Indholdsfortegnelse for August 2024 i Banknote Reporter

AUGUST 2024 U.S. Paper Money Price Guide A June 14 online article posted to 99BitCoins.com is headlined “Tether CEO: Bitcoin is the only true decentralized currency and meme coins are worthless.” Let me first ask, why would anyone want to have a decentralized currency system? I fully agree meme coins are worthless as these headlines scream, but so are all forms of electronic currency. A decentralized monetary system still needs to be based on something other than pure trust in a government or a business. The term fiat money should be ringing a bell. None of these electronic currencies are specie. None of them are backed by precious metals, gemstones, real estate, or anything else that is tangible. Furthermore, doesn’t this entire ‘system’ of somewhere around 14,000 cryptocurrencies remind bank…

Bidders agreed with Noonans’ Head of Banknotes Andrew Pattison when he singled out four exceptional Bank of England notes prior to this sale. In fact, they proved even more enthusiastic, taking them beyond their combined high hopes of £96,000 to £108,000. At the forefront was an extremely rare £100 bank note from the Liverpool branch of the Bank of England dating from 1855 that went over the estimate at £32,000. Signed by Matthew Marshall, who was Chief Cashier from 1835-64, it was printed on superb original paper quality and was a high denomination for this cashier – equivalent to around £13,500 in today’s values. A specimen £1,000 note dated 7 September 1922 and signed by Chief Cashier Ernest M. Harvey had the serial number 08/Q 00000 and was in extremely…

In 1928 a new type of note was introduced. It covered the issue of 5-through 1,000-dollar denominations. All these 1928 issues carried the language “redeemable in gold”. The following 1934 issues carried the words “This note is legal tender” as President Franklin Roosevelt had ended the gold redemption policy and called for citizens to turn in their gold. The design of the 1928 issues carried a large numeral, one through 12 identifying the district for which the notes were printed. Previously, beginning in 1914, these had been large size notes with the number and an alphabetical letter corresponding to the letter, 1A, 2B, etcetera, through L12. The numbers had been discarded in the 1934 issues, and large letters were used in large print. The 12 districts varied in size. Largely…

Roseland was a village centered about 12 miles south of downtown Chicago that was settled in 1849 and annexed by Chicago in 1890. Cody Regennitter was paying attention when he was logging this note from The Roseland National Bank into the National Currency Foundation census. The bank, founded in 1924, had a modest circulation of $50,000 during the large note era. It looked like another neat note from a Chicago neighborhood bank, which it is, but the surprise for Cody was finding that there was no listing for 10-10-10-20 Series of 1902 blue seal issues from the bank, only 5-5-5-5s. What he found was an omission from Van Belkum’s data set that comprises the backbone of our catalogs. Such omissions are found very infrequently, a testament to how thorough Van…

A group of 11 vintage Remainders led the way in an auction that featured selections from an impressive collection of Persian bank notes. The Dr. Martin M. Mortazavi Collection of Persian Banknotes auction was hosted by Spink Auctions on July 10, 2024. The notes in this auction originated from the collection of Dr. Martin M. Mortazavi, a distinguished neurosurgeon and avid collector of Persian bank notes. Over the years, he amassed a remarkable collection, focusing on rare and error notes, and his expertise has earned him the honorary head position of the Bank Note Task Force at the Iranian Society for Historical Art. Leading the auction was a complete 11-note set of Kingdom of Persia, Imperial Bank 1890-1923 Remainders, including an 1890-96 1 Toman graded PMG 50 About Uncirculated and…

For the first time since 2004, Japan has released a new series of bank notes. There are three denominations: 10,000 yen, 5,000 yen, and 1,000 yen. The new notes were issued on July 3, 2024. The new notes are a culmination of anti-counterfeit technologies cultivated for over 150 years. The 10,000-yen note features a portrait of Eiichi Shibusawa, who is regarded as the “father of Japanese capitalism”. The 5,000-yen note features a portrait of Umeko Tsuda, who dedicated her life to improving the status of women and their education. Lastly, the 1,000-yen note highlights Shibasaburō Kitasato, who was a bacteriologist accredited with developing preventive measures and treatments for tetanus. He’s regarded as the father of modern Japanese medicine. The patterns generate holograms of the portraits facing different directions, which the…

I’m not going to beat you up this month with some technical dissertation and kill a bunch of trees in the process to get it to you. Let’s get to the essence of a collectible— short, sweet, and memorable. We all have favorites among our notes. Of all the 1-dollar silver certificates I have owned, the jewel illustrated here probably is my most notable because it has a life story to tell that can be deduced by simply looking at it Of course, the unambiguous telltale markers are that it is missing overprinted treasury signatures and serial numbers, it is punch-canceled, and best of all, the left edge is burned as well as it has clearly been hand-cut from the sheet. This note was not supposed to leave the Bureau…

Rare Indian bank notes are among more than a hundred notes being offered to collectors in Noonan’s World Banknotes Auction on Aug.28, 2024. Highlighting the auction is an India - British, Bank of Madras 1845-49 500 Rupees graded PMG 15 Choice Fine NET, which is estimated at £20,000 to £24,000 (about $26,000 to $31,000). Issued by the Bank of Madras, one of the three presidency banks of British India, this high-denomination note is one of only two in the PMG Population Report. Notes from this period are highly sought after by collectors for their historical value and intricate designs, which often feature elaborate engravings and watermarks indicative of the era's currency craftsmanship.…

In the final installment of this three-part series, we will explore double denomination notes in Fractional currency. Fractional currency existed for a brief period from 1862 to 1876, emerging as a solution to a severe national shortage of circulating coins. There were several contributing factors to the coin shortage: gold and silver mines out West had dried up, the Civil War, widespread bank failures, and general hoarding by the public. The problem became so severe that citizens were forced to use stamps, private scrip, notes, tokens, etc. to make change. In 1862, Treasurer of the United States Francis Spinner brilliantly created Postage Currency (first issue) with 5-, 10-, 25-, and 50-cent Fractional denominations to alleviate the crisis. Fractional currency solved the coin shortage; federally issued paper coins enabled daily commerce…