Where Is a Bond's Serial Number Found?

The United States Treasury Department used to sell savings bonds in the form of paper certificates. Each bond was identified by a unique serial number. Starting in January, 2012, the Treasury Department stopped selling paper bonds. Today’s electronic bonds sold online through Treasury Direct don’t have serial numbers. However, there are a lot of paper certificates around and maybe you own some. If you do, you need to know where to find the serial numbers and what to do with them.

Look on the front of the bond in the lower right corner. The number printed there is the bond’s serial number. You can enter the serial number into TreasuryDirect’s online savings bond calculator to find the current value of the bond. In addition, if the bond is lost or destroyed, you can replace it if you have the serial number. It’s a good idea to write your savings bond serial numbers down and keep them in a location separate from the bond certificates.

The serial number may be located elsewhere on other types of U.S. Treasury bonds, typically in the upper right-hand corner.