Someone seems to have jumped the gun. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing told Coin World in August that the first of the long-sequestered Series 2013 $100 notes would start circulating in 2018. It may then be something of a surprise, at least to the BEP, that collector Ira Zuckerman bought one from the APD Currency website on Sept. 1.

Did you buy a winner or a loser from the U.S. Mint? Also in this week’s print issue of Coin World, we not only learn more about rare coins, but collectible rare cars as well.

Alex Delatola of APD Currency in Pittstown, New Jersey, confirmed the purchase of the $100 note, which was listed on his website for $250. Delatola said he bought it at the end of August from a person who worked at a Chase bank in Manhattan who saw his ad on the Internet. It is from the New York Federal Reserve district with the serial number MB44713229A, and was the only 2013 note mixed in with a consecutive run of Series 2009 $100 notes.

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Based on the BEP Monthly Production Reports, this note was printed at the BEP’s Western Facility in Fort Worth, Texas, during January 2015. 

Adding to the confusion, Vladimir Buravlev, a Coin World reader who says he lives in Kyrgyzstan, reports seeing them circulating in that former Soviet republic in central Asia. He sent a scan of a note with serial number MB63093058B, which was printed in February 2017.

Perhaps this puts an end to the rumors that none of the Series 2013 $100 notes had been seen since their initial printing over two years ago because they were sent to Iran as part of the hostage deal in 2016. Series 2013 $100 bills have been printed for the New York, Atlanta, and San Francisco districts, along with star notes for the New York and San Francisco banks. 

BEP officials would not comment to provide an explanation for the delay in releasing the Series 2013 notes, but speculation is that a decision was made not to confuse the marketplace so soon after the release of the Series 2009 and 2009A $100 Federal Reserve notes.

According to Federal Reserve policy, notes are released as needed by individual banks, and the 2013 bills would not be delivered to commercial banks until all supplies the Series 2009 and 2009A notes were exhausted.