1928F $5 Legal Tender

Narrow & Wide II Stars

There was a very small and subtle design change on the reverse of the $5 note that occurred during the printing of the 1928F series. It really isn't noticeable with the naked eye, but can be seen under magnification and also determined by the BP number. There were three varieties, shown below, that were also used to print 1934D Silver Certificates and 1950 Federal Reserve Notes.

The Wide I reverse design was used from the start of small-size $5 printing in 1928 and encompasses all BP numbers up to #2006. The Narrow reverse design is a bit more squished together, show below, and had less lines on the right side, creating a more circular design, and encompassed BP #2007 to #2066. The Wide II design is the same design as Wide I and was used on BP #2067 to #2096, which was the end of the 12-subject sheets. As a side note, the 18-subject sheets began with BP #2097 and used the Narrow design, which was used to print the1953 series and later $5 Legal Tender.

Wide I

BP #2006 and lower

Narrow

BP #2007 to 2066

Wide II

BP #2067 to #2096

The Wide I design is by far the most plentiful and is found on the majority of 1928F series Legal Tender. While the Narrow and Wide II designs are considerably less common, neither is rare on non-Star notes and don't command much of a premium in circulated grades. The non-Star Narrow and Wide II are highly collectable and can bring significant premiums over their Wide I counterparts in higher grades.

The 1928F series Narrow and Wide II Star (replacement) notes are a very different story. The Wide I Star notes are common, the Narrow Star notes are scarce, and Wide II Star notes are very rare, with the Narrow Star nearly doubling the current census population 2:1. Both Narrow and Wide II Star notes are highly sought by collectors and don't become available very often without significantly inflated prices.