George is taking in the Florida sun

Back on July 15, 2013, a customer at the Gallatin Publishing Company paid for their North Missourian newspaper with an unusual bill. The $1 bill had a blue stamp that read “currency tracking study.”
Being “Curious Georges,” we couldn’t help but look it up.
Where’s George? is a website that tracks the natural geographic circulation of American paper money.
On April 12, we received an email that our bill had received a ‘hit.’
A hit is when a registered bill is re-entered into the database after its initial entry.
After five years on the road, our bill has traveled at least 1,638 miles. It has traveled at an average of .95 miles per day. The bill is now 1,209 miles from its starting location.
Our bill has had four hits so far. Its initial entry was in Lincoln, NE. The user’s note read: “Originally entered in new, uncirculated condition. Please register and let me know where you found it.”
From Lincoln it traveled to Gallatin, a distance of 158 miles. The newspaper left the following note: “A customer paid for their Gallatin North Missourian newspaper with the bill. It is in very good condition.”
From Gallatin it traveled to Miami, FL. The user’s note read “It’s in great condition. Got it at a gas station.”
From Miami it has traveled to Windermere, FL. The user said: “Bought and used at a vending machine.”
Where will George end up next? Hard saying. It’s impossible to know how many hands the money will pass through or what it will be used for, because not everybody will be bothered to enter it into the website.
Any dollar bill can be tracked, it doesn’t have to be marked. Bills that are entered into the database, but not marked, are known as naturals, stealths or ghosts.
To increase the chance of having a bill reported, users (called “Georgers”) may write or stamp text on the bills encouraging bill finders to visit www.wheresgeorge.com and track the bill’s travels. (The site does not encourage the defacement of U.S. currency.)
It’s easy to track a bill. Just enter your zip code and the bill’s serial number and any “notes” you want to enter.
Most bills do not receive any responses, or hits, but many bills receive two or more hits. The approximate hit rate is around 11.4%. Double- and triple-hitters are common, and bills with four or five hits are not unheard of. Almost daily, a bill receives its sixth hit. The site record is held by a $1 bill with 15 entries.
About 1.1 billion bills have been entered, about 0.114% of all bills in circulation.
The whole tracking George business started 15 years ago. That’s before Facebook or Twitter got started. The website is the brainchild of Hank Eskin, a former tech consultant. He started it in 1998 as a “quirky idea.” Now there’s a whole subculture of Georgers out there tracking $1 bills.
Enjoy the Florida sun, George, and safe travels.