Editing Serial number (section)

{{short description|Unique code assigned for identification of a single unit}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2025}}
[[File:Seriennummer.JPG|thumb|alt=The serial number Y0139836 printed on an identity document|Serial number from an identity document]]
[[File:Travelers Cheques of 50 USD each issued by American Express, bought ca. 2012, showing incremental serial numbering.jpg|thumb|[[Traveller's cheque]]s, a kind of insured cash money in form of a paper cheque, are sold to customers in sets having ''consecutive'' numbers - one of the very few type of items where consumers have access to "serialized" similar things.]]

A '''serial number''' ('''SN''') is a [[unique identifier]] used to ''uniquely'' identify an item, and is usually assigned incrementally or sequentially.

Despite being called serial "numbers", they do not need to be strictly numerical and may contain letters and other [[typographical symbol]]s, or may consist entirely of a [[character (computing)|character]] [[string (computer science)|string]].