Serial Number Registries

[AVL]

This may be a dumb question, but as a newbie collector I am hoping someone will indulge me.

Is there a website where lists of banknote serial numbers are listed for bills that collectors own?
By this I am asking, if someone were to obtain some old bank notes through inheritance or otherwise, could they check a registry to see if the bill is known to exist, and if not, add their bill to the list?

Thank you

[troubadour]

No and wont ever happens. Too many nites produced over the years. Your best bet
https://coinsandcanada.com/banknotes-prices.php
Ebay
Auctions archive
Tpg businesses
Coin shows
And grandma drawers

[Nota_phil]

Canadian banknotes have serial number prefixes. They were single letter in 1935 series (A or B for English & F for French) & in 1937 the prefix system became fractional (A/A). In 1969, the prefixes became 2 letters (side by side) like AA. In 1979, the serial number was re-positioned to the back of the notes and the letter prefix system was dropped for numbers (on the $5 & $20). This new system alienated a lot of collectors so few replacements were kept & really its one of the dark horse series for banknote collecting.

The serials remained on the reverse with the Birds & Journey series but the prefixes became 3 letters (like AAB). This is the system to date & all full run prefixes have a 9,999,999 (or we say 10M) run.

@Troubadour provides a great list of sources to learn more about the prefix system but no catalogue list every prefix (they usually provide ranges & only list replacements or shorter prefixes). The ultimate source to understand the Bank of Canada series is the Charlton Guide to Government Paper Money which has Series Tables that list all the prefixes possible at the start of each chapter for each series. You can find these catalogues at a public library in the reference section.

If you have a note with a different prefix (not listed on the tables) it is more likely you have a counterfeit note (as counterfeiters never research the acceptable prefixes & often mess up the font on the serial number).

[AVL]

Thank you both.

I am not sure if I explained my question well enough.

What I was wondering is, if a bill is more rare, say 10,000 believed to exist, or even just 1000, are there any registries listing what serial numbers are known to still be in existance. Then someone could submit the bill they have and add it to the registry.

For example, I have an Alberta Prosperity Certificate. There are relatively few of them, although not quite scarce. I would love to see a list of serial numbers that people owned and send in my serial number to be added to the registry so that it may be possible to know how many of the rarer notes exist.

If you have already answered the question, please ignore me. I don't want to offend anyone with my rookie inquiries.