As you may have noticed, I've been posting less posts recently. That's because I'm taking a break since I'm busy with other things in my life. I will of course keep on collecting and will probably return in the future.
So no goodbye, but see you later!
From all of us at stevenbron.nl (so, just me 
): best wishes for 2019 and happy collecting! As the first post of this new year I would like to take a look back at 2018 and mention my favorite banknote of last year and my nomination for the Banknote of the Year award: the Swiss 200-francs note.
For a month I wasn't able to post anything so today I could finally catch up and post some updates. And also wish everybody a happy New Year! I hope we will see some beautiful new banknotes this year and I hope everybody will have a chance to find the grail note for their collection.
The fireworks in my home town Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
My apologies for the lack of updates the last few weeks. I was on holiday with my wife, daughter and my parents-in-law. Destination? New York, New York! The city so nice, they named it twice. And it wás very nice. The city is quite literally bursting with energy and it truly never sleeps. The last time we were there in 2009 the WTC-site was still heavily under construction but last week we could enjoy the view from the Freedom Tower. Another fantastic experience was the NY Yankees game we visited. Such a nice atmosphere in the stadium and such a great game. We were lucky to witness the fantastic comeback against the Baltimore Orioles on 28 April in which the Yankees came back from 9-1 down to a 14-11 victory in the 10th inning.
Although I searched for it, I couldn't really find a brick-and-mortar banknote store so I couldn't get a nice souvenir like the banknote below. Ah well, I now had to settle for some new fountain pen ink from the Fountain Pen Hospital. Unlucky for me they didn't have this ink whick would have been a perfect combination of my two hobbies but a nice color like 'Manhattan Blue' is also perfect as a souvenir.
The first post of this brand new year 2017 is dedicated to you, my dear readers! I wish you all a happy 2017 with lots of good health, good fortune and peace with your loved ones. I also want to thank you all for visiting my site the past year. At the end of a year it's a good time to look back and when I do just that I see lots and lots of people, much more than in previous years!
Besides a record number in visitors I'm also very grateful for all the tips, information and banknotes I received the past year for review purposes or as a gift. It's really great when people invest time and effort in something you happen to like.
Last year was also the first time I wrote articles for the quarterly magazine of the Dutch chapter of the IBNS. I noticed an increase in new Dutch readers so that paid off nicely.
For the coming year I have some small and big plans with my site which need some more planning but I will, of course, keep on writing about banknote news and trivia.
Have a nice day and, as we say in The Netherlands, Gelukkig Nieuwjaar !
Recenty I finished the excellent book "Germany - Memories of a Nation" by Dr. Neil MacGregor. If you're interested in Germany or history in general, I highly recommend this richly illustrated book. From the point of view of a banknote collector it's also interesting because a whole chapter is dedicated to the era of Notgeld, issued during the First World War and especially in the first years after the war. This chapter is illustrated with a beautiful selection from the British Museum of the many, many different local notes issued by German towns in that period.
I've added a special page for my Notgeld collection (dropdown menu to the right) where I don't show every individual note I have but rather the different towns I have notes from. I have local money from German towns, Austrian towns but also from German towns which nowadays are in Poland. Proving once again to me that collecting banknotes can be a fascinating history lesson.
After three weeks in the sun in Florida I'm back home where it's 20 degrees colder but at least I can update my site again right? Three weeks Disney World and the surrounding area has left me not only with a nice tan but also with some new banknotes. So please excuse the lack in updates (I don't really like broadcasting on the internet that my home is uninhabited) but lets continue where we left off!
Recently I was asked to be an editor for 't Watermerk, the quarterly magazine from the Dutch chapter of the International Banknote Society (IBNS). My 'task' is to gather all the banknote news and describe the latest banknote issues from the different central banks all around the world. So pretty much what I also write about here! For the readers of 't Watermerk who have just found me via the link in the latest magazine issue I bid you a warm welcome here!
As the name of my site sort of suggests this is my personal banknote site. The main reason why I began gathering and writing about banknote news was a personal frustration. Whenever I went to an auction, a papermoney fair or a shop and wanted to know something more about a new banknote I discovered, I had to go through several sites to find a particular piece of information I was looking for. So I decided to gather the info for my personal collecting preferences. You'll also find some info about my personal collection at the right for the exact same reason.
That also means I feel very comfortable giving my opinion on new banknotes. Of course I provide the bare facts like the issuing authority, denomination, color, etc. etc. but I also looooove to give my opinion. If I think a new note is beautiful I'll let you know. If I think it looks like the product of a kid painting with cat vomit I will definitely let you know. What if you disagree with my opinion? Great! Jut let me know in the comments.
So that's basically it. If you have any questions just let me know and as a final note I wish you lots of success with your own collection. Fijne dag verder!*
*(that's Dutch, don't worry)
After a small vacation in sunny Turkey with no updates at all, I'm now back! :)
I just finished describing the first batch of 67 banknotes from 51 different countries which have a space and astronomy theme. Of course I'll keep looking out for more banknotes with this theme.
You can find the notes on my special space and astronomy banknotes theme blog by clicking here or on the astronaut at the right.
One week after its inception my space and astronomy themed blog has 26 banknotes from 17 countries covering subjects from astronauts to planets to telescopes. And of course as always: there is much more to come!
Be sure to have a look or just click the astronaut image on the right.
After the recent acquisition of the new Canadian 5 dollar with its space themed backside, I showed the note to a colleague who is also an amateur astronomer and writes for a Dutch blog on astronomy and the world of space exploration. His enthusiasm gave me the idea for a special theme blog on space and astronomy banknotes.
My goal is to compile an overview of banknotes which have a theme or show objects related to space, astronomy, satellites, astronomers, telescopes, observatories and so on. You can find this special blog by clicking the banner on the right or below.
The first three banknotes have been posted:
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.
Recently I got a few e-mails from other paper money collectors / websites asking if I'm interested in a link exchange. Sure, no problem! Feel free to contact me if you have a site on paper money which isn't already featured in the links section on the right. I would be happy to add your site as well.
For a collector of world banknotes like me it's always nice to know how many countries are represented in your collection. At the moment I have 157 countries for instance. But it's much nicer to see this in a list which could also be easy to manage.
Well I did just that. There are numerous lists of banknote issuing countries but I've tried to combine them in one list which I hope is somewhat complete. Of course there is still room for debate: should you add every German state as a separate entity or is 'German states' sufficient? But as a first attempt this works for me.
You can choose 'countries' in the menu on the right or click here.
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