**Star Note** 1953A $5 Blue Seal Silver Certificate Grades vf++. FR-1656* Five dollar silver certificates were first issued in 1886. The series ended in 1953 with the Lincoln blue seals. The 1953 $5 silver certificate looks very similar to the earlier 1934 issues except that the “5” on the left hand side of the note is in blue, and the seal on the right hand side is smaller. All 1953 blue seal silver certificates feature a portrait of Abraham Lincoln. There is a blue seal on the right hand side of the bill. The serial number is also in blue writing. No 1953 five dollar silver certificate says In God We Trust. The following writing is on each note: “Silver Certificate This Certifies That There Is On Deposit In The Treasury Of The United States Of America Five Dollars In Silver Payable To The Bearer On Demand” “This Certificate Is Legal Tender For All Debts Public And Private” All 1953 blue seals were printed in Washington DC. When notes are discovered that have been printed incorrectly (such as having the serial numbers upside down, etc.) the misprinted "error notes" are replaced with star notes because no two bills within a certain series can be produced with the same serial number. They are used to maintain a correct count of notes in a serial number run. By their nature, star notes are more scarce than notes with standard serial numbers and as such are widely collected by numismatists. Some of the highest prices paid for modern (post-1928) U.S. banknotes have been for star notes.