Collecting

Want to Start Collecting?

Topics include

1. Introduction to Bank Note Collecting

2. Ways to Collect World Paper Money

3. World Currency Names

4. How to Invest and Promote Using Banknotes

5. Recognising Original Banknotes

6. Handling of Banknotes

1. Introduction to Bank Note Collecting

Collecting world paper money let's you travel all around the globe without leaving
comforts of your home. When you collect world paper money you explore different
cultures, places, countries and continents, get to know many famous people, learn
about nature, animals, birds, rivers and lakes that are plentiful in seven continents
of our Earth. Collecting world paper money teaches you arts, geography, history,
foreign languages even politics. Paper money collecting is an exciting hobby which
many thousands of people all over the world enjoy so much. If you are new to this
beautiful hobby I hope this web site of mine will teach you how to collect, what to
collect and how to enjoy it.

People started systematically collecting paper and plastic bank notes quite recently.
Although collecting of paper money was going on for a long time, but that was done
only on a very small scale. Only in late 1950's paper money collecting became more
of a global phenomenon. By 1920's paper money began to be issued by significantly
more countries around the world and in early 1960's practically the whole world was
using paper money for buy or sell transactions between people, businesses etc. As
a result more and more people started collecting paper money as beautiful collectible
items, for an investment or both. These days collecting world notes is growing very
strong and very fast. There are millions of paper money collectors all over the world
and every year new ones join in. Knowledge abounds with a multitude of general and
specialised catalogues covering notes of all modern and no longer existing countries.
Prices and value of collectible paper money grows steadily and better notes now
bring much higher prices than before making an idea of investing in banknotes as well as collecting attractive.

Various countries of the world have their own words for "paper money". These are
translations of words "banknotes" and "paper money" into some world languages:

French: Billets, Papier Monnaie;
German: Banknoten, Papier Geld;
Italian: Cartamoneta, Banconota;
Lithuanian: Banknotai, Popieriniai Pinigai;
Russian: Banknoty, Bumazhniye Den'gi;
Spanish: Notas de Banco, Papel Moneda.

2. Ways to Collect World Paper Money

There are many ways of assembling a collection of world banknotes without having
to spend a fortune on it.

You can start collecting topical notes such as those featuring famous people
(scientists, writers, poets, politicians etc.), animals, fishes, birds, sailing ships,
boats, cars, trains, planets, poetry, buildings, dams, rivers, mountains, views of
nature in general, kings, queens, presidents and many many other topics already.
featured on banknotes of the world issued all across the globe up to date.

Another way of assembling a meaningful collection is to use historical context as
your main criterion. For example you may decide to focus on collecting pre-WWII
notes only. Or start a collection of World War II era notes such as occupational,
prisoner-of-war, propaganda, emergency, local issues.

Also you may want to limit yourself to collecting paper money of the country you
live in or were born in. You may want to collect all banknotes of a certain continent,
or all notes of a certain group of countries, for example: Middle-East (covers Asia, Africa and even Europe) or you may choose to collect banknotes of countries that
belong to NATO or countries of Pacific Ocean etc.

A most easiest way to start your collection is to buy a "beginner set" of world
banknotes. That way you start your own collection of world banknotes from a
scratch and at a low cost without spending many days and weeks collecting one
banknote at a time.

A good way of finding out where your interest may lie is to examine a group of paper
notes (say at my online currency gallery or at a dealer's shop or at a paper money
show) and see what kind of banknotes attract you most. Are those mainly engraved
notes or notes of French influence or maybe notes with attractive serial numbers or
those with holograms on them? Maybe notes printed on plastic/mylar? Also you
definitely need some literature possibly a Catalogue of Modern World Paper Money
to start with. Please visit my bookstore to view selection of books that may help
you out in your hobby. Please note that to learn how to grade paper money is very
important, as important as to learn how to tie your shoelaces.

A very simple way to start your world banknote collection is to buy a bunch of cheap
notes, say at $1 each, one note from every different country of the world. Inspect
the notes, study the features, enframe your notes. When you are done with your
collection of possibly over 300 notes, then if your budget allows you may want to
start collecting notes that are a little bit more of value, a bit more beautiful as well
as costly. Let's say then you may want to try collecting notes that are worth between
$2 and $10 each and so on.

Did you notice that two banknotes which appear to be similar can have two different
dates or signatures on them? There are notes that look similar, but were printed by
different printers. Surely almost every note has a different serial number.

I will not write a large article here, therefore here are a few more ideas what to start
collecting in the world paper money collecting area. So, you may want to start or
advance your paper money collecting into collecting notes by:

- Topic (birds, nudes, sailing ships, famous people, views, militaria etc.)
- Time period (WWII, 20th century, only notes dated 1999 etc.)
- Country (your native or favourite country)
- City (city that issued the note, that applies to local issues)
- Continent (Africa, Europe, Antarctica etc.)
- Features on a note (holograms, security insertion strips, paper kind)
- Material used (paper, plastic, mylar, cloth etc.)
- Signatures (there are so many varieties)
- Serial numbers (111111 or 000001 or 123321 or specimens 000000 etc.)
- Name of Printer (company or government who printed the note)
- Influence zone (for example: France and (former) colonies)
- Size (collect only large size notes or notes that don't exceed certain size etc.)
- Condition/grade (collect only Uncirculated or only circulated notes etc.)
- Science (collect notes that feature biologists, astronomy, engineering etc.)
- Watermark (type of watermark or a picture on it)
- Type (Counterfeit/Bogus/Forgery notes; Specimen notes; Error or Trial notes....)

Please remember: the stricter your requirements for your collection are, the less
notes you will likely collect in your collection or the more your collection will cost
you, but the more value your collection will have. Also: if you just start collecting
paper money, don't look for investment, just buy the notes you like and enjoy them.
Later on when you become a more advanced collector you will learn how to buy up
notes that are worth not only because of their beauty, but also because of their
investment value.

3. World Currency Names

Have you ever wonder why different kinds of money are called what they are? Why
is peso called a peso and mark called a mark, for example? Well, the following list
will let you find out a little bittle about what names of some world money mean.

AUKSINAS (Lithuania) - means "golden" or "gulden". Auksinas derives from
lithuanian "Auksas" which means "gold". Currently "Litas" is used in Lithuania
which has no particular or direct meaning or translation other than similarity with
the name of the country "Lietuva" (Lithuania; Litauen; Lituanie; Lituania).

DRACHMA (Greece) - means "handful".

ESCUDO (Portugal) - means "shield", referring to the coat of arms on the original
coin.

FORINT (Hungary) - means "golden".

FRANC (Frank, Frang) (France, Switzerland, Luxembourg) - first issued in
1360, as a gold coin. Gets its name from its original Latin inscription - Francorum
Rex, which means "King of the Franks", - the title given to kings of France in the
1300s.

GUILDER (Gulden, Florin) (Netherlands) - from the same root as "gilded", the
guilder was originally a gold coin. It was first introduced from Florence in the
13th century. Florin - another nickname for Guilder means "flowers".

KORUNA (Czechia, Slovakia) - means "crown".

KRONA (Kroner, Kronor) (Iceland, Sweden, Norway etc.) - means "crown".

KUNA (Croatia) - means "marten". Marten skins were used as money.

LIRA (Lire) (Italy, Turkey) - from the Latin word libra, which means "pound".

MALOTI (Kingdom of Lesotho) - Maloti is plural for Loti, currency of Lesotho,
a kingdom in Southern Africa.

PESETA (Spain) - means "little peso", and was created in the 18th century as a "companion" coin to the Spanish peso.

PESO (Mexico) - means "weight". It was introduced by Spain in 1497, then
adopted by Mexico and other Latin American countries in the late 19th century.

POUND (English) - named for its weight in Sterlings, - the unit of currency in
Medieval England. The first pound coin was issued in 1642.

PULA (Botswana) - Pula means ‘rain’ in Setswana, but "pula pula" does not
mean a lot of rain. It means luck, prosperity, health.

RIYAL (Saudi Arabia) - borrows its name from the Spanish real, meaning "royal".

ROUBLE (Russia, Belarus etc.) - means "cut-off", a term that dates back to the
days when portions of silver bars were literally cut-off from the bars and used as
coins. The rouble was first issued as a silver piece in 1704.

RUPEE (Rupiah) (India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Mauritius etc.) - comes from the
Sanskrit rupa, which means "beauty" or "shape".

YEN (Japan) - borrowed from the Chinese yuan, which means "round", and
describes the coin. First issued in 1870.

YUAN (China) - means "round" and describes the coin.

ZLOTY (Poland) - means "golden".

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4. How to Invest and Promote Using Banknotes

Invest in U.S. and World paper money & bank notes! Investments and collecting in/of
World Banknotes is HOT and growing! Why investing in banknotes is hot? Because bank
notes (paper and plastic money/currency) have a collectible value which increases with
time and rarely loses value! Investment in banknotes is so much safer than investment
in stocks or even gold!

Thoughts for 2003-2005 - US dollar is weak and getting weaker. We wish it was not. The
best you can do to beat the inflation and to prevent your dollar savings from this terrible
devaluation is to invest in world banknotes! How terrible that can be - US dollar was about 1,15 Euro just a year or two ago and today it is only 0,79 Euro or so! That's a 46% devalvation!
That means that your European Vacation got 46% more expensive and every $1000 of your
savings a year ago became only $540 this year! Not if you kept your money invested in
banknotes! If you invested $1000 in banknotes (US and World Collectible Currency Bank
Notes, Paper & Plastic Money) in Jan. 2002 when Euro was introduced - now in 2 years
you would have the value of your collection increased for at least 15-20% instead of losing
46% as a "liquid dollar"! By not investing in BANKNOTES you not only lost 46% but lost another 20% of possible gain totalling in a (possible) loss of 66%!

If you are from a country outside USA now it is a very good time to buy banknotes from us
since we sell for US dollars and we do not adjust our prices for inflation (we may do so if US
dollar keeps falling!), so it is the right time for you to start spending your Euros, AU$, NZ$,
Yen etc. as we think US dollar is at or near its weakest point. More value to your Euros,
Pesos, Yen, Francs etc.! Today your home currency can buy a whopping 46% more in US$
goods than a year ago! I personally spent all of my Euros savings buying banknotes in USA.
Buy BANKNOTES today and your home currency can buy 46% more than 2 years ago! Plus
add the appreciation in value of your banknote collection and in some cases you can gain as
much as 100% in a short period of time!

5. Recognising Original Banknotes

One of the first steps to proper grading is to recognise the features of an original banknote. This will allow you to draw certain conclusions regarding the condition.
In order to recognize the features of an original banknote it is necessary to have a general understanding of the printing processes and the features used in producing banknotes. There are many different types of printing processes and books have been written on these topics but for the layperson who is simply interested in acquiring general knowledge, we have drawn some generalizations to help in this understanding.

Printing Process

The earliest printing process, the woodcut, is produced by cutting away the unwanted part of a piece of wood. The design that is left in relief is inked up with a roller and transferred to paper. The design is drawn directly on the wood which is cut plankwise or along the length of the grain or tree trunk. Cut this way, however, the wood has a tendency to splinter. Artists discovered that they could avoid the problem by cutting on the end grain of hardwood blocks, a process called wood engraving. By using a burin, the wood engraver could produce a wider range of tones than were possible with a woodcut. This process was used on a few types of early style currency and in certain "emergency" cases where this was the only type of printing process available.

Lithography

Lithography was the first fundamentally new printing technology since the invention of relief printing in the fifteenth century. It is a mechanical planographic process in which the printing and non-printing areas of the plate are all at the same level, as opposed to intaglio and relief processes in which the design is cut into the printing block. Lithography is based on the chemical repellence of oil and water. Designs are done with greasy ink or wax based tools on specially prepared stones or plates. They are then is moistened with a liquid, which the plate accepts in areas not covered by the wax. An oily ink, applied with a roller, adheres only to the drawing and is repelled by the wet parts of the plate. The print is then made by pressing paper against the inked drawing. Lithography was invented by Alois Senefelder in Germany in 1798 and, within twenty years, appeared in England and the United States. Almost immediately, attempts were made to print in colour. Multiple plates were used, one for each colour, and the print went through the press as many times as there were plates. The problem for the printers was keeping the image in register, making sure that the print would be lined up exactly each time it went through the press so that each color would be in the correct position and the overlaying colors would merge correctly.

Intaglio/Engraving

The process of intaglio printing was and still is the most popular form used by banknote printing companies. It is an extremely time intensive process and requires the combined handiwork of highly skilled artists, steel engravers, and plate printers. Engraved printing plates are covered with ink and then the surface of each plate is wiped clean which allows the ink to remain in the "valleys" of the design and letter grooves of the plates. Each sheet is then forced, under extremely heavy pressure, into the finely recessed lines of the printing plate to pick up the ink. The printing impression is three-dimensional in effect creating "mountains of ink" on the banknotes. The height of these "mountains" depends upon the depth of the grooves that the engravers made on the plates, the quantity and type of ink used, and the pressure applied to force the paper into the plates. The surface of the note feels slightly raised, while the reverse side feels slightly indented. This process is called intaglio printing.

Definition of Original Raised Ink

An original banknote printed using the Intaglio process noted above will have definition of detail discernable by touch. There will be height to the ink. Different parts of the banknote will feel more raised up than others due to the fact that the engravers would engrave the plates at differing depths for different features of the banknote.
As time goes by and the banknote gets circulated more and more, the height of the ink is slowly worn down until the note finally ends up looking "flat" and loses it's bright colours. If a banknote is washed or pressed, the "mountains" become flattened and loss of definition is noticeable. A true original high grade banknote will retain some or all of this original definition.

Counterfeiting

Counterfeiting banknotes pervades the entire history of paper money. Tools to aid in the battle against counterfeiting were and remain the finesse and complexity of design and printing techniques. Coupled with special papers and security features, banknote printing companies and issuing authorities ensure that their paper money would be very difficult to reproduce.

The avid collector will encounter forged notes from time to time that even the untrained eye can detect. There are however examples in history whereby a sovereign nation or country has produced so-called "perfect" counterfeits of an enemy country. These were normally created and secretly sent into circulation in order to create inflation with the ultimate goal being to bring about the economic instability of the adversary. To the collector, identifying these counterfeits requires great experience.

With modern computers and printers, it has become easier for unscrupulous individuals to reproduce certain lithographed banknotes that were originally issued without many security features. As an example, the uni-face 1940 KGVI fractional issues from Mauritius lack virtually any security features and even the original printing was quite poor in quality. Original banknotes in Uncirculated condition fetch considerable sums. The combination of the above factors has resulted in the modern forgery of these banknotes. To all but the expert eye, they are virtually undetectable.

Security Features

Numerous security features have been used throughout the course of history. Modern security features are extremely elaborate and utilize certain older techniques coupled with techniques developed through fantastic technological advances.

Paper Quality

The quality of banknote paper is one of the characteristic features that distinguish a genuine banknote from a forgery.

Engraving techniques

The process of engraving requires expertise and long hours to produce designs deterring all but the very devoted forger.

Watermarked paper

Watermarking is the addition of a design or portrait put onto the paper using a special technique. The image is visible only when the paper is held against the light.

Numbering

Serial numbers are printed horizontally and vertically with assymetrical fonts and different colours to make them more difficult to counterfeit. They are also printed with special inks which penetrates the paper. As a result, the trace of the numbers can still be seen under ultra-violet light if the numbers were to be tampered with.

Latent Image

This security feature is based on the optical effect produced by light when introduced to special arrangement of plastic lines printed by intaglio technique. The picture becomes visible only when the note is held at the eye level in a horizontal position against a source of light.

Microtext

Part of the background of banknotes contains micro-lettering which can be viewed under a magnifying glass.

Signatures and Dates

Combinations of different signatures and dates creates other variables adding to security.

See-through Features

Visible from both sides of the note, they are readily identifiable see through window features even under low light conditions. This security feature is currently only being used on Polymer notes

Security Strip

A security thread is clearly visible when the banknote is held against the light. The thread is incorporated into the paper across the full width of the banknote and sometimes contains the microtext. A security thread may be metallic.

OVD - Optically Varying Device

Clearly visible optical shifts are generated when the note is tilted to the light.

Use of Polymer (plastic) for Banknotes

Becoming more popular due to the difficulty of forging as well as the superb strength and lifespan of the polymer notes.

Synthetic Fibers (threads) in the Paper

Usually visible colour threads added to the paper. More recently, fluorescent fibres in red, blue and green embedded in the banknote paper, only visible under ultraviolet light.

Shadow Image

A contrasted image appears when the banknote is held up to the light.

Invisible Fluorescent Printing

Invisible under normal conditions, elements of the design will fluoresce when seen under ultra-violet light.

Anti-Scanner/Copier Patterns

A coloured foil design is hot-stamped onto the paper and is over-printed in using a lithographic technique. When photocopying is used to reproduce the note, a black spot appears in place of the foil.

6. Handling of Banknotes

Most banknotes you will handle will be made of some sort of paper. Although a number of countries nowadays are adopting a polymer substrate (type of plastic), the vast majority of banknotes available to the collector will be made of paper in one form or another.

Clean hands are essential to prevent undue oils and dirt transferring to the paper.
Ensure that there are no fans or breezes nearby which may blow the banknote from your hands. There should be no food or beverage in the nearby vicinity. There have been many cases of someone removing a banknote from a holder and then a third party ends up accidentally spilling something which stains the banknote. This is of particular concern at busy show bourses where the normal hustle and bustle of patrons may create this scenario. Removing the banknote from its holder or sleeve should be done with care. Once out of the holders, simply treat the banknote with care however not so gingerly so as to drop it. Lightly feeling the surface of the note can tell you a number of things.

Once you are finished handling the banknote, place it back into its holder. This should be done with the utmost care as this is when most banknotes become torn or creased. If you are viewing a dealer's banknote and are having any type of trouble getting it back into the holder, it is always better to hand the banknote and the holder back to the dealer and allow them to complete the task.

By virtue of its nature, a piece of paper money has a limited life expectancy, which is directly proportional to the amount of handling it receives.

From Printer to Bank to Wallet or Your Collection

The handling of a banknote used to begin at the printers with a manual counting of the sheets both prior to printing and then again prior to cutting. This is now done mechanically with little to no evidence of handling.

In the very early years of banknotes, the actual cutting was done by hand which is noticeable by varying margin sizes of many countries banknotes.

After cutting, the banknotes were recounted, stacked and bundled. Bundling was accomplished by a variety of different methods and often created marks on the edges of the banknotes in the bundles (or bricks) as well as the banknotes on the top and bottom of the stacks.

The bundles are then stacked and either stored or shipped to the appropriate issuing authority. Storage was not always done in climate-controlled environments and in certain countries the effects of the natural environment are noticeable on the banknotes. This is particularly noticeable in banknotes from countries with a tropical climate. While in storage vaults, banknotes were often counted regularly for auditing purposes. They were normally kept in their respective bundles and often only random bundles were counted, however in the case of certain issuing authorities all bundles were regularly counted which created "counting creases" on these banknotes. If a banknote made it this far without traces of handling, these counting creases were often the first visible signs of handling manifested.

Upon requisition by a bank or bank teller, the banknotes would be further counted, usually more than once, before being released to the general public. Certain countries issued banknotes that were quite large which necessitated folding by the tellers in order to fit them into their boxes or drawers. Even if a teller did not need to fold the notes, it was certainly a necessity for a customer to fold the banknote to fit it into their wallet or purse. Banknotes from these countries are extremely difficult to find without varying degrees of folds in even the cleanest, crispest banknotes put away during that time.

Modern equipment and machinery has created a process whereby a banknote may now remain virtually untouched and pristine until the moment a bank teller hands the banknote to a customer.

The above steps relay the difficulties that collectors of old notes/times had in
obtaining truly UNC notes. Many other factors, unrelated to grade, created
additional obstacles for the early paper money enthusiast including economic
factors, the relative unpopularity of collecting paper money in those days, the
stigma attached to paper money in relation to precious metals with intrinsic value,
not to mention the fact that paper money was almost always worth more than
coins and very few individuals could actually afford to "save" a piece of paper money

Information above on this page is from http://www.banknotes.com