My little trip

You have entered 30,842 Bills worth $84,718
Bills with hits: 2,266 Total hits: 2,548
Hit rate: 7.35% Slugging Percentage: 8.26% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,105.85
Your rank (based on George Score) is #709
(out of 52,037 current users with a George Score. [98.6 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 37 out of 6,435 [99.4]

I got back from vacation. I had a chance to spend lots of marked bills, of which I’ve gotten a few hits. There are two in Winston-Salem, NC, which I’m sure are ones that I took with me. (I had entered them only a few days before and close to each other.) Mostly, I bought gift cards. I reloaded my Starbucks and Subway cards and also bought new Panera and Waldenbooks cards.

When I got the card at Panera, it looked like the cashier was showing them to someone else. I asked about it and she said that she was simply putting $50 in singles together to put in the back. They’ll probably be staying in the store, but I don’t know if I’ll see any hits off of that for a while.

In other news, I went to the bank today and got five $2 bills. Unfortunately, four of them were ones that I had already stamped. I think that since I ask for them so often, they save them for me. This means that they also save the bills I’ve already stamped, not knowing that I want new bills.

I was also able to get a lot of new bills at the bank. I didn’t hit any, but I found a few that had writing on them. This was the best shot I was able to get of them. I don’t know why anyone would put this all over the bills or why I got so many of them, but I suspect that a lot of them will be making their way to the casino next week.

IKEA

You have entered 29,248 Bills worth $80,349
Bills with hits: 2,149 Total hits: 2,404
Hit rate: 7.35% Slugging Percentage: 8.22% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,099.21
Your rank (based on George Score) is #754
(out of 52,164 current users with a George Score. [98.6 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 37 out of 6,390 [99.4]

I went to IKEA yesterday and had a chance to let my bills see the inside of one of their registers in two cities. (The other time was when I was out in in the Phoenix area.) Here’s the thing. I made the mistake of using $2 bills. When I went to the snack counter to get lunch, I didn’t see where the cashier put them, although she was caught off guard.

When I made it to the checkout counter to buy the items that I wanted, I again used twos. This time, I noticed that she put them under the tray. My parents were there, ahead of me in line, and I had people behind me. Once again, I found myself wanting to ask the cashier why, but didn’t want to hold people up.

It may simply be a matter of time. Places like McDonald’s seem to be a little more tolerant. This could be me wearing them down or simply wishful thinking. Either way, it was just one time that I noticed. I don’t know if IKEA or any place else has an actual policy against twos. I think it’s just some sort of collectively unconscious effort.

Anyway, I just thought I’d share.

fifty with crease 3350

You have entered 29,033 Bills worth $79,904
Bills with hits: 2,135 Total hits: 2,390
Hit rate: 7.35% Slugging Percentage: 8.23% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,098.51
Your rank (based on George Score) is #763
(out of 52,178 current users with a George Score. [98.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 38 out of 6,385 [99.4]

I actually found this $50 bill the other day. I thought it was interesting, but I’m not sure if I want to keep it. There’s an actual crease that affected the printing, which is interesting. I have to see how much that affects the value. It’s not really worth holding on to for the sheer novelty.

I also found a 1976 series $2 bill with a date-of-issue postmark, which I will be holding on to. For those that don’t know, when the $2 was reintroduced in 1976, some post offices postmarked the bills to commemorate the reintroduction of the bill. Again, I don’t know if it’s worth anything, but it’s definitely worth hanging on to, especially since I hold on to 1976 twos anyway.

I can’t think of much else to post. I know I’m not keeping up with a post every day, but I’d like to.

Ranking

You have entered 28,421 Bills worth $78,294
Bills with hits: 2,076 Total hits: 2,326
Hit rate: 7.30% Slugging Percentage: 8.18% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,095.47
Your rank (based on George Score) is #780(out of 52,413 current users with a George Score. [98.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 39 out of 6,361 [99.4]

I went up to 37, but I got knocked back down to 39. This happens when people refresh, since points are taken off for not refreshing. The points are added back when you do refresh your hits by state. If someone falls under me, then refreshes, I get knocked back down. This is illustrated with Bank of Frank’s Spy Tool. (Look for me under Florida.) Right now, those that are above me are staying above me, which means that it will be a while before I go back up. It took me a while to break into the top forty. It’s going to be even longer before I get to the top thirty.

You have entered 27,918 Bills worth $76,903
Bills with hits: 2,035 Total hits: 2,280
Hit rate: 7.29% Slugging Percentage: 8.17% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,093.19
Your rank (based on George Score) is #779
(out of 52,389 current users with a George Score. [98.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 38 out of 6,343 [99.4]

I went to the mall yesterday ready to go to the casino, but wanting to get lunch first. I stopped by the Tony Roma’s Express that opened there. (It wasn’t quite as good as I expected, but that’s another story.) I guess one of the pitfalls of having just opened is not knowing how much change you need over the course of a day. They were out and I was able to provide them with $50 in singles.

Now, I normally don’t mind doing this, but the cashier gave me back $10 in twos that I had given her to pay for my lunch. I was hoping to get them into circulation at the mall, but I’d rather leave $50 in singles than $10 in twos. I think I did well.

I was able to get a few $2 bills into circulation at the casino, but not many. Since they don’t give them out as change and I don’t know where they go, I don’t want to spend too many there. I don’t know if it’s my imagination or what, but I think the machines are starting to take twos again.

Anyway, when I got back, I remembered to get an iTunes card. The two toms that I gave as payment were put into the drawer for the ones. I consider this a very good sign. I don’t know if they really are getting back into circulation, but it’s as good a place as any, considering that they have Internet access there. If I spend enough twos there, I’ll eventually get a hit.

Well, I figured I’d share the day’s events.

You have entered 27,831 Bills worth $75,915
Bills with hits: 2,028 Total hits: 2,272
Hit rate: 7.29% Slugging Percentage: 8.16% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,092.79
Your rank (based on George Score) is #773
(out of 52,252 current users with a George Score. [98.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 37 out of 6,337 [99.4]

It looks like I’m staying above 40th place in Florida. I was bouncing around for a while, mostly because people were waiting several days before refreshing. (Your George Score goes down for every day that you don’t refresh.) It’s possible that I’ll go back down in the next few days, but I am making progress right now. That leads me to believe that I’ll be in the top 40 for a while.

I have today and tomorrow off, which is unusual for me. I usually get Mondays and Tuesdays off, but due to scheduling concerns over the next few weeks, I have to take today off. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but most banks will be closed today and tomorrow.

Today is, of course, Sunday. It’s a day that banks are usually closed. Tomorrow is Columbus Day, a day which all banks close. This means that I wasn’t able to get change from banks today and I won’t be able to get change from banks tomorrow.

I went to the casino today anyway. When I first tried to get on the bus, I saw a big wall of rain, so I decided to hold off. Forty-five minutes later, it had cleared up and I was able to go. I didn’t have much on me, but I was able to get a few bills into circulation. I actually came out $10 or $15 ahead.

If I go back tomorrow, I’ll probably bring more bills with me. I’ll leave some singles behind so that I’ll have enough to cover the registers when I go in to work Tuesday. The big thing will be having fives, but that shouldn’t be a problem, either. I have some twenties that I can break if I go tomorrow. If not, I may be able to go to a local grocery store to get fives. I may even have enough right now depending on how busy it is.

After going to the casino, I went in to the Apple Store to get an iTunes gift card. I only had $2 bills at that point. When I gave them to the guy at the register, he actually tested them with a pen. (I think this is the third or fourth time I’ve had this done with twos.) He said to a coworker how he wasn’t looking forward to closing with them because of the way that they have to enter the money into the machine.

I told him that he could always get them back into circulation, which I think he’s going to do. He put them in the register where the tens normally went. (He was out of tens at the time; he probably moved them when he got tens in.) Considering that the Apple Store at the mall has computers with Internet access, it’s possible that I may even get some hits there. It’s doubtful, though, since they closed at 8:00 and I haven’t seen any yet. I can always hope, though.

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.

Links to pictures

You have entered 25,987 Bills worth $70,554
Bills with hits: 1,927 Total hits: 2,157
Hit rate: 7.42% Slugging Percentage: 8.30% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,086.53
Your rank (based on George Score) is #815
(out of 52,378 current users with a George Score. [98.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 40 out of 6,285 [99.4]

It occurs to me that I should probably post links to the two pictures that I didn't post in the blog. (The Jenny and Maureen L. pictures)

Here they are:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seacow_99/1388417033/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seacow_99/1389313622/

This will make them easier to find later on.

Markings and soforth

You have entered 25,987 Bills worth $70,554
Bills with hits: 1,925 Total hits: 2,155
Hit rate: 7.41% Slugging Percentage: 8.29% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,086.43
Your rank (based on George Score) is #813
(out of 52,345 current users with a George Score. [98.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 40 out of 6,285 [99.4]

I went to the bank for work on Monday and noticed that one of my twos had made it into one of the teller’s drawer. It was still there today, which is both bad news and good news. The bad news is that someone deposited it, but the good news is that the teller has it waiting for someone to ask for it. I don’t know if anyone will, but it is there. (I can tell it’s mine since it has one of the Biscayne Park stamps on it.) It makes me feel a little better that the bank is keeping it. I don’t know if he’s keeping it for me, but he hasn’t said anything. I’d really like someone else to take it.

I’ve got another bill with writing on it. This one is interesting only due to local significance. There is a mall in Miami called The Mall at 163rd Street, usually referred to the 163rd Street Mall. It is in the northeast quadrant of the county, which puts it on NE 163 Street. I could be totally off on this considering the circulation that singles get.

I also got 17 hits pulled since the person that entered them used a separate account to enter them, which raised suspicion. I wrote in to make sure that there wasn’t anything going on my permanent record, but it was apparently evident that I had done nothing wrong. Overall, it’s no big deal. 17 hits isn’t going to end the world or cause civilizations to rise and fall. I’m just a little curious as to how he found 17 of my bills at once.

All things considered, it’s been an interesting week or so.

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.

writing on two-dollar bill

You have entered 24,989 Bills worth $68,131
Bills with hits: 1,889 Total hits: 2,116
Hit rate: 7.56% Slugging Percentage: 8.47% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,083.99
Your rank (based on George Score) is #834
(out of 52,218 current users with a George Score. [98.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 41 out of 6,267 [99.3]

This is a test post. I’m not sure that the formatting or anything will work, but I want to see if I can use Flickr to post pictures. If I like what I see, I may continue. The image that I’m trying to post is of a $2 bill. It has some sort of writing that I can’t identify. I’m hoping that between Flickr and the blog, I get some sort of comment about it.

Small bills

You have entered 24,882 Bills worth $67,738
Bills with hits: 1,873 Total hits: 2,099
Hit rate: 7.53% Slugging Percentage: 8.44% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,083.12
Your rank (based on George Score) is #838
(out of 52,295 current users with a George Score. [98.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 44 out of 6,262 [99.3]

I actually got a lot of $2 bills from Washington Mutual today. I was able to get 70, which brings me to just over 600 entered. Washington Mutual seems like they’re a pretty good bank to get twos from, even though it‘s usually hit and miss. In fact, one of the bills was already entered into the system. The user that initially entered the bill seems rather fond of $2 bills. It’s nice to see that someone else is entering them.

On another note, I went to a mall in Broward the other night and had the chance to purchase an iTunes card. I paid for it in marked singles, which I think the cashier put underneath the other bills. I have no way of knowing since the tray wasn’t visible. Since it was towards the end of the day, it’s possible that they were saving them for the next day, but I doubt it. Putting the bills at the bottom of the stack usually means that they’re going to deposit them.

I got that today with some $2 bills that I spent at Aventura Mall. The cashier put them at the bottom of the singles stack, which I took to mean that they’ll be deposited. Even when a cashier puts them next to the twenties, I worry that they’ll be deposited. At work, we’ve never given a $2 bill as change. (I usually swap them out to enter and mark; if I’m not there, my coworkers will deposit them.)

I think that this is why my hit rate on $2 bills is at 0.7% and my hit rate on singles is at 8.5%. No one reissues them like singles. $2 bills have the lowest hit rate of any denomination that’s gotten a hit. (I have no hits on twenties, fifties or hundreds.) Twos almost have it as bad as hundreds in the sense that they’re usually deposited. At least $2 bills are sought out by a small fraction of the population and you can get 50 times as many bills for the same price.

I’d like to see the day when $2 bills are given as change at places other than Monticello.

$2 bills and then some

You have entered 24,219 Bills worth $66,091
Bills with hits: 1,822 Total hits: 2,038
Hit rate: 7.52% Slugging Percentage: 8.41% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,079.75
Your rank (based on George Score) is #851
(out of 52,256 current users with a George Score. [98.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 43 out of 6,245 [99.3]

I got another new county in Georgia, bringing up the total to 22 counties out of 159.

I was in Starbucks today and I saw a $2 bill in the tip jar. I don’t know where that person got it, but they apparently thought it a good idea to give it as a tip. It’s possible that they got it as change at the Starbucks or somewhere else in the mall, which would be a good sign. It’s also possible that they’re like me in that they want to get them into circulation. I checked the bill and it wasn’t marked, so I can be relatively certain that it wasn’t mine.

It’s funny that since I wanted to ask why people why they put toms under the register, I haven’t had it happen as much. It usually happens at McDonalds and there’s enough of a line that I don’t want to hold things up. However, some of the people there have started putting them in the register. I still have no idea if they’re giving them out as change or not, but it’s progress and I’ll take it.

The one chance I did get to ask was at the Apple Store. The woman at the register said simply that they didn’t have the space in the tray for them. I told her that if she put them under the register, the bill would never see circulation again, hinting that I wanted the bills to get back out.

I did pick up a lot more at the bank today. Washington Mutual had fifty of them and a Bank United had another two. I wanted to get fives, but didn’t think of it until most of the banks were closed. It doesn’t really matter. I have some and should have a chance to get more tomorrow.

The big thing for me is entering all of the bills tonight. I wish that I had gotten sequential twos, which would have made things much easier. Then again, there’s always stamping…

Close to county bingo

You have entered 24,207 Bills worth $65,871
Bills with hits: 1,817 Total hits: 2,033
Hit rate: 7.51% Slugging Percentage: 8.40% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,079.49
Your rank (based on George Score) is #845(out of 52,222 current users with a George Score. [98.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 44 out of 6,243 [99.3]

I got a hit in Kent County, DE, leaving me with just Sussex County for Delaware bingo. That means that I have two states waiting on one county for bingo. (The other state is Connecticut; be on the lookout if you’re in Middlesex County.)

I don’t know if I mentioned it, but I got a new domain name for this blog. For those of you using http://bkuhl.blogspot.com, the new URL is http://www.briankuhl.com, so update your bookmarks. (Obviously, you can still access this site using the old URL, but I’d prefer the new one since I’m paying for it.) I can also be emailed at briankuhl@briankuhl.com.

You have entered 24,176 Bills worth $65,469
Bills with hits: 1,801 Total hits: 2,016
Hit rate: 7.45% Slugging Percentage: 8.34% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,078.63
Your rank (based on George Score) is #853
(out of 52,245 current users with a George Score. [98.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 44 out of 6,237 [99.3]

I got another new county, this time in Alabama. Today seems to be the day for new counties.

3 new counties

You have entered 24,176 Bills worth $65,469
Bills with hits: 1,799 Total hits: 2,014
Hit rate: 7.44% Slugging Percentage: 8.33% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,078.53
Your rank (based on George Score) is #853
(out of 52,226 current users with a George Score. [98.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 44 out of 6,237 [99.3]

It turns out that the hit in question the other day was legit, but I got another similar hit that came back from Las Vegas. While I do already have a Vegas hit, it kind of sucks that this has happened twice. I realize that to someone that doesn’t do this regularly, it doesn’t really matter where the bill is hit, but it does matter. I’d like to see the bill get a hit further away.

It just goes to show how well a $1 bill circulates. It can make it to Vegas and back in a few months. I’ve heard that $1 bills get the best circulation since everyone uses them and they’re in and out of registers all the time. $100 bills always go to the bank since they pretty much don’t get given out as change. (The same is usually true of fifties.)

I did get three new counties. One was in Florida, another in Ohio and a third in Louisiana. Florida counties are hard to come by since I have so many. (Levy is the 44th county I’ve gotten out of the 67 that Florida has.) It’s strange how I get new counties in groups like that. I’ll go for a while without any. Again, it’s hardest when you need one or two, as with Connecticut. I need one county out of the state’s eight.

Well, here’s to hoping I get those remaining counties and states.

You have entered 24,169 Bills worth $65,439
Bills with hits: 1,793 Total hits: 2,008
Hit rate: 7.42% Slugging Percentage: 8.31% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,078.23
Your rank (based on George Score) is #854
(out of 52,225 current users with a George Score. [98.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 43 out of 6,234 [99.3]

I seem to be slipping in the rankings. I hit 39 a while back, but I’m back to 43. My slugging percentage seems to be going up, though. I don’t know if it’s the new stamp or the fact that I haven’t really been entering as many bills as of late. Part of it is that I’ve been entering more fives. The trip made it hard to find bills to enter, mostly because I was more concerned on spending.

I got a new state with a hit in Overland Park, Kansas. This leaves me with just Alaska, Idaho, Montana and North Dakota for fifty-state bingo. (As one might imagine, that’s where you have all fifty states.) I’ve been getting a few new counties lately, but it’s becoming increasingly rare that they are in new states, as well.The first dozen or so are pretty easy. (Your first hit is guaranteed to be in a state that you didn’t have before.) Once you get to the last five or ten, new states are rarer and rarer. The last one has a reputation for being nearly impossible, yet people do it.

This hit worries me a little. The person brought it back to Miami from Newark? I’m thinking it’s a false hit. I have to report it and see if this is the case. However, what are the odds that the person also happens to live in Miami? Either way, it’s a little odd. (Note: If you see that the second hit is someplace other than Miami, it means that it was a false hit and that the problem has been corrected.)

That’s all I can really think of for now. I wish I had more to put in.

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.

Two $2 hits

You have entered 23,835 Bills worth $64,400

Bills with hits: 1,752 Total hits: 1,961

Hit rate: 7.35% Slugging Percentage: 8.23% (total hits/total bills)

George Score: 1,075.64

Your rank (based on George Score) is #893

(out of 52,066 current users with a George Score. [98.3 Percentile])

Your State Rank in Florida is: 43 out of 6,210 [99.3]

I got two hits on two-dollar bills today, both by the same person and both from bills that I had entered within the past week. (You can view the hits here and here.) I find this interesting because of my recent post where I said that places were putting Toms under the register.

I think that both of these were bills that were put under the register, made it to the bank and back into circulation. I’m not clear, though, as to what the guy plans to do with the remaining three bills. (Since he’s a member, it’s reasonable to assume that they’re going into circulation, but anything’s possible.)

When I went to lunch today, someone behind me noticed that I paid with $2 bills and asked the cashier if he could swap them out. He asked if I had any more; I told him that I had two I could trade with him, but he was only able to take one. That’s probably the only thing worse than going under the register because I can be relatively certain that they’re not going to get a hit. (In fact, when I saw the hits on the $2 bills, I was hoping it was this guy, although I knew it wasn’t.)

One of these days, I’m going to go to the bank and get a whole bunch of Toms just to put them into circulation. I’ll have to ask for new bills to get the best circulation out of them and to make them easier to enter.

Speaking of getting better hits, I did get a new stamp. It shows the state of Florida with “Biscayne Park” above it and “Florida” below. There’s even a dot where Biscayne Park is supposed to be, but it blends in to the coastline. Some of the people in the chat room seemed to think that it would reduce the number of hits I get because it would be too obvious where it came from. My theory is that it’s a bit more noticeable and may garner hits from people that live in Biscayne Park.

A coworker of mine thought that it would advertise where I live, so that people might rob me. This assumes two things. One, someone would have to see the bill and assume that because I’m on Where’s George that I have a lot of cash. Two, they wouldn’t have to be clued in by my ZIP code, which is only a little less specific. (33161 also includes part of North Miami and I think extends over to Barry University.)

Either way, I’m not going to worry about it. My biggest concern is customers giving me grief about it. My aforementioned coworker was happy about my using a new stamp because it was less noticeable. Less noticeable is not what I want. Less noticeable means fewer hits. I want more hits.

Well, until that happens, I can just hope.

You have entered 23,575 Bills worth $63,527
Bills with hits: 1,738 Total hits: 1,943
Hit rate: 7.37% Slugging Percentage: 8.24% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,074.55
Your rank (based on George Score) is #890
(out of 52,031 current users with a George Score. [98.3 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 43 out of 6,208 [99.3]

I have a few more bills to share. I’ve been holding on to one of them for a while. I got one with Winnie the Pooh stamps on the front and back.

The front was covered with them while the back had just the one. I think that someone likes Winnie just a bit too much. It could just be me, though.

I also got another bill with the Asian writing. It actually looks like the same set of characters. It’s odd that I’d come across two bills with the same markings. I’d really like to know what they mean, but not having the appropriate keyboard makes it difficult to find out. If anyone knows someone that can translate, please forward this post to them.

I’m curious if it’s even something I should be posting in a family-friendly environment or if it’s some sort of political message or something. I may find out it’s a message from your friendly neighborhood liberation army and I’m unwittingly promoting them. This would make twice that I’ve done so.

This last one is a mystery. It’s just a ring of text with more text in it. Maybe it’s a bank stamp or something. Who marks the back of bills like that? It must be some sort of inventory thing or something. Again, what does it mean? Where did it come from? Is there some greater meaning or does someone want to track their currency to see if it comes back to them?

I have to wait and see on these. Maybe if someone finds the bill and logs them on Where’s George, I’ll get some clue. If not, it will just have to be one of those mysteries of the ages.