"bactfarmer" wrote...
I need a formula that tells you if the first character in a string is
a number or a letter.

One way, at least for English letters,

=IF(s<"",LOOKUP(CODE(s),{0;48;58;65;81;97;123},
{"other";"numeral";"other";"letter";"other";"lette r";"other"}),"")