Do you think you need state of the art equipment and the latest technology to counterfeit modern banknotes? Think again.
A home-made tool resembling a meat tenderiser is being used by counterfeiters to create a security feature on fake 100 yuan banknotes, police say after studying almost 4,000 of such bills seized this year. "An investigation found that an instrument with spikes was used to pound images of the counterfeit notes so that the bills would have an embossed effect," a police source said. (...) more bogus HK$1,000 bills were seized this year, police said. A total of 943 were seized in the first 10 months of the year, compared with 328 for the whole of last year and 220 in 2010. A total of 726 fake HK$100 notes was seized in the first 10 months of this year, compared with 1,806 for the whole of last year.
So I was browsing through the podcast section of iTunes yesterday when I stumbled upon the BBC program The History of the World in 100 Objects. I love shows like that. Especially when I found out one of the objects used in the series, is a Ming banknote from 14th century China. They talk about the history of banknotes and how the first ones like these were used. Really interesting, even if you already know most of the story like a lot of collectors probably do. You can listen to the episode via iTunes or on the BBC website. The banknote being discussed is this one in the British Museum.
Norway has announced on 4 December 2012 that they started a project to design new banknotes. This will be their 8th series of banknotes. The main reason for designing the new series is to enhance the security of the notes. They expect it will take several years before the new notes will be issued in Norway. The first step is choose a theme for the new series. Once the theme has been approved, the national bank will choose the main elements of the banknotes' design. You can read more about this announcement in the press release by the Norges Bank.
Dutch organization MPO will hold a trade fair in Wassenaar (near The Hague) on 9 December 2012. There will be stamps, coins and (most important for us) banknotes. You can also get free valuation of your banknotes. A couple of times a year they also organise auctions which can be a real bargain hunt. The catalogue of the latest auction can be found here and the winning bids can be found here. Some really good deals!
According to this site with news on Thai and other Asian banknotes, the new 20 Baht from Thailand (series 16) should be issued tomorrow 5 December 2012. I have no news about this at the moment and the Bank of Thailand is also silent on the topic. As is stated in this press release, the size and colors of the new banknote will be like series 15 (pictured below).
If there are any new developments, I will of course report on it. It would be nice to have a new Thai banknote!
More info: all series of Thai banknotes on this great site of the Bank of Thailand.
Could these be the new banknotes from Libya? There are several shown in this video which I found on Jay's World Banknotes.
Apparently the following images appear on the notes:
1 dinar - Front: Unknown. Back: Flag of Libya and peace doves. 5 dinars - Front: Ottoman Clock Tower. Back: Zeus Temple in Cyrene. 10 dinars - Front: Portrait of Omar Al Mukhtar. Back: Al Mukhtar horsemen. 20 dinars - Front: Al Ateeq mosque in the city of Oujlah in the oasis. Back: Traditional school in Ghdamis. 50 dinars - Front: Italian Lighthouse of Sede Khrebeech. Back: Stone arch in Tadrart Acacus.
Update 6 December 2012: Banknotenews has published more pictures on their site. It's however pretty clear that these are other banknotes than the ones in the video. The Central Bank of Libya has put up a link to the above video claiming it's the Deputy Governor discussing the new banknotes (or that's what I got after translating the Arab text of the popup in Google Translate). So which one is the correct new set? More and more sites claim that it will be in fact the set below which will be issued in the beginning of 2013.
Remember when I wrote about the upcoming new banknotes in Fiji last week? And their plans to replace the image of Queen Elizabeth II with local flowers and perhaps the head of somebody else? Well, apparently not everyone is wild about this idea. The local chiefs have protested the decision, stating that she is still the queen of Fiji and has been given the title of highest chief in the country.
Still another 8 days to go before we are sure what the new notes will look like...
While many people today believe that the U.S. $100 note is the highest denomination, in reality there are 5 notes with higher values: €500, $1000, $5000, $10.000 and $100.000. These are however no longer used. The higher values were once used when there was still a lot of mining for gold in the U.S. To avoid walking around with hundreds of banknotes, higher values were added. The $100.000 note was meant specifically for traffic between banks and was never issued to the public. There are 20.113 of these banknotes with the highest value.
These notes were printed until 1945 and from 1969 the values higher than $100 were no longer being used in daily traffic. The notes which still exist belong to collectors and museum but have still kept their value and you could still use them to pay for things in the United States in theory.
John Pettit Rare Banknotes from Australia is in financial trouble, according to the Australian Financial Review. The losses are big it seems. Pettit claims he had become to much of a collector. Yeah, we all know that feeling...
The Reserve Bank of Fiji has today announced that a new series of banknotes and coins with new obverse designs will be officially unveiled by the president of Fiji, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau on 12 December 2012. Flora and fauna designs of Fiji will replace the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II across all denominations. Members of the British royal family have featured on Fiji’s currency since 1934. The reason given for this step by the Reserve Bank is that it’s “time to move forward and promote our very own unique national treasure and the biodiversity that lies all around us.“ Along with the design changes, the Reserve Bank will also introduce a $2 coin to replace the $2 note. Governor Whiteside said that a number of the new flora and fauna designs selected are unique to Fiji. “Some clearly belong on the endangered species list and all Fijians must be made aware of this fact and how critical it is to preserve our heritage.“ The new 2012 flora and fauna design series notes and coins will come into circulation 2 January 2013. (Source)
Update 30 November 2012: The Telegraph reports that Fiji might also replace the Queen's head for that of the new dictator Commodore Frank Bainimarama or the military-appointed president Epeli Nailatikau. This news is denied at Fiji itself. We'll have to wait another two weeks to be sure!
Yesterday a colleague returned from Hong Kong bringing the polymer 10 Dollar (P401b) with her. It's the first polymer banknote from Hong Kong and was introduced in 2007 for a 2-year trial period. Always nice to have good contacts when you're a collector of world banknotes!
A new banknote arrived yesterday by mail. It's the Russian 250 Rubles (P36) issued in 1917 by the Soviet government. The note was also issued by the provisional government but the fact that the serial number starts with AB points to the Soviet issue.
Closer inspection of the note reveals some strange designs: there are swastikas visible! To the uninformed this is somewhat baffling since the note was issued in 1917 at a time when Hitler was still fighting in the trenches of WW I and the Nazi party was still some years away from being formed. The swastika however is not only a Nazi symbol. As you can see in this list from Wikipedia the swastika was used all over Europe prior to it becoming a dominant symbol of the Nazis. The Nazis also used swastikas on their banknotes by the way (like in this complete series which was issued in the occupied territories in Europe). So no worries for the Russians but it's another great addiction to my collection.
The swastikas are on the front and the back of the note but at the back it's most visible:
Banknotenews reports that the 2012 series of the 10, 50 and 100 Gulden notes have been confirmed. Nothing special about that but here is an odd twist however:
10, 50, and 100 gulden notes (BNA B25, B27, and B28, respectively) have been confirmed dated 1 juni 2012 with the same signature combination as the preceding issues (Jerrald M. Hasselmeyer and Emsley D. Tromp). These notes are rather unusual in that they bear the issuer name as the Bank van de Nederlandse Antillen, even though the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved as a unified political entity on 10 October 2010, and the old bank became the Centrale Bank van Curaçao en St Maarten which had plans to introduce a new common currency, the Curaçao St Maarten guilder (CMG) in 2012.
A very nice article from South African writer Mlungisi Ngubeni which shows the symbolic power banknotes can have for a nation.
"Let these new banknotes be a symbol that the power of change lies in our hands and the power of prosperity for the country and the people lies in our hands."
Hello, I'm Steven Bron and welcome to my blog on banknotes! Here you can find: breaking news, background articles and of course my personal collection (world notes or at least one from each country, commemorative notes and polymer notes).
Do you think you need state of the art equipment and the latest technology to counterfeit modern banknotes? Think again.
So I was browsing through the podcast section of iTunes yesterday when I stumbled upon the BBC program 
Norway has 
Dutch organization 
Could these be the new banknotes from Libya? There are several shown in this video which I found on 
Remember when I 
While many people today believe that the U.S. $100 note is the highest denomination, in reality there are 5 notes with higher values: €500, $1000, $5000, $10.000 and $100.000. These are however no longer used. The higher values were once used when there was still a lot of mining for gold in the U.S. To avoid walking around with hundreds of banknotes, higher values were added. The $100.000 note was meant specifically for traffic between banks and was never issued to the public. There are 20.113 of these banknotes with the highest value.
A very nice 
