Yesterday, I was trying to read up something on the origin of social security numbers, and found a lot of interesting facts about them through various sources. I am compiling them below and hopefully it will provide some interesting reading material in this boring tax season. To my learned readers, some of the information might seemed cliched, but I am sure there are a lot of people out there who have never heard about most of these facts. Here is what I found out:
- The original social security card was designed by Fred Happel of Albany, N.Y in 1936. He was paid $60 for his work.
- The first social security record was established for John David Sweeney on December 1, 1936 with a social security number of 055-09-0001. However, this is not to be confused with the *first social security card* issued. No one can point out the first card issued because hundreds of thousands of them were distributed around the same time through 45,000 post offices throughout US. Ironically, Sweeney died at the age of 61 without receiving any social security benefits.
- The lowest SSN was given to Grace D. Owen of Concord, New Hampshire in 1936 and it was 001-01-0001.
- The first recipient of social security benefits was Ernest Ackerman who received a lump-sum payment 17 cents in 1937.
- Social security numbers are not allocated serially; meaning, the first number ever issued was not the lowest and the latest number issued will not be the highest.
- So what’s the meaning of the numbers on the card? Most people probably know this, but I will mention it nevertheless. Below is a schematic of a typical social security card.
The first three digits are called the area number, the next two digits are called the group number, and the last four digits are the serial numbers. The area numbers are assigned on the basis of the zip-code on your SSN application. The group numbers are just for bookkeeping purposes only, they don’t have any specific meaning. In each group number, the serial numbers are allocated consecutively from 0001 to 9999.
- Area numbers increase from east/northeast coast to west coast. People living on the east/northeast coast have the lowest area numbers (for example, people who apply for SSN from New Hampshire have the lowest area numbers) whereas, people living on the west coast and southwest areas have the highest area numbers.
- Apparently, there have been rumors in the past about the group numbers being used for racial profiling. Here is an interesting *clarification* on www.ssa.gov regarding group numbers:
Apparently due to the fact that the middle digits of the SSN are referred to as the “group number,” some people have misconstrued this to mean that the “group number” refers to racial groupings. So a myth goes around from time-to-time that encoded in a person’s SSN is a key to their race. This simply is not true.
- 078-05-1120 is the most misused social security number ever….some 40,000 people have claimed this SSN as their own. Here is the story behind it:
In 1938, wallet manufacturer the E. H. Ferree company in Lockport, New York decided to promote its product by showing how a Social Security card would fit into its wallets. A sample card, used for display purposes, was inserted in each wallet. Company Vice President and Treasurer Douglas Patterson thought it would be a clever idea to use the actual SSN of his secretary, Mrs. Hilda Schrader Whitcher.The wallet was sold by Woolworth stores and other department stores all over the country. Even though the card was only half the size of a real card, was printed all in red, and had the word “specimen” written across the face, many purchasers of the wallet adopted the SSN as their own. In the peak year of 1943, 5,755 people were using Hilda’s number. SSA acted to eliminate the problem by voiding the number and publicizing that it was incorrect to use it. (Mrs. Whitcher was given a new number.) However, the number continued to be used for many years. In all, over 40,000 people reported this as their SSN. As late as 1977, 12 people were found to still be using the SSN “issued by Woolworth.” - From the start of the program in 1936 till 2005, an estimated $8.9 trillion have been paid out as social security benefits. In the same period, the program has received $10.7 trillion in income.
- In the present times, invalid social security numbers include numbers with set of zeroes ( as in 000-xx-xxxx, xxx-00-xxxx, xxx-xx-0000), numbers starting with 666, numbers from 987-65-4320 through 987-65-4329 - which are marked for advertising, and numbers with the starting three digits above 770, which are not yet allocated.
- Social security numbers are not reassigned after a people die. Here is what socialsecurity.gov says about it:
We do not reassign a Social Security number (SSN) after the number holder’s death. Even though we have issued over 420 million SSNs so far, and we assign about 5 and one-half million new numbers a year, the current numbering system will provide us with enough new numbers for several generations into the future with no changes in the numbering system.
References:
- Social Security History , government source
- How Social Security Numbers Work, Howstuffworks.com
- Social Security Number, Wikipedia
- Image sources: www.howstuffworks.com and www.ssa.gov
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Interesting. I had hypothesized about the area thing, but never knew for sure.
Golbguru,
Thanks for this infomative post. I had previously thought the area part was a “state” indication.
Guys, some of it was news to me too…kept discovering stuff while putting the post together.
Btw, Super Saver…it’s *almost* a state indication…I mean the numbers are geographically allocated…and generally it so happens that certain three digit numbers can be located to certain states. But, it should be kept in mind that these are allocated according to the address that goes on the SSN application form…so it’s not necessary that a certain person with such and such first three digits must belong to a particular state.
The most relevant fact: Ida Mae Fuller, who received check number 00000001, paid $22 in to the system over two years and received over $20,000 in benefits (she lived to 100). Modern recipients not get a deal like this, and future ones will get a successively worse deal.
Dear golbguru,
I´m very sorry, but your picture above doesn´t show the SSC designer Fred Happel. It shows the former SSA Historian Sid Leibovitz. This photo was taken in 1985 during a donation to the SSA’s History Room in Baltimore of the original artwork done by Fred Happel.
Best from Germany,
Achim Happel (www.happel-genealogy.com)
Achim Happel: Oops ! Sorry about that and thanks for pointing it out. I must have read the article in a haste. Indeed on the source photograph, this is the caption:
“Former Commissioner of SSA Martha McSteen (left) and former SSA Historian, Sid Leibovitz (center), receive a donation to the History Room of the original artwork done by Fred Happel, from his niece, Emily Bailey. 1985. SSA History Archives.”
It’s a pity that it took another Happel to realize that the guy is not Fred Happel. Now, I need to ask you this, would you happen you have a photograph of Fred Happel somewhere in the genealogy database?
Interesting stuff. I still wonder if the government uses these numbers for more than social security. I’m not a big conspiracy theorist, but it would seem an easy way to keep track of people beyond their earnings…
I believe that area numbers starting with the 700’s are issued by the Railroad Retirement Board.
Wow. This is some intresting stuff, good post!
10.7 trillion in income
-$8.9 trillion have been paid out
———————————
1.7 trillion up in smoke
1.7 trillion is not up in smoke, it’s is in a fund the politicians can’t keep their hands off. Might be close to the same thing!
The upper limit on the 7xx- prefix numbers is now at least 786-, rather than 770-.
hello!
good article…
How many duplicates do the last four digits have in the system/
Curious about the “area” number. Of 2 people in my family, both from same state and from adjacent towns, one first 3 is 032, the other first 3 is 013
Here’s one to research. What’s the red numbers on the back of a social security card for?
Does anyone know what those red numbers on the back are for. I am very curious as well. Any information would be great, I have searched the net for information and can not seem to find anything. Not to mention the social security office does not have an answer for me either.
Any help would be nice.
Thanks
about that serial or whatever on the back…im researching it but from what I’ve gathered that is a bank routing number linking you as property of some royalty british bank. so basically anyone with a SSN is actually property of some european prick. great, not only do i figure out the whole central bank federal reserve irs scam, now i find out my friends family belongings and life are owned by bush’s puppet masters. americans are slaves. jolly.
http://www.wearechange.org
Thank you for the information in regards to what the red numbers on the back of the card are for. I have heard something in regards to the numbers and what they represent. Can you elaborate any more on what the “central bank federal reserve IRS scam is”? I am curious to know more about this.
Thanks
******* comment edited ************
Also if you haven’t heard of the Ed and Elaine Brown situation, the next waco that nobody is talking about, well…
http://www.showedthelaw.com
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=336272166668295331 (Ed & Elaine Brown Interview by wearechange)
to sum it up, the dollar became an MLM scam the moment the federal reserve was instituted by internationalist globalist elite foreign(european) bankers and
now the wealth is being extracted from within by devaluing the dollar, removing precious metal backing, and selling the american people soon to be worthless
paper. JFK actually reinstituted printing dollars by the constitutional right given to congress(in secret) which read “united states note” at the top, not
“federal reserve note”. soon there after we all know what happened.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOVXh4xM-Ww (Cramer: Bernanke, Wake Up)
thanks for your interest,
http://www.wearechange.org
freedomfighter2: Do you have a reference for this statement: “but from what I’ve gathered that is a bank routing number linking you as property of some royalty british bank.” ? As far as I am concerned that’s total BS.
Also, what has Ron Paul’s mention got to do with all this? Come up with good explanation or I will be deleting that part of the comment.
I’m actually looking for documentation but all I remember is hearing about it in some google video…not the most reassuring evidence, but for now until im disproven I suggest leaving it as an option…when i come across the video ill post it.
and ron paul is the bomb dude. don’t be a neo-con, help save america!
also ron paul is trying to abolish the central banking system (ie the fed) which has its roots with regard to the same elite bankers which dominate our economy through corporatism (fascism).
also everyone, in the ron paul clip change the weird looking character that looks like an x into a REAL “x” in order to view the clip…something weird with this blog.
thx for not deleting my comments, ur a real american
freedomfighter: Thanks for the information. Obviously, your second comment was just a political agenda - which was absolutely irrelevant to the topic being discussed and hence the video and his mention has to go.
It’s not a question of censorship. It’s just a message that the comment space on this blog is not for somebody’s political agenda. When the topic is right, such comments will be welcome otherwise they will be deleted.
its not really solely my political agenda because Ron Paul would be getting rid of the same people who own us through these banks out of political power, which relates to the number on the back of the social security card, assuming i am correct with my thesis of foreign ownership. So it less about political agenda, more about saving the freedom of Americans(what little remains after Bush), even though Ron Paul surely does ROCK and yes I am trying hard to spread the word
Regardless I will be checking back to see if anyone has more info on that serial number on the back…I only wish I was wrong as I look at the back of my own card and ponder how free I really am…WAKE UP AMERICA! Help fight the New World Order. (non-political statement)
i live in new zealand im 19 and even i can see americans are heading for a fall, look at u far out ur all obese, all love bush and ur economy takes each breath from war, the 911 thing was a total scam, the world knows america attacked america its so craply put together im sure u all have thoughts about, now ur banks taking u from behind lol face it your goners, but nevertheless keep slugging away fueling the dream…….
What would the SSA Fund be worth today if the Gov. would not have put the money in the general fund but lift it in the SSA fund drawing interest like it was desined to do.
Please send me an interesting reply.
Richard
I’m still trying to find out more about the numbers on the back of Social Security cards. My friend’s card has red numbers. Mine are of another color and I don’t know why. Any suggestions on where I might find more information on this topic? Thanks.
By the way, about that thing that you think is BS, with your SSN being tied to some royal british bank is in fact completely true. Your SSN is tied to Social Security Administration which is tied directly to the Federal Reserve System, which is privately owned by stock-holding banks, one of which is Barclay’s, a Royal Britich Bank, as well as several American banks, which are also British owned and controlled.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve_System
Now they didn’t tell you about this when you signed up, but they OWN you. You entered into a contract unintentionally, unknowingly, and involuntarily giving up your rights as a free individual to be registered as a U.S. Citizen. By registering with the SSA you have become part of the corporation that is the United States of America. It is by this authority under section 6330, ss 1 of the Internal Revenue Code that the IRS has authority to levy taxes from you. The U.S. Constitution (at least the parts that apply to individuals) no longer applies to you.
Please, look up the laws and the Social Security Act yourself. We all have a lot to learn.
The numbers on the back are inventory control. Each paper blank now has a number and must be accounted for.
Puzzled is correct. All her facts are straight (sorry if you’re a guy), and are public information. Technically, we’re all incorporated with the UNITED STATES. That’s why your name appears in capital letters whenever you get a bill, or do something in the courtroom. The Social Security Act was created after we went to paper money. FDR made owning gold illegal back in 1933, and after closing all banks for nearly a week, confiscated all gold that wasn’t coin-collections. This was at a time that the price of gold was very low, so the US citizen who was forced to turn in their gold was basically ripped-off.
The Social Security Act basically sets up a trust-fund with a lot of strings attached. As long as you play by the rules, and pay your dues, you can try to get your money back from us. It’s more like a tontine scam if you ask me. It doesn’t take into account the factor of inflation, which has been on a steady rise since the baby-boomers have started to reach retirement age. How much of a percentage did the population increase after WWII? I’d bet gold money that after all is said and done, by the time the last boomer retires, that percentage will have gone up in inflation. Heck, Bush just gave everyone with a SS# at least $600. Do you know how many dollars that’s going to add into circulation? That’s the one thing I remember about economics; supply and demand. If there’s a huge supply of cash in circulation, the demand goes down. In other words, Inflation makes the price of a loaf of bread double once a month until we have to carry $20 bills to the store in buckets for food.
Or maybe not that bad. The American public is dumb and complacent; give that kiwi with a snotty attitude his credit. The Fed will probably just come out with a thousand dollar bill, and the American Social Security Beneficiary will watch an American Idol sponsored by the US Treasury touting the new Thousand Dollar Bill!
Anyway, rant-rant. I heard an urban legend that the red numbers on the back of the social security card are your EIN, employer ID number. If you’re just a regular John Doe citizen, you’re an employee of the US Corporation, and are in fact yourself a corporation. That’s why you use the number on the front, your employee ID number (SSN). Supposedly, if you have a replacement card issued to you, the number on the back will come in red ink, and you can use it to declare that you’re a soveriegn American and not a citizen OF the United States. Basically the red ink is supposed to symbolize flesh and blood human being. Consequently, corporate entities use black ink, and banks (which operate under the maritime admiralty law of the high seas) use blue to symbolize water. You could use the FedWorker’s explaination of the serial number on the blanks as actually taking ownership of the card. If you use the SSN on the front, that card, per the Social Security Act itself, is the property of the US govt. They can come along and confiscate it at any time, without any reason. Same is true for your SS benefits.
If you use the number on the back, the “tracking number for blank cards” printed in red ink, you’re claiming ownership of the card and the chattel property it represents. You are the chattel property. If you don’t, they “own” you. You’re their chattel property, and you’re being used as collateral on the bankruptcy the US Govt. filed to the international banking houses back in the 1930’s, the time of the great depression.
Now it’s just basic physics that if someone loses money, someone has got to gain money. So during the Great Depression, who gained all that money?
I’ll give you a hint; there were a lot of bank forclosures in the 1930’s.
So now there’s a bunch of banks that came out the winner because they owned most of the real-estate on both sides of the Mississippi, and here comes a “state of national emergency” when FDR closes the banks and confiscates all the gold in the US, one of 2 metals ordained by the Constitution that can be used as money. They only make gold legal to own again in 1963, after they start to take out all the silver from our coins.
So there it is, the tip of the iceberg. I hear a lot of great ideas in this blog. People are starting to wake up. The proof’s in the Ron Paul pudding. He knows a lot about this stuff. He’s a smart guy, even smart enough to keep running despite inevitable defeat. Who else could make mostly COLLEGE KIDS get started studying ECONOMICS and vote REPUBLICAN!?!?!?
I think his ideas are great, and one idea he’s got is to get rid of the SSA and their collection arm, the IRS. Keep in mind that these goons at the IRS are collecting for our foriegn banking overlords, who do indeed own us. Mostly British, but also Dutch.
Anyway, if you want a conspiracy story, follow the money-trail from Phonecia, to Venice, to Amsterdam. Find out how pirates made monarchs from the sea, and why you can have your own casino 3 miles off-shore.
The more you know…
As long as the Government has been slipping somthing under our noses for the last 100 years, you may as well call that control number written in red and other colors an EIN.
I was once told that I could legally request a different social security number because mine contains 666 consecutively. Is this true?
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