Most Expensive Malaysian Banknotes

Today Spink’s World Banknotes auction featured numerous rarities which realized unbelievable prices. Without a shadow of a doubt, the highlight of the sale was a collection of the first ever Malaysian banknotes. The lot was purchased for an amazing £115,100, four times the original estimate, which broke Spink’s previously held record for the most expensive Asian Banknotes sold ever at auction.

The banknotes were a gift presented by Ismail Mohd Ali, on behalf of the Board of Governors of Bank Negara Malaysia, to the (fourth) King of Malaysia, Tuanku Ismail Nasiruddin Shah. They are preserved in a blue leather presentation album with the title Bank Negara Malaysia and arms in gold on the front cover. The folder contains the following: 1 ringgit, blue and multicoloured, 5 ringgit, green and multicoloured, 10 ringgit, blue and multicoloured, 50 ringgit, blue and multicoloured and 100 ringgit, purple and multicoloured, all ND (1967), serial number A/1 000001, all with portrait of Yang Di- Pertuan Agong, TuAnku Abdul Rahman, first King of Malaysia, at right, all are signed by Ismail Mohd Ali, value at centre and at each corner, all notes are mounted in card with gold border (Tan M 27, 28, 29, 30, 31). There is also a second presentation album containing 1000 ringgit, ND (1968), serial number A/1 000001, purple and multicoloured, portrait of Yang Di- Pertuan Agong, TuAnku Abdul Rahman, first king of Malaysia at right, signed by Ismail Mohd- Ali, value at centre and each corner, mounted in card with gold trim (Tan M 32).

Most expensive Australian banknote

 

  Most expensive Australian banknote-world record set by The Rare Coin Company
[Nov 30]ALBANY,WA,Australia-- The Rare Coin Company paid $1,223,250 dollars for an Australian 1924 George V One Thousand Pound banknote and had set a new world record for the Most Expensive Australian banknote sold at public auction.

   The company has since sold the banknote to a private collector who has very generously agreed to allow The Rare Coin Company to exhibit the banknote under strict security and insurance arrangements.
  (enlarge photo)

   Company Director Robert Jackman confirmed that the company was set to exhibit the banknote in Albany and Perth in early 2008, which will allow the general public a once in a lifetime opportunity to view a significant piece of Australia's heritage and an outstanding artistic specimen.

    "This is truly an opportunity for all Western Australian's to view a unique numismatic rarity as once the exhibition is over the banknote is unlikely to be seen in the public domain again for a significant period of time," Mr Jackman said. "As one of Australia's leading numismatic specialists, we are thrilled to secure such an important numismatic rarity and what makes this experience even more satisfying for us is to know that the artistic excellence and historical value of the banknote will now be able to be enjoyed by all those who attend the exhibit." he said.

    The banknote is the only known thousand pound note in private hands and it was last sold at auction in November 1998 where it realized $86,000. Controversy surrounded the note’s purchase at this time, where it was seized by the Federal Police after the Reserve Bank of Australian claimed ownership, which the Bank later relinquished.

   The Rare Coin Company’s purchase of this highly important numismatic item represents a significant milestone for the Australian Numismatic Industry, this being only the second known time in Australia’s history that the $1 million dollar price barrier has ever been reached for a single item.

   Company Director Robert Jackman said the record price paid for the £1,000 note purchase coincided with the Company’s 25th Anniversary Year, demonstrating its continuing commitment to providing its clients with only the highest quality numismatic rarities.

    Further background information about the £1,000 pound banknote 
    • Unique 1924 George V One Thousand Pound Issued Specimen Note
    • The first Australian One Thousand Pound Notes were printed at the Government Printing Office in Melbourne by the Commonwealth Stamp Printer in 1914.
    • These were signed R. Collins, Chairman and Directors, Note Issue Dept. of the Commonwealth Bank and T. Allen, Secretary of the Treasury.
    • This was probably the shortest circulation note ever issued in Australia.
    • Following a brief introduction to the public, the £1,000 note was soon restricted to internal transfers of funds between banks only.
    • In 1924 another batch of £1,000 notes were printed bearing the signatures of James Kell and R. Collins. These were never issued for circulation and were reserved for banking purposes only.     • The illusive £1,000 note, never meant for public use, is today many times more valuable as a collector’s piece than its intrinsic value of $2,000.
    • In the 1930’s the Commonwealth Bank removed all £1,000 notes from circulation and to present the note as a specimen placed four cancellation punch marks and the word ‘CANCELLED’ perforated across the centre.
    • This is the only circulated example known in private hands bearing the signatures—Kell/Collins—and of the utmost numismatic significance.    

History of Paper Money

History and First use of Paper Money

The first mention of the use of paper as money is found in historic Chinese texts. Emperor Chen Tsung (998-1022) awarded rights to issue universal bills of exchange to 16 merchants during his rein. When, however, several of these merchants failed to redeem notes on presentation, the credibility of the money was undermined and the public refused to accept it. In 1023, the Emperor rescinded the merchants’ issue rights and established a Bureau of Exchange within the government charged with issuing circulating paper notes. These are now considered the first true government-issued banknotes. Printing plates made of brass from this period have been found by archaeologists and have been used to print recreated examples of these early banknotes. No original-issue notes of this series are known to have survived.

In 1296, Marco Polo, describing his travels in China, made a fleeting reference to paper used as money in the Chinese Empire. Europeans found the idea so preposterous and unbelievable, the very credibility of his accounts of having traveled and lived in China were questioned.

The oldest existing original banknote found to date was a fragment discovered in a cave. This banknote was issued by the Chinese Emperor Hiao Tsung sometime between 1165 and 1174. On its face, this surviving, rather sophisticated example depicted the amount or number of coins it represented, and is clearly descended from earlier issues, none of which have survived.

Malaya & British Borneo 100 Dollars

In 1953 following the merger of Sarawak, British North Borneo and Labuan to Malaya, the Board of Commissioner Currency Malaya was dissolved. A new board was formed, the Board of Commissioner of Currency Malaya and British Borneo. All the currency notes issued by the board were signed by the president of the Board, W.C.Taylor. the observe side of the note had the Potrait of Queen Elizabeth II while the emblems of the each state was printed on the reverse. The notes printed were in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 1000 & 10,000 dollars

This notes featured is 100 dollars and it is in AU condition, a very nice and scarce notes

Banknote Image Source : My Own Collection

Malaysian Commonwealth Games Commemorative Notes

This notes is the first polymer notes issue by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), its colour its yellow gold very beautiful notes and limited to 500,000 pieces with folder. When released it was sold by the central bank at Rm80 per piece.

What Kind of Banknotes Should I Collect ?

Many, if not most collectors, start by collecting the banknotes of their own country. The first notes are usually those used every day and a set is easily put together. This can become more challenging if one tries to find notes from a previous series, but only occasionally still found in circulation. Reaching this point, the budding collector starts recruiting friends and relatives to help look for less common, still circulating specimens.

As soon as the first banknote is acquired for collecting and not for spending, the second challenge becomes upgrading the finds. Since the first notes are usually saved from circulation, each time the new collector gets a better one, he or she can spend the old note and keep the better one, until the example in the collection becomes the ultimate – a pristine, perfect, uncirculated specimen.

As I told my friend earlier, a source of good banknotes is travel. Being a traveling collector is not without its problems. You go to a country and at the airport or local bank, buy or exchange your country’s notes for the money of the visited country. Until you get a feel for the money of the new country, everything looks collectable. In my own case, I don’t want to spend any new notes until I have examined each note I receive from the bank or hotel for varieties, keeping an example of all the different ones - sometimes the whole lot! Unfortunately, my wife does not see the money in the same light, especially when I tell her I want to keep this or that, and we now need to buy more local currency before we can go out.

Her view is we can always get more later. Not so! The first time I changed money in France, only a few months after the Euro was introduced, I received several pristine 100 Euro notes. Listening to my wife, we spent them. To this day, I have never received another perfect note of the 100 euro denomination.

Getting back to themes, some place, some time, just about every subject you can think of has been illustrated on a banknote. Fascinating collections can be put together based on single subjects. One of the most popular is boats and ships. These can range from modern ocean vessels, such as a series a few years ago issued by Singapore, to dugout canoes depicted on the banknotes of several African countries. My favorite ship is on the back of a 100 escudos note from Chile (P-141) of a sailing ship (the Esmeralda) underway with all its sails deployed. There is even a dealer who specializes in banknotes with ships or boats in their designs. The ships  appearing on some of the notes he lists are sometimes tiny and obscure, but they are there!

The number of themes is unlimited. Volcanoes are popular, appearing on the banknotes of Japan (Mt. Fujiyama on P-95, 500 yen), Segara Anak in Indonesia (P-137), Mt. Damavand in Iran (P-146), Kilimanjaro in Tanzania (P-32 and others) and several countries in Latin America.

Great collections can be made of birds. I don’t know of any dealers specializing in them, but local birds can be found on the banknotes of nearly every country. My favorites are the bird-of-paradise on the $100 note of Trinidad and Tobago,and the bird series (P-146 to 154) issued by Suriname in 2000. I know collectors with specialized collections of famous and infamous people, insects (butterflies are popular), airplanes, art, fish, invasion money, nudes, scenery, archaeology, trains, architecture, horses, even special denominations, such as $3 banknotes, or those sporting a denomination of one million.

Even special types of banknotes come into play. A prominent Australian dealer, has a personal collection of “siege notes” – issued by towns or generals to pay for goods within the areas surrounded by their enemies. Notes issued for use exclusively in concentration camps, on ships, in military circles, or by certain towns or groups of towns are all very collectable.

My interests are eclectic. I collect any type of banknote I don’t already have from anyplace in the world. My preference is for type notes; that is, differing design elements, but many collectors go for completeness – searching for every signature combination, differing issue date, watermarks, replacements, block letters and serial number fonts.

The one unifying theme for all collectors is collecting what we like. In my case, I may not collect what the guy next to me does, but you can be sure I will find his collection interesting. Its all about learning and appreciating those bits of printed money most of us take for granted!

Malaysia 2012 New Banknotes

These are the new banknotes of Malaysia released year 2012

Looking at the design and colour it was so beautiful

International Grading Standards

After so many years of experience of collecting banknotes and i found out that many experts or serious collectors grade their banknotes with different grading method. Today i would like to share my experience how most expert or collectors grade their banknotes.

Grading is the most controversial component of paper money collecting today. Small differences in grade can mean significant differences in value. The process of grading is so subjective and dependant on external influences such as lighting, that even a very experienced individual may well grade the same note differently on separate occasions,

To facilitate communication between sellers and buyers, it is essential that grading terms and their meanings be standardized and as widely used as possible. This standardization should reflect common usage as much as practicable. One difficulty with grading is that even the actual grades themselves are not used every place and by everyone. For example, in Europe the grade “About Uncirculated” (AU) is not in general use, yet in North America it is widespread. The European term “GoodVF” may roughly correspond to what individuals in North America would call “EF”

The grades and definitions as set forth below cannot reconcile all the various systems and grading terminology variants. Rather, the attempt is made here to try and diminish the controversy with some common sense grades and definitions that aim to give more precise meaning to the grading language of paper money.

How to look at a Bank note

In order to ascertain the grade of a note, it is essential to examine it out of a holder and under a good light. Move the note around so that the light bounces off at different angles. Try holding it up obliquely so that the note is almost even with your eye as you look up at the light. Hard-to-see folds or slight creases will show up under such examination. Some individuals also lightly feel along the surface of the note to detect creasing.

Cleaning, Washing, Pressing of Bank notes

1. Cleaning, washing or pressing paper money is generally harmful and reduces both the grade and the value of a note. At the very least, a washed or pressed note may lose its original sheen and its surface may become lifeless and dull.  The defects a note had, such as folds and creases, may not necessarily be completely eliminated and their telltale marks can be detected under a good light. Carelessly washed notes may have white streaks where the folds or creases were (or still are).
2. Processing of a note which started out as Extremely Fine will automatically reduce it at least one full grade.

Glue, tape, or pencil marks may sometimes be successfully removed. While such removal will have a cleaned surface, it will improve the overall appearance of the note without concealing any of its defects. Under such circumstances, the grade of the note may also be improved.

The words “pinholes”, “staple holes”, “trimmed”, “writing on face”, “tape marks”, etc. should always be added to the description of a note. It is realized that certain countries routinely staple their notes together in groups before issue. In such cases, the description can include a comment such as “usual staple holes” or something similar. After all, not everyone knows that such-and-such a note cannot be found otherwise.

The major point of this section is that one cannot lower the overall grade of a note with defects simply because of the defects. The price will reflect the lowered worth of a defective note, but the description must always include the specific defects.

Saint Helena £10 & £20 Specimen Banknotes

Saint Helena 2004 Issue £10 & £20 Specimen Banknotes

These notes is prefix A/1 000000 and both are beautifully design with very nice colour.

These banknotes is limited to 300 sets only

Banknote Image Source : My Own Collection

Jersey £100 Specimen Banknote

Jersey £100 Specimen Diamond Jubilee Commemorative Banknote

The £100 note has been issued to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen. Jersey has always been proud of its relationship with the Crown and is celebrating the Diamond Jubilee in a variety of ways. The £100 note form part of a series of commemorative events for the Island, including a presentation to the National Portrait Gallery of the Jersey Heritage commissioned holographic portrait of The Queen, ‘Equanimity’. This notes is limited to 100 pieces only 

You can buy the notes individually or within a presentation Diamond Jubilee wallet priced at £75

Banknote Image Source : My Own Collection

Banknote of the year 2012

Banknote of the Year 2012 awarded by IBNS 

voted by IBNS member

Dr. Dennis J. Lutz (IBNS Life Member #211)

The International Bank Note Society (IBNS) announces that its voting membership has again selected the National Bank of Kazakhstan to receive its prestigious “Bank Note of the Year” Award for 2012. Facing stiff competition as always from nearly 100 new banknotes released worldwide in 2012, the 5000 Tenge denomination Kazakhstan note was followed in voting by the Canada 50 Dollar and Jersey 100 Pound currency bills.

Now in its 52nd year, the IBNS has over 2000 members worldwide. As a nonprofit educational organization its objectives are to promote, stimulate and advance the study, collection and dissemination of information related to paper money. From all significantly newly designed and widely circulated banknotes released in 2012, the IBNS membership nominated notes from 13 different countries to place on the ballot. Nominees represented four continents and ranged from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East to North, South and Central America. Past “Bank Note of the Year” winners include Kazakhstan (2011), Uganda (2010), Bermuda (2009), Samoa (2008), Scotland (2007), Comoros (2006), Faeroe Islands (2005) and Canada (2004).

The 2012 winning banknote was designed collaboratively by De La Rue of England and the National Bank. The Banknote Factory of the National Bank of Kazakhstan undertook the printing. The 5000 Tenge bill has a face value of approximately 33 U.S. dollars or 25 euros or 22 British pounds at early-May 2013 exchange rates. The note was issued 30 December 2011 for circulation in 2012. Slightly narrower, but taller, than U.S. dollar bills, its size is almost identical to the 20 pound English and 50 Euro notes.

The stunning design, predominantly in vivid reddish-orange features the “Kazak Eli” monument with flying doves and panther in a vertical format on the face of the banknote. The horizontal format reverse side highlights a map of the country with mountains and the “Monument of Independence” with the Kazakhstan Hotel in the former capital city of Almaty. A full color image of this and other nominated banknotes are on the IBNS website.

International Bank Note Society (IBNS)

Well many Malaysian collectors, some are aware and some are not aware that there 
is a International Bank Note Society Exist for International collectors and dealers to
share and exchange their knowledge and ideas, well let me write some introduction
about this society.

The International Bank Note Society (IBNS) was founded in 1961. It operates as a non-profit educational organization and in furtherance of such purpose, its objectives are to promote, stimulate, and advance the study and knowledge of worldwide banknotes and paper currencies and all matters related thereto along educational, scientific and historical lines. Currently the IBNS has over 2,000 members in more than 90 countries.

Members enjoy a number of benefits: a quarterly printed journal containing information on new issues and learned studies on paper money, a membership directory with contacts and dealers to further their collections, professional assistance in the unpleasant event of controversy between collectors, and many other useful tools.

Members enjoy a number of benefits: a quarterly printed journal containing information on new issues and learned studies on paper money, a membership directory with contacts and dealers to further their collections, professional assistance in the unpleasant event of controversy between collectors, and many other useful tools.