Lurkers: A cautionary tale. ~ Project 2013B

A short story illustrating why it is important to register your 2013B star notes, and not simply look at the online list ('database') for your matching bill. It also gives you some insight into the process of what happens when a matching pair is discovered. Enjoy.

Meet 'Lurker A'. He owns a 2013B star note that was printed in Fort Worth, with the serial number 07406555. He has never registered his bill to be on the list but checks the list once a week to see if the matching Washington DC note gets registered and shows up on the list.

Meet 'Lurker B'. He owns a 2013B star note that was printed in Washinton DC, with the serial number 07406555. He has never registered his bill to be on the list but checks the list once a week to see if the matching Fort Worth note gets registered and shows up on the list. Neither 'Lurker A' nor 'Lurker B' are aware of each other, nor that when combined they have a matching pair!

Meet the Administrator of Project 2013B. He is both smart, and sexy. He maintains the online list, adds new serial numbers as they are submitted by people around the world, and checks if any of the newly submitted serial numbers has a match in the existing list. He does this for FREE, but accepts tips through the handy tip form at the bottom of his Project 2013B blog. Take a look. It's there. It really is. Neat huh?

One day, the Administrator finds a new matching pair of notes, both with the serial number 06900420. He announces it to each bill holder and requests a photo of the bill in order to verify that it truly exists and is 'legit'. Once both bills are verified, the Administrator provides each bill holder the email address of the other bill holder, and they negotiate amongst themselves if either one want to buy the matching note from the other, or sell their note to the other. The match is also announced by the Administrator on the 2013B blog with photo proof, and to great fanfare.

Meet Veronica. She was one of the bill holders of the matching pair for Serial number 06900420. She registered back in 2017, literally never checked the list, then out of the blue was contacted by the Administrator that she might have one half of a matching pair. Once she was given the email contact of the other bill holder, she bought the matching bill to her Fort Worth note for a fair price. She now has the matching pair physically in her hands. One of the bills is in circulated shape, but she manages to get $8247 at auction, and a nice profit. Quite nice for a few minutes work. She sends a nice tip to the Administrator too! Veronica is a nice person.

Meanwhile, 'Lurker A' continues to monitor the list but never sees the matching bill show up on the list, despite checking every single week for the matching DC note. He gets angry. He kicks his cat, then contends with an expensive vet bill.

Meanwhile, 'Lurker B' continues to monitor the list but never sees the matching bill show up on the list, despite checking every single week for the matching Fort Worth note. He doesn't kick cats. He is more of a dog person.

Fast forward 10 years. In that time 'Lurker A' gets gets divorced, transitions into a female, retires, then dies. Her son finds the dollar bill, and not knowing what it is, simply spends it, and the bill enters circulation. Eventually the bill gets worn out to the point where a bank sends the tattered bill back to a Federal Reserve bank where it is destroyed along with other bills that are deemed too worn or damaged for circulation.

During that time, 'Lurker B' invests all his money into crypto currency FTX. FTX is wiped out, and 'Lurker B' commits suicide by setting his house on fire after taking a full bottle of sleeping pills. The 2013B Washinton DC is destroyed in the fire. A funeral is held for the 2013B banknote... an innocent victim.