GALLERY OF STAMPING STYLES, 1999-2005

When the Where's George website was first started, the WG stamps were not readily available. Hank Eskin, the founder of WG had it in mind to develop a stock three liner stamp in red. These became available in the latter part of January 1999, but only in red. Later on that year, blue and purple versions of that stamp became available for sale on his website.

Sales of these stamps continued until Hank was visited by the Secret Service in 2000. The Secret Service did not shut down Where's George, but they informed Hank that he could no longer sell the WG stamps since that constituted advertising on US currency, which is not legal. As a result, WG stamps are no longer sold by Hank, which forced individual WG enthusiasts to develop their own.

For several months, I used only the "classic three liner" stamps in red. Later on, I began changing stamping styles once per month, alternating between red, blue, and purple on the front. These colors alternated on the back, along with black. This pattern continued for the next several years.

Beginning on 1 March 2005, I decided to add back margin messages to my stamping style. This was inspired by NapaMac. I got one of his bills, and I liked his "Cheers, NapaMac" in the back margin of his bill. I decided to begin with a favorite quote from an April Wine song that's one of my favorites, and to later use different messages.

This page features an archive of the no longer used stamping styles prior to March 2005. I will occasionally issue a few of these for commemorative purposes. Maybe you'll get lucky and find one of these in your change.

Stamping Style 1 used the classic three liner in red on both the front and the back. This was used beginning in February 1999 through March 2000, and for June 2002. During this period of time, an estimated 6591 bills were stamped with this style, with 1551 hits being returned for a hit rate of 23.53%. The total of entries is an estimate as that "wild" bills that I hit are included, which may or may not have included a different stamping style.

Stamping Style 2 was the first time that a departure from the tradition of using only red stamps took place. It was rolled out for the first time in April 2000. For this style, there have been 460 entries with 102 hits, for a hit rate of 22.17%.

Stamping Style 3 made its first appearance in May 2000, and was used again in May 2001 and February 2002. It featured the color purple on both front and back. Out of 880 entries, there were 190 hits, for a hit rate of 21.59%

Stamping Style 4 was used during June 2000. It was the first and only time that I did not stamp bills on the back. At that time, I wanted to see how not stamping on the back would affect the hit rate. I had intended to repeat not stamping on the back in the future, but that never happened again after this month. There weren't that many entries as that I was moving during this month. There were 210 bills entered, of which only 34 were hit, for a hit rate of 16.19%.

Stamping Style 5 was used for July through September 2000, December 2000, March 2001, January 2002 and May 2002. It was the first time that black was used on the back. For these months, there were 2790 bills entered, with 506 hits returned, for a hit rate of 18.14%.

Stamping Style 6 was used for October 2000 and again in July 2001. There were 640 bills entered, with 107 hits returned, for a hit rate of 16.72%.

Stamping Style 7 was used for November 2000 and January 2001. There were 1030 bills entered, with 130 hits returned, for a hit rate of 12.62%.

Stamping Style 8 was used for February 2001. It marked the debut of the "aftermarket" three liner, of which I had two of them made by Office Max. The line spacing is a little wider than on the "classic" three liner. There were 410 bills entered, with 82 hits returned, for a hit rate of 20.00%.

Stamping Style 9 was used for April 2001 and September 2001. The classic three liner is on the front in red, while the back used the "aftermarket" red stamp. There were 830 bills entered for these months, with 179 hits returned, for a hit rate of 21.57%.

Stamping Style 10 made its first appearance in June 2001. This style used the classic purple on front with the aftermarket red on the back. A total of 340 bills were entered, of which 61 returned hits, for a hit rate of 17.94%.

Stamping Style 11 was used in August 2001 and December 2001. The classic red stamp is on the front and the classic blue is on the back. For this style, there were 650 entries that returned 139 hits, for a hit rate of 21.38%.

Stamping Style 12 was rolled out in October 2001 and used again in April 2002. The classic red stamp is on the front and the classic purple is on the back. For this style, there were 430 entries that returned 103 hits, for a hit rate of 23.95%.

Stamping Style 13 was first used in November 2001 and again in March 2002. The classic blue stamp is on the front and the classic purple is on the back. For this style, there were 440 entries that returned 87 hits, for a hit rate of 19.77%.

This page is under construction. More Stamping Styles will be added in on a time-permitting basis. Please check back.

Gallery of Stamping Styles
Stamping Styles for 2012
Stamping Styles for 2011
Stamping Styles for 2010
Stamping Styles for 2009
Stamping Styles for 2008
Stamping Styles for 2007
Stamping Styles for 2006
Stamping Styles for 2005
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