Federal Reserve Districts

Identifying the Federal Reserve District

All small-size $1 Federal Reserve Notes, and small-size $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 Federal Reserve Notes issued before Series 1995, bear the identifying letter of the issuing Federal Reserve District on a seal and as a serial number prefix letter, and display the bank's identifying number in all four corners of the note.

[photo: Series 1999 $1 Federal Reserve Note]

Left: Identifying Federal Reserve District letter (L, San Francisco)
Right: Identifying Federal Reserve District number (12)

Each of the 12 Federal Reserve District regional banks is designated by the following letters and numbers:

CityLetterNumber
BostonA1
New YorkB2
PhiladelphiaC3
ClevelandD4
RichmondE5
AtlantaF6
CityLetterNumber
ChicagoG7
St. LouisH8
MinneapolisI9
Kansas CityJ10
DallasK11
San FranciscoL12

Note: Though $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 notes since Series 1996 have no Federal Reserve letter displayed on a seal, the second prefix letter in the serial number denotes the district.

[photo: Series 2006 $5 Federal Reserve Note]

On newer notes, the identifying Federal Reserve District letter is the second
prefix letter in the serial number (above: A, Boston).

Selecting the right item for your collection

Littleton Coin Company's item numbers include the identifying letter of the issuing Federal Reserve District following the Friedberg series number from the definitive reference guide Paper Money of the United States. As an example, our item number FR2028G.82 consists of the following:

  • Friedberg number 2028 (for Series 1988A $10 Federal Reserve Notes)
  • "G" (for the Chicago Federal Reserve District)
  • .82 (designating the grade of Crisp Uncirculated)

See our inventory of Federal Reserve Notes