The Series 1928C $1 Silver Certificate: One of the Scarcest Small-Size Type Notes and Its Known Star Note Population

Walk into almost any established currency dealer’s inventory and you will find rows of Series 1928 and 1928A $1 Silver Certificates without much fanfare. They are plentiful, affordable, and perfectly suitable for type sets. Move three slots down in the Friedberg catalog, however, and the landscape changes dramatically. The Series 1928C $1 Silver Certificate, cataloged as Friedberg 1602, is a different animal entirely. Printed in 1932 during the depths of the Great Depression, it carries one of the lowest print runs of any small-size $1 note of the twentieth century, a distinction that makes even well-worn examples exciting finds at currency shows.

Historical Context: Why Was the 1928C Printed at All?

To appreciate the scarcity of the 1928C, it helps to understand the broader Silver Certificate series of the late 1920s and early 1930s. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing introduced the modern small-size $1 Silver Certificate in July 1929, replacing the large-size format that had been in use since 1899. The initial 1928 series featured the signatures of Register of the Treasury Walter O. Woods and Treasurer of the United States H.T. Tate, and it was printed in enormous quantities, establishing the design standard that would persist for decades.

Subsequent series suffix letters were assigned each time a new signature combination came into effect due to changes in Treasury personnel. The 1928B followed with the Woods and Mellon signatures, and then came 1928C. By the time the 1928C was authorized, the country was mired in the Great Depression. Currency demand had contracted sharply and the Federal Reserve was not ordering notes with anything like the enthusiasm of the late 1920s. The result was a print run of roughly 5.36 million notes, a figure that sounds respectable until you compare it to the nearly 638 million 1928A notes or the 674 million 1928B notes produced. The 1928C represents less than one percent of the combined output of its two immediate predecessors.

Identifying the Series 1928C: Signatures and Design Details

The 1928C bears the signature combination of Walter O. Woods as Register of the Treasury and Edward E. Mills as Treasurer of the United States. This is the key identification point that distinguishes it from all other notes in the 1928 series. Woods served as Register from 1929 to 1933, pairing with three different Treasurers across the early 1928 series. Mills was appointed Treasurer in January 1933 and served only briefly, which is precisely why so few notes bearing his name were produced before the series changed again.

Visually, the note follows the standard small-size design introduced in 1929. The obverse features a portrait of George Washington at center, printed in black ink with green serial numbers. The Treasury seal appears to the right of the portrait in blue, a relatively small medallion-style seal that would later be replaced by the larger, more elaborate seal used from 1934 onward. The reverse carries the familiar green “ONE” back design with the ornate lathe work that collectors know well. Serial numbers on the 1928C run in the range beginning with approximately B00000001A through ranges that reflect the limited production.

The Star Note Problem: An Extraordinarily Small Census

Star notes, replacement notes printed with a star suffix in the serial number to replace imperfect sheets destroyed during production, are issued at a rate that typically mirrors the print run of the parent series. For a note produced in such limited quantities as the 1928C, the corresponding star note population is genuinely tiny. Estimates based on BEP production records and population report data suggest that no more than approximately 348,000 star notes were printed for the 1928C series, and survival rates in collectible condition are extremely low.

The PMG and PCGS Currency population reports as of recent census data show fewer than one hundred graded examples of 1928C star notes combined across both major grading services, and many of those grade in the Fine to Very Fine range, reflecting heavy circulation during the Depression era when people held onto every dollar they could and spent it hard. A 1928C star note grading Extremely Fine 40 or better is a genuinely rare instrument, and any example grading 64 or above in Choice Uncirculated condition would be considered a major trophy note by advanced collectors.

The Friedberg catalog assigns the 1928C star its own listing as Fr. 1602* (the asterisk denoting star note status). Current retail values for 1928C star notes in Very Fine condition typically range from $1,500 to $3,500, while Uncirculated examples with solid eye appeal can exceed $10,000 at major auction. Heritage Auctions and Stack’s Bowers have both handled examples in the past decade that realized prices well above catalog estimates when competitive bidding drove premiums.

Condition Census and What Survives Today

For the regular-issue 1928C (Fr. 1602), survival in circulated grades is more achievable but still well below what collectors encounter for 1928 or 1928B notes. The small print run combined with active circulation during the Depression means that the majority of surviving examples grade in the Good through Very Fine range. Notes grading 30 to 40 on the Sheldon-adapted scale used by PMG and PCGS Currency are relatively obtainable, typically trading between $150 and $400 depending on centering, paper quality, and crispness.

Truly choice examples are another matter. A 1928C grading PMG 64 Choice Uncirculated or better is scarce enough that Heritage’s auction archives show only a handful of such examples coming to market in any given year. The top of the condition census for Fr. 1602 has historically been populated by notes in the EPQ (Exceptional Paper Quality) grades of 64 and 65, with any note grading 66 or above representing an extreme rarity. One of the finest known examples, a PMG 66 EPQ, realized over $4,000 at a major 2019 auction, a figure that underscores the premium collectors are willing to pay for preservation quality on this scarce type.

Paper quality on surviving uncirculated examples often shows light aging or toning at the margins, a natural consequence of storage conditions during the 1930s and 1940s when note collecting was far less organized than it is today. Collectors seeking EPQ designation should look for examples with bright, crisp paper, sharp corners, and original embossing still present from the intaglio printing process.

How the 1928C Fits Into a Type Set

For collectors building a complete type set of small-size $1 Silver Certificates, the 1928C represents one of the two genuine challenges in the early group, the other being the 1928E (Fr. 1604). Most experienced type set builders approach the 1928C pragmatically: they acquire a mid-grade circulated example first to fill the slot, then upgrade over time as better examples surface at prices they can justify. This staged approach is sensible given that a Fine-12 example at $100 to $175 represents real historical rarity at an accessible price point.

Within the full run of 1928-series $1 Silver Certificates, which includes the 1928 through 1928E, the 1928C sits as the third-scarcest regular issue and the second-scarcest star note. A complete set of all seven 1928-series types in circulated grades is a realistic goal for a dedicated collector over several years. Completing the set entirely in Uncirculated grades with EPQ designation, however, is a multi-decade project and one that fewer than a handful of collectors have ever accomplished.

Authentication Concerns and Known Alterations

The significant premium commanded by the 1928C relative to the 1928B has historically made it a target for alteration. The most common fraud involves chemically removing or mechanically altering the signatures on a 1928B note to simulate the 1928C signature combination. Since both notes share the same general design and the Woods signature appears in both series, unscrupulous alteration typically targets only the Treasurer’s signature line, changing “Tate” to simulate “Mills.” These alterations are generally detectable under magnification and ultraviolet light because the paper surface is disturbed during manipulation, but they can fool casual examination.

The safest practice for any purchase above $300 is to buy only notes certified by PMG or PCGS Currency with the specific Friedberg number confirmed on the holder label. Reputable certification ensures that trained graders have authenticated the signature combination and examined the note for alterations before encapsulation.

Current Market Values and Where to Find Them

The 2024 edition of the Friedberg Paper Money of the United States guide lists the 1928C in Good-4 at approximately $90 to $110, Very Fine-20 at $225 to $300, and Uncirculated-60 at $750 to $900. These catalog values, as always, represent starting points rather than ceilings. At major shows like the ANA World’s Fair of Money or the Memphis International Paper Money Show, well-presented examples in Very Fine to Extremely Fine grades often trade at or above catalog because demand from type set builders regularly exceeds available supply.

Online venues including Heritage Auctions, Stack’s Bowers, and Lyn Knight Currency Auctions are the best places to track realized prices over time and get a genuine sense of what the market is actually paying. eBay can yield bargains for raw, ungraded examples if you have the expertise to authenticate the signature combination yourself, but for notes priced above $200, third-party certification is almost always worth the grading fee.

Conclusion: A Note Worth Pursuing

The Series 1928C $1 Silver Certificate is one of those notes that rewards patient, informed collecting. It is not as mythically scarce as the 1928E or as expensive as a top-grade 1896 Educational Series piece, but it occupies a genuine sweet spot: legitimately rare by any objective measure of production, historically significant as a product of Depression-era austerity, and attainable in mid-grade condition for collectors who do their homework and shop carefully. The star note population adds an extra layer of challenge for specialists, and the authentication considerations make it a note where numismatic knowledge translates directly into purchasing confidence. Whether you are filling a type set slot or building a focused collection of early small-size Silver Certificates, the 1928C deserves a prominent place on your want list.