Arthur L. Friedberg & Ira S. Friedberg have just issued the 20th edition of Paper Money of the United States catalog. The catalog was first published 60 years ago in 1953. An article describing this standard catalog can be found here and orders can be placed here. The catalog is available as hard cover, soft cover or as an e-book (yay!).
Banknotenews reports that Iran plans to issue a new 5000 rial banknote. Earlier this year we already had the news that larger denominations were on the way but this was never followed by an exact date or more information.
Now this Persian site (google translate) mentions a new 5000 rial banknote is on the way. They even have pictures of the new note. Does this mean the larger denominations will finally be issued for real? We'll have to wait and see I guess.
According to the Kuwait News Agency, the Central Bank of Kuwait has decided to issue a new series of banknotes. This will be the sixth series since the introduction of the Kuwait Dinar in 1961. The new series will have updated hallmarks, security features and paper quality. Preparations for production have begun and they are expected to be issued within a year. The new notes will circulate alongside the current series which will gradually be withdrawn from the market.
The new notes of Barbados have been put into circulation on 4 June 2013. The new series has a modernised look and of course updated security features.
The new notes were presented at the beginning of May 2013. For more info and all the images of the new notes, check out my original post.
An Australian website asks its readers if a new Australian banknote has surfaced: a $7 note with, wait for it...., a scratch-and-sniff feature with the smell of the wattle, the national scent of Australia. CSIRO, the inventors of polymer money, is neither confirming or denying that it designed a $7 banknote or that it is infused with wattle scent for security reasons.
I literally don't know where to begin... First of all, I'm pretty sure the wattle is the national flower of Australia and not the national scent. Second: are you kidding me?? A 7 dollar banknote with this design? I think the probability for this news to be true equals zero.
Canadians and their money, a source of entertainment which goes on and on and on. What do we have so far? Naked women, melting banknotes, vending-machine-says-no, biological warfare and of course the wrong maple leafs. Now we can add another complaint: some people claim that when you scratch the new 100 dollar note, you can smell maple syrup. Why anyone would complain about such a delicious smell is beyond me but the fact is denied by the Bank of Canada: no scratch-and-sniff notes in Canada!
The people at the Bank of Canada must have a lot of fun with all these weird allegations. Would you like pancakes with these?
The Bank of Mauritius will soon issue banknotes plastic, specifically polypropylene. This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Xavier-Luc Duval, on his Facebook page. Two million notes of 500 rupees will be issued in plastic. The number of notes of 25 and 50 rupees, which will also be issued, has not yet been decided at this stage. The exact issue date is unknown at this time.
The Nyasa Times reports that Malawi has cancelled the old series which were issued prior to the current kwacha series. On 23 May 2012 the Reserve Bank of Malawi introduced a new series consisting of 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 kwacha. The people of Malawi have until 2 August 2013 to exchange their old banknotes for the new ones.
The old 500 kwacha:
After several failed attempts I finally managed to acquire the new 5 euro. With special thanks to my mother who stumbled upon the banknote at the place where she works.
At an auction by MPO a Dutch 200 gulden banknote from 1908 was sold for €44,280 which makes it the most expensive Dutch banknote ever. The banknote was bought by the De Ruiter family, who have a shop in stamps, coins and banknotes and who can be found at verzamelaarsmarkt.nl.
The banknote measures 120 x 220 mm and was issued in 10 varieties. About 2 million were issued between 1860 and 1920. But only 20 now remain! What makes this one special is the signature of J.G.N. de Hoop Scheffer of De Nederlandsche Bank. This is the only surviving specimen of the 200 gulden banknote with that particular signature.
The NZweek reports that Cambodia is set to issue a new 100,000 riel banknote commemorating the 60th birthday of king Norodom Sihamoni on 14 May 2013. The news report is from 8 May 2013 so the banknote is probably already issued.
"The new bill will be officially issued in the next couple of days," Nguon Sokha, director general of the National Bank of Cambodia, told Xinhua over telephone.
A sub-decree on the issuance of the new 100,000-riel banknote was signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen on April 30. The 100,000-riel bill is the country’s highest riel value banknote.
According to its model, the bill displays the portraits of late King Father Norodom Sihanouk and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath on the obverse and the pictures of the two monarchs and their current King Norodom Sihamoni on the reverse.
The website AllAfrica.com reports:
The Rwf500 note will be replaced with a better and improved version to make it usable in Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).
The Cabinet was presented with a draft Presidential Order requesting for approval to issue the new Rwf500 note, which is "consistent with the vision of our country," finance ministry officials said.
"The approval of the Presidential Order will help to circulate a new Rwf500 note, which will have new features that are consistent with the vision of our country," Pichette Kampeta Sayinzoga, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance said during a press conference last week.
"In this particular case, some of the principal features of the new note will be three exotic cows in the front face to reflect the government's effort to eradicate malnutrition, while on the back face, there will be four young students working with computers to reflect the government's efforts to promote education and technology."
The National Bank of Rwanda vice-governor, Monique Nsanzabaganwa, told Business Times that the new note is expected to be issued by the end of this year after its features have been published in the official Gazette.
The current 500 francs note:
Remember the new 5 euro banknote (and my first attempt to get one)? The one that was introduced into the eurozone 2 May 2013? I still haven't been able to get one through the usual channels like banks and shops. But it seems I'm not the only one: I've seen several articles on this issue. Just this weekend I was in Belgium and since I'd read that ATM machines in Belgium issue 5 euro notes (in contrast to the Netherlands where they only issue a minimum of 10 euro notes), I tried my luck at several machines. No luck there: only 20 euro banknotes. I then asked in numerous shops and at gas pumps if they happened to have the new note. The reactions I got were priceless: we also haven't seen the note, we have no idea what it looks like etc.
The best reaction however (and the one which pointed out a likely explanation for this lack of notes at shops) I got at the gas pump in my own neighborhood. The employee said they almost had a new 5 euro the day before but they refused to accept it because the couterfeit detection devices didn't recognize it as a valid banknote. All our money is based on trust because it has no intrinsic value. Trust that the piece of 'paper' you're holding is worth 5 euro. But if the new 5 euro is rejected everywhere it's value is basically 0 euro.
I wonder what that will do to the already very shaken confidence in the euro system?
As you can see, I've uploaded a new header image (the picture at the top of this screen with stevenbron.nl on it). I got the background picture from reddit and the complete world map of currencies can be viewed by clicking the thumbnail below.
Note: I do of course know that some of the currencies displayed in this image are not in use anymore but I still think it looks pretty cool.
Remember Jack Lew? President Obama named him to be the new US Secretary of the Treasury, all people could talk about for days was his funny signature. It consists of a number of loops which reminded people of a slinky. Some people complained it would be weird to have such a odd signature on the US Banknotes.
Well, apparently mr. Lew has listened to the criticism because recently he showed his modified John Hancock. It is unknown if this is the final version which will end up on new banknotes.
So which is better in your opinion? The old signature on top or the new version at the bottom:
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