users with a George Score. [98.7 Percentile])

Your State Rank in Florida is: 35 out of 6,486 [99.5]

Getting hits on a $2 bill is definitely going to be an uphill battle. I’m still seeing them put under the cash tray. I’m still getting surprised looks from cashiers. I’m still a little surprised, although I know I shouldn’t be.

I realized that it’s not unlike the $1 coins, which I don’t want to use at all. (It’s mainly because they can’t be tracked, but also because I don’t have room for them in my wallet.) If you think about it, how often do you get a $1 coin in change? How often have you asked for one at the bank. I don’t even know if most people my age would even know what an SBA coin is. (SBA stands for Susan B. Anthony, for those that are wondering.)

I have to believe that the more I spend $2 bills, the more people will get used to them. Still, I have yet to see a register with a slot for $2 bills. I have yet to receive one as change, although I have seen a few of mine given out. (Most places don’t, though.)

Is there a city out there that uses them on a regular basis? I know that there are others out there that think like I do and spend the bills. Where are these people, though? Do they get jobs in retail? I’d have to think that at least someone has the opportunity to put a few in the register like I occasionally do.

One of these days, when I get the chance, I should put a few in. Not a lot of people pay in cash and I know that most of them would likely end up in the deposit, especially if I’m not closing. My coworkers don’t particularly like $2 bills.

It’s definitely an uphill battle.

You have entered 26,091 Bills worth $70,835
Bills with hits: 1,932 Total hits: 2,164
Hit rate: 7.40% Slugging Percentage: 8.29% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,086.91
Your rank (based on George Score) is #815
(out of 52,371 current users with a George Score. [98.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 39 out of 6,289 [99.4]

When I went to the bank today, I asked for twos. They only had three, but I did get a series 1953A. (You can see pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/seacow_99/1420830176/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/seacow_99/1419942863/ if you like.) It’s so old I can’t even enter it into Where’s George. It’s strange to think that in all the years that I’ve been asking for bills that I’ve never seen a $2 that old. I did get an old single and an old ten, series 1969, but I let the one back into circulation before I realized what I had done.

In better news, I’m now above #40 in the state. I had that before, but only momentarily between posts. A few people refreshed and pushed me back down to the 40s. I’m inching towards #1 in the state, but I think the top ten is going to be tough. (Assuming I even get there.)

I’m going to keep asking for more twos in the hopes of getting more bills. Maybe I can even get a silver certificate.

Of writing and acceptance

You have entered 25,328 Bills worth $69,076
Bills with hits: 1,904 Total hits: 2,136
Hit rate: 7.52% Slugging Percentage: 8.43% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,085.14
Your rank (based on George Score) is #809 (out of 52,157 current users with a George Score. [98.4 Percentile])

Your State Rank in Florida is: 41 out of 6,274 [99.3]

I’ve decided that it’s easier to keep my photos on Photobucket. I haven’t really figured out how to add multiple pictures in the same post. I am still going to add them to Flickr mostly so that people can comment on them individually. I have one here that I want some answers on and I figure that it’s more likely that I’ll get an answer if I have them in two places rather than just one.

I got both of these from the casino in Hallandale. Now, I would have been curious if I had just seen one, but to get two in a row with the same number is just odd. I think this deserves an explanation. Is it part of a phone number? Is it part of an address? Is it a special year? I don’t know.

Whatever it is, why write it on two bills. I can see if it’s some sort of independence year. Maybe it’s to commemorate the 540th anniversary of some special occasion. (Since the bill isn’t 40 years old, I can at least assume that it’s not the 500th anniversary.) It may be leet, in which case I’ll need someone to translate. From what I understand, there’s no definitive guide to translating leet and leet is meant to encode information, making it difficult to translate.

Also, I found two bills with names on them. One is Jenny and the other is Maureen L. I’m not going to post them here, only because I get so many with names on them. It’s becoming a little cliché at this point. I am posting them on Flickr if you want to have a look, though.

On another note, I’m getting a little worried about my usage of $2 bills. It’s not that I think I have a problem spending them. It’s that I think people often have a problem taking them. In many cases, people have to ask someone else if they can accept them. This confuses me, as they’re still valid currency. Before you say that some places won’t accept $100 and $50 bills, bear in mind that there is a legitimate reason for this. Most places of business can’t afford to break too many of these, as they may have only $100 in the register at any given time. Breaking a $2 bill isn’t often that big of a problem.

The problem comes from people who don’t realize that $2 bills are still being printed or are being thrown by someone who’s actually spending one. Many of the places that I go to regularly don’t have a problem with it. (My only concern there is that they’re not being put back into circulation, which stems from the aforementioned problems.)

Come on, people. $2 bills aren’t that rare.

Of malls and bills

You have entered 23,952 Bills worth $64,740
Bills with hits: 1,766 Total hits: 1,977
Hit rate: 7.37% Slugging Percentage: 8.25% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,076.53
Your rank (based on George Score) is #875
(out of 52,057 current users with a George Score. [98.3 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 42 out of 6,217 [99.3]

I went to Sawgrass Mills today, which is in Broward County. I figured I’d spend some money there since it’s so far away, but I made a simple mistake: I shouldn’t have spent any $2 bills. It seemed as though more people were interested in keeping the bills for themselves than getting them back into circulation. The cashier at Starbucks even said that he was going to keep them for good luck. I would have been better off using the cash card.

Sawgrass Mills is a good money for circulation because it is (or at least, was) a pretty popular mall. I remember it being a tourist attraction at one point, but I think it’s died down a little bit. I wanted to get a cash card at one of the places at the food court, but I didn’t have any luck. The Subway there couldn’t do any cash card transactions.

They only other places that I go to regularly were Starbucks, Sbarro’s and Burger King. I already mentioned that I don’t want to load up on Starbucks that much because I know I won’t be using it frequently. Sbarro’s doesn’t have any sort of gift card, so that was out of the question. Neither of the two Burger King locations there had any cash cards to put money on, so I was out of luck there, too.

I don’t go to Burger King a lot, but I do stop by there on occasion. The only reason I even tried was that I wanted to get some money out into the mall. I did have some luck getting an iTunes card at Target, although I suspect that I may have had better luck getting it at F.Y.E., instead. Target has outside access, meaning that people can buy at Target and just leave, whereas people at F.Y.E. are more likely to go back into the mall. At the very least, I did buy some DVDs at F.Y.E., so I may at least get a few mall hits.

I haven’t been getting any reactions to the new stamp. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not. I want my bills to get noticed, but not get too many questions. Many people ask why I would want to track the bills. Um, so I can ignore them and not see where they go next? A lot of people that ask about the stamps don’t get the concept of seeing where the bills go next. That’s what “Track this bill” means.

I don’t think that the site would be as much fun if everyone did it. There’s something to be said for the challenge of getting all fifty states or getting all of the counties in Florida. If it were too easy, there’d be no fun in getting it and sharing it with others. Still, a little understanding would be nice.

Of Counties and Jefferson

I just got some good news. I was notified that I got Litchfield County, Connecticut. This means that the only county I need in Connecticut is Middlesex. One more county and I'll have county bingo for Connecticut. This is especially good news since I'm going to New York in a few weeks. I'm hoping that since New York City is so close to Connecticut (and Middlesex County in particular) that I'll be able to get the county easily.

According to the County Difficulty tool on the Bank of Frank web site, a hit in that county should be relatively easy. Actually, all of the counties in that state should be relatively easy. Thus, I may get several bingos.

I'm actually debating whether or not to start using $2 bills regularly. I'm able to use them in the Gulfstream casino, but my manager asked me if I ever got them in change when cashing out. The fact that I don't probably means that they're depositing them, especially considering that only one bank of slots between the two casinos accepts them. This isn't what I want. I want them to be recirculated.

Most places seem to put them under the cash drawer, which means that they're depositing them, as well. I've seen very few places give them out as change. However, I'm thinking that the more I use them, the more likely places are to start giving them back out. I know that my coworkers don't like taking them because there's no place to account for them in our paperwork.

I think this may be true of most places. While registers have the ability to accommodate them, most don't. The only place that I've heard of that accepts them is Jefferson's Monticello estate, and that's because Jefferson's picture is on the front. (Monticello was also featured on the back until the 1976 redesign.)

According to the Wikipedia article, they account for about 1% of bills in production. Granted, that's not a relatively high number, but it's not incredibly rare, either. Even though there's a group of people on Where's George dedicated to entering and marking $2 bills, I could still probably enter thousands of them without finding someone else's.

Anyway, I wanted to get that in. It's been a while since I posed anything and I really should be posting more.