2019 - Chinese New Year Finds

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The Chinese New Year is only a few weeks away and the dash for "crisp" notes has begun at select branches. Best places in Toronto are in and around Chinatown.

The prefixes that I am running into are as follows:

$5 - HCH
$10 - FTL, FTT, FTW
$20 - FYS
$50 - GHR, GHV
$100 - GJV

HCH and FTL are the most surprising. It gives hope that FTU must be around.

$10 - FTL, FTT, FTW

- I'm surprised you're still getting new bundles of FTL & FTT as I've only got the new 2018 Tens for some time now.  Are you asking for the old series?

It gives hope that FTU must be around.

- I've searched several circulated bundles & only found a few FTU so far. 

- the other mystery prefix (for me) is the $20 FVY (seen only a few) and it should have been released long ago.

Found two uncirculated bundles of HCR25 a few days after Christmas. Nothing UNC since then, but new serial ranges popping up are mostly HCK8, some HCM23, and surprisingly a few older HCE47 and HCF98. Tens of 2013 series I am finding lots of FTN3, FTR36, FTT29/30 and yes a few FTU0 here and there. 2018 series lots of FTW07, 09, 25, 26 and FFA12, 39, 40. FTY and FTZ I have spotted singles of so I assume they are travelers.

What HCH are you finding? I am assuming 0, 7, 9 or possibly 8 because those are the ones I have found very difficult to find.

What HCH are you finding? I am assuming 0, 7, 9 or possibly 8 because those are the ones I have found very difficult to find.

Its interesting you are keeping tab of prefix and serial number range. The new HCH I am gettiing are 07 and 08.

I have seen several 7, and 9 before. Now that you mention it and I look at my database I do not seem to have any starting with 8. I am sure it is something to do with regional distribution.

I have had several $5 prefixes which I never saw much of HBY, HBZ, HCA for example. I have had similar experience with $20 prefixes, FVY, FWP, FWR, FWY, FWZ, FYA, FYJ to name a few. I also believe it is regional distribution related.

A friend who travelled to Quebec once was able to find the prefixes that were not common in Ontario to be plentiful in Quebec.

Are you asking for the old series?
 

No. This is Chinese New Year thing so whatever the particular branch gets.

- the other mystery prefix (for me) is the $20 FVY (seen only a few) and it should have been released long ago.

I think this is something to do with geographical distribution. I have also seen relatively much fewer FVY. But I have seen them always well circulated and in a very wide range.

I do not necessarily keep track of it intentionally, I just go through a large quantity of 5s that I recognize which ranges are very common and which are uncommon. For example I have seen over 6000 HCN over many different number ranges but if I get one that starts between 10 and 38, it always catches my eye because those are very rare where I am. I used to think that ranges I couldn't find were simply distributed somewhere else, but now I believe that it's largely due to them not being released yet.

Of course regional distribution is still part of it. Before I visited Montreal in Sept 2017 I had seen over 1000 HCD and only one started with 5. I had predicted that I would probably see a few there and sure enough in my 2 days I spent in that city I found two HCD5.

However while I previously assumed the vast majority of absent ranges were just somewhere else, I think it's only a small part of that and a large part of them not being released yet. HCD5 is common enough around here now and I believe that is just from general circulation. Of course I can't have exact numbers, but my gut feeling says this phenomenon is about 75% from ranges being unreleased and 25% from ranges being released somewhere else. I went and counted my stats for HCH:

HCH0: ZERO!
HCH1: 75
HCH2: 638
HCH3: 1261
HCH4: 391
HCH5: 139
HCH6: 184
HCH7: 53
HCH8: 10 (with 2 of these found in the last week, so it had skewed my perceptions when I made my original post)
HCH9: 91
Total to date: 2842

Hence why I put a bet on your HCH being 0, because I guessed if you were finding uncirculated batches, it was probably going to be from something I hadn't seen before. :p

Hence why I put a bet on your HCH being 0, because I guessed if you were finding uncirculated batches, it was probably going to be from something I hadn't seen before. :p

Interesting analysis. In my case I have seen very few HBY, HBZ and HCA. I cannot imagine that it is because they have not been released as a lot have been entered in SNDB. I have always thought that this was largely because of geographical distribution.


It would be very informative if the data from the Serial Number Database is shared to show among other things the distribution of the prefixes entered by their geography.

I agree, that information would be useful if it were public. Examining my own data shows a dip in that range as well, but they are still quite plentiful. I have screenshotted my full $5 stats to date if you were so interested: https://i.imgur.com/BZiLagy.png

For context I would say that this data is very recent - I would estimate about 70% of this data to have been collected between the beginning of 2018 and today.

My lowest is HCL, which has been that way for some time. It used to be a tie between HCK and HCL for the least common prefix, but since around August there has been a large influx of brand new HCK that have brought it up to speed. This is why I am betting on HCL having the same destiny. In fact I found a single full bundle of HCL in September (so even the 642 would have been 542 otherwise) and I expected more to follow but they have not yet. Time will tell, I suppose. In the meantime, it sure would be nice to peruse the SNDB's range and location data...

My 8  bricks are all HCK and HCF
HCK 04
HCF 20

My lowest is HCL, --------  In fact I found a single full bundle of HCL in September (so even the 642 would have been 542 otherwise) and I expected more to follow but they have not yet.

I have had oodles of HCL from 0 and then from 4 to 9. Strangely nothing from 1, 2, and 3. And I have had them since 2014.

But going with your record and what I have recorded for HCL it would seem to be geographic. I am guessing that the range that I have not seen 1, 2, and 3 is most likely in other locations.

Having said that I have seen new bundles of HCL as late as November 2018 and as early as mid 2014.