Anybody Collect Bills/Currency ? 1 1

[GoldFinger1969]

I do....as with coins, I'm an eclectic type collector...whatever moves me.

I have lots of low-value Silver Certificates....a Gold Certificate....and some special notes like Hawaii, North Africa, Light Green Seal, etc.  Probably only spend 1/4th on bills/currency what I do on coins.  I go through phases...buy a lot over a few weeks/months....then go years without buying any. 

Trying to get one of those Red Seal $100 bills from the 1960's but they are pricey in nice condition.

Edited January 11, 2022 by GoldFinger1969

[Coinbuf]

Yes I enjoy buying the odd piece of currency now and then.  My two favorites are my battleship $2 note and a $1 large note from 1917 with the signatures reversed.   A few large note silver certificates, a wood chopper note, some small silver certificates, a bunch of fun but not valuable $2 small size bills, and a couple of foreign notes.   Nothing that I have is valuable or in high grade condition except for a few of the cheap modern $2 bills, but notes are fun and I enjoy looking at them from time to time.

I should have bought more years ago when notes were less expensive, last show I went to the prices seem to have skyrocketed.   Although I guess I could say that about most collectable items these days.

[Mohawk]

I love bank notes!!! Mostly German and Canadian, like my non-ancient coin collection, but I do have some from other countries as well.  I actually do have one of those red seal $100s you referred to, GoldFinger.  Currency is something I bounce around with....I work on it for a while, then I bounce back into coins and then back into currency.  It's a fun addition to my collecting life and I really enjoy it.  

Edited January 11, 2022 by Mohawk

[Fenntucky Mike]

Yo.

I'm with Tom, I love banknotes!

I'm mainly a world note collector specializing in Ukrainian notes but I also collect by theme and other countries. I also collect local scrip, scripophily and some U.S. notes. Like most, I'll bounce back and forth between coins and banknotes for long stretches but I've been on a roughly year and a half streak of primarily focusing on notes with coins as my secondary. Those Fr.#1550's are sharp looking notes and, come on, they won't put that big a dent in your budget.  A 1914 $100 red seal, now that might hurt a little.  

[GoldFinger1969]

On 1/11/2022 at 12:28 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

Those Fr.#1550's are sharp looking notes and, come on, they won't put that big a dent in your budget.  A 1914 $100 red seal, now that might hurt a little.  

Haven't looked in a while, but some of the mid-60's PMG-gradeds were costing $500 give or take.

I often will go down to PMG 58, where you can get nice-looking notes that often don't have blemishes that are easy to see via pics or even in hand.  Pretty well-centered, tough to see folds and often no stains....biggest problem is if you do the side-light test then the wrinkles and bumps show up (but that's why it's hard to see the blemishes). 

I once conducted a poll over on CT on GTG on my Gold Certificate and lots of folks were saying 58-65.  It is graded PMG 40 !! 

 

Edited January 11, 2022 by GoldFinger1969

[Fenntucky Mike]

On 1/11/2022 at 12:49 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

I often will go down to PMG 58, where you can get nice-looking notes that often don't have blemishes that are easy to see via pics or even in hand.  Pretty well-centered, tough to see folds and often no stains....biggest problem is if you do the side-light test then the wrinkles and bumps show up (but that's why it's hard to see the blemishes).

Absolutely! There are some great looking notes in that grade.  I'd almost rather have a fold or two (preferably in the corners) as long as they were not going through the portrait, a wrinkled note can get ugly quick.  Depends on the note.

On 1/11/2022 at 12:49 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

I once conducted a poll over on CT on GTG on my Gold Certificate and lots of folks were saying 58-65.  It is graded PMG 40 !! 

Determining the condition of a note based on pics is just as difficult as determining a coin's condition, maybe even harder. 

[GoldFinger1969]

On 1/11/2022 at 1:08 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

Determining the condition of a note based on pics is just as difficult as determining a coin's condition, maybe even harder. 

Harder because even though on some of my lower-graded notes I can see wrinkles or folds, I could not see ANYTHING on the GC after looking at it for 2 minutes.  I'm thinking, the thing is undergraded by 20 points !!

But if you look at it with light from the side, then you would (probably) see the wrinkles I can't see.  Someone posted a with and without side light on a bill.  Looked pristine and perfect in the former.....looked like a range of hills in the latter. 

[Mohawk]

Quote

Determining the condition of a note based on pics is just as difficult as determining a coin's condition, maybe even harder. 

I'd say a note is much harder to grade from photos.  Photos can hide creases, small stains and fading on a note very well. 

Edited January 11, 2022 by Mohawk

[GoldFinger1969]

On 1/11/2022 at 1:15 PM, Mohawk said:

I'd say a note is much harder to grade from photos.  Photos can hide creases, small stains and fading on a note very well. 

Yeah, lighting angle on coins can cover up stuff but nothing material or anything major.  But like I said above, the side-light shining on a bill -- something I never would have known about before reading about it in the forums -- turned what looked like a pristine, blemish-free bill into a bill with like 5 or 6 easily noticeable folds, creases, hills, etc.

The bill went from the Great Plains (flat) to the Rocky Mountains in no time ! 

[Fenntucky Mike]

On 1/11/2022 at 1:15 PM, Mohawk said:

I'd say a note is much harder to grade from photos.  Photos can hid creases, small stains and fading on a note very well. 

Yeah, I agree. Only reason I hesitate is that the pictures new people post of notes across the aisle are, almost, always better than the pics new people post here. Guess I've been getting spoiled over there. 

If it's a scanned image of a note lookout that can really hide some stuff. 

[Mohawk]

On 1/11/2022 at 1:26 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

Yeah, I agree. Only reason I hesitate is that the pictures new people post of notes across the aisle are, almost, always better than the pics new people post here. Guess I've been getting spoiled over there. 

If it's a scanned image of a note lookout that can really hide some stuff. 

Definitely....a scanned image of a note can be very deceptive.  I'm very wary of those.  As someone who buys the vast majority of their coins and notes online, I've had to develop some skills in evaluating photos of both.  One thing I've definitely learned......avoid buying notes based on scanned images.

[GoldFinger1969]

On 1/11/2022 at 1:39 PM, Mohawk said:

Definitely....a scanned image of a note can be very deceptive.  I'm very wary of those.  As someone who buys the vast majority of their coins and notes online, I've had to develop some skills in evaluating photos of both.  One thing I've definitely learned......avoid buying notes based on scanned images.

If they are graded, I feel alot more comfortable.  If the Gold Certificate I bought was advertised as PMG 58 or PMG 65, but not officially graded, and with no return policy, I would have been screwed.  I think I paid about $250 or a bit less for my note and stuff in the 60's was costing $600 or so.

Heck, the seller may not have even known it had waves in it from side-light.   They could have been in the dark, too.

Grading makes you pretty certain of what you are getting.  My GC is very nice, but no, it's not a high-50's or mid-60's note even though it LOOKS like that from pics or even in-hand at first glance.

Edited January 11, 2022 by GoldFinger1969

[Mohawk]

On 1/11/2022 at 2:04 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

If they are graded, I feel alot more comfortable.  If the Gold Certificate I bought was advertised as PMG 58 or PMG 65, but not officially graded, and with no return policy, I would have been screwed.

Heck, the person may not have even known it had waves in it from side-light. 

That's a very good point.  There's an added layer of security with a graded note.  That said, though, I only own two graded notes.  The graded populations of the notes I'm interested in are typically a lot smaller than for U.S. notes, so I often have to go for a raw note and try to do my best evaluation.  

Edited January 11, 2022 by Mohawk
Should have added "graded" to my reply.

[jtryka]

I enjoy collecting notes, but like Mohawk, I tend to go in cycles.  Right now I'm a bit off cycle.  I mostly collect large size type notes, but I am also a big fan of changeover pairs, I think I am up to three pairs now (they are not easy to find).  And speaking of $100 red seals, here's one for you...

[Henri Charriere]

Currency... the three notes, very likely EPQ, I attempted to post, from North Korea, Iran and Iraq, Moderation took down immediately. I then decided there was no point in posting my notes from Somalia, Turkey, Zimbabwe, etc. Some of the nicer notes I've had, silver certificates, not really worth much, even in the late 1960's, I took down to N.Y. Assay Office on Wall Street and traded them in for a clear plastic bag of silver pellets secured with a tag indicating source, weight and purity. I had a 20-peso note from pre-Castro Cuba and gave it to a local bodega owner who opened my envelope, and flooded with memories as a child, sat down and stared at it wordlessly. He had done me a favor years prior and I went back to him with it to offer my thanks. I've had both the Cleveland $1,000 bill and an EPQ McKinley $500, encased in Lucite but was relentless criticized by my friends who were convinced they would never appreciate in value.

I am way too old to acquire the bills I always wanted: a $20 gold note, rendered in orange with Washington in the portrait oval, the Watermelon note, and, most of all, the Educational series. All three denominations. In all fairness, the majority of notes I set aside were unusually old to still be in circulation, the teens, 1920's and 1930's but they're long gone now. Thanks for the memories, guys!  

Edited January 12, 2022 by Quintus Arrius
Die polishing: recording, punctuation, etc.

[GoldFinger1969]

On 1/11/2022 at 12:16 PM, Coinbuf said:

I should have bought more years ago when notes were less expensive, last show I went to the prices seem to have skyrocketed.   Although I guess I could say that about most collectable items these days.

Yup, lower graded notes for "trophy items" appreciated a ton the last 2 years during Covid.  Large-denomination bills, for instance.  There was an article about how the influx of buyers had moved up the price a ton, and this was probably 9-12 months ago.  I'll see if I can find it.