The world of United States paper money will be without one of its most valued and treasured resources later this year as long-time researcher and collector Douglas D. Murray has announced that with his 80th birthday approaching in September, he will end his long-running census of large-size star notes.

The third and last printed edition of his Complete Catalog of Large Size Star Notes, 1910–1929 was published in 2007 and listed 6,296 star serial numbers. Doug terminated his census as of Dec. 31, 2021. It now contains a listing of 10,031 star serial numbers gathered over 46 years. He will email this updated version of his census to anyone who wants one. Requests should be sent to: starman222@juno.com.

He is also getting ready to conclude his census of the very complicated and challenging 1862/1863 legal tender notes with Series / New Series numbers. This census now has 7,318 legal tender notes listed in Series / New Series order, and 800 recorded by serial numbers only since Series / New Series information was not available at the time. This census is also available to anyone who asks. It lacks grades, as its focus was on the Series / New Series numbers.

Doug Murray was the impetus for the inclusion of these legal tender note varieties in recent editions of Paper Money of the United States, additions which could not have been made without his insight and willingness to share his knowledge.

He says, “It has been a great 46 years in a hobby; I really enjoyed researching and sharing results with collectors.”

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