From left, Calvin Westfall with his daughter Tabitha Davis holds the dollar bill with the low serial number. Westfall found the bill in a vending machine he operates on Edgelawn Avenue. (Photo by Jess Mancini)

PARKERSBURG — A Parkersburg man found a valuable dollar while going through the bills from one of his vending machines.

What makes the $1 bill prized by collectors is its serial number shows it is the first bill printed in the series, No. 1, Calvin Wesfall said.

“That’s what makes it rare,” he said.

The Series G bill from 2013 with the serial number G00000001I was found about four months ago in a soda pop vending machine on Edgelawn Avenue, one of the several machines Westfall, 59, said he operates.

Finding a bill with such a low serial number is a rarity, according to Steve Hand of Union Coins and Currency. Hand has a booth at Rinky Dinks market in Marietta.

The $1 bill with the serial number G00000001I. It is rare for a bill with that low of a number to be in circulation, local collectors said. (Photo by Jess Mancini)

“That’s a rare bill,” Hand said. “If someone collects paper, that would be a nice one to have.”

Generally such bills do not get into circulation because bills with low serial numbers are valued and sought by collectors, he said.

“They don’t generally get circulated because they are highly collectible,” Hand said.

An uncirculated bill would be worth $15,000 or more, Hand said. However, it depends on what people are willing to pay, he said.

While the bill Westfall found was in circulation, it still has a lot of value because of the low serial number, Hand said.

“It could be pretty valuable,” Hand said. “It would have been better if it was uncirculated.”

Westfall said he found the bill by chance and almost gave it to a friend who asked to borrow his truck. The truck needed gasoline, Westfall said.

While handing the friend money from the vending machine bills to buy fuel, the low serial number caught Westfall’s eye. Westfall collects coins and paper money and examines the bills and coins he collects in the vending machines, looking for and keeping the rare ones.

“I almost gave him the bill,” Westfall said. “Luckily I looked at it.”

Westfall doesn’t plan to sell the bill. He intends to keep it and other collectibles for his daughter, Tabitha Davis. Westfall said he has been instructing his daughter about what to look for and what to collect.

Davis said her interest has grown, but she likes sports cards, too.

“I’ve looked into it a little bit more,” she said.

Collectible coins and bills tend to hold their value, although the economy is a factor, Madison Williams, a Parkersburg auctioneer, said. Old coins in particular such as silver dollars do not lose value, he said.

The low serial number gives the bill value, Al Woodrich of the Parkersburg Coin Club said. No other bills had the same number, he said.

“In fact, they made only one,” Woodrich said.