Late last year I did a road trip and picked up these 150 banknotes from around the world. To be honest, I am much more of a coin collector, but I thought these notes were pretty cool. They're mostly housed in Dansco #7001 Currency albums. I'm not sure which notes are rare or valuable, so I'm hoping the community can help me out. I only included photos of one side of the banknote, otherwise it would have been over 400 photos! Let me know if you want additional photos of a specific note! You can view the photos of the banknotes by clicking on the album link Album #1 Afghanistan - 1/100 Afghanis Angola - 10 Kwanzas Argentina - 1/5/10/50/50/500/1000 Pesos Australia - 1/5/5/10 Dollars Austria - 20 Heller + 1 Krone + 20 Shillings Bahamas - 50 Cents + 1/3 Dollars Bangladesh - 2 Takas Belarus - 50 Kapeeks + 10/25/50/50/50/50/100/100/500/1000 Rubles Belgium - 50/100 Francs Biafra - 1 Pounds Bhutan - 1 Ngultrums Brazil - 1/1/5/100/100/100/200/500/1000/1000 Cruzeiros + 1000 Mil Cruzados British Armed Forces - 1 Pounds + 5 New Pence Bolivia - 50/1000 Bolivianos Bosnia - 10/10/100 Dinara Bulgaria - 3/50/100 Leva Burundi - 100 Francs Canada - 25 Cents + 5 Dollars Cambodia - .1/50/100/100 Riels Cayman Islands - 1 Dollars Central African States - 500 Francs Chile - ½ Escuados China - Food Coupons + 1/2 Fēn + 1/2/2/5 Jiǎo + 1/1/1/2/5/5/10/10/20/50/100 Yuán Columbia - 1/200/200 Pesos Congo - 10 Nouveaux Makuta + 50/200 Francs Costa Rica - 50/1000/10000 Colones Croatia - 1/5/25 Dinara Cuba - 5 Pesos Album #2 Dominican Republic - 1 Pesos Ecuador - 5/10 Sucres Egypt - 5/25/25/50 Piastres France - 25 Livres + 50 Centimes + 2/5/5/10/20/50 Francs French Indochina - 1 Pistres Georgia - 5 Kuponi Germany - 1/2 Rentenmarks + 1/1/1/1/5/20/1000000000 Marks Ghana - 5 Cedis Greece - 50/100/25000/500000/5000000 Drachma Guatemala - ½ Quetzales Guyana - 20 Dollars Honduras - 1/2/5 Lempiras Hong Kong - 1 Cents Hungary - 20 Forint + 20/100000000 Pengő India - 1/1/5/100 Rupees Indonesia [Japanese Occupation] - 1/10 Cents Indonesia - 1/5/10/25/50 Sen + 100/100/500/1000 Rupiahs Israel - 50 New Shekels Italy - 1/5/10/10/150/500/1000/1000/1000 Lire Jamaica - 5 Dollars Japan - 1/5/10/10/50/50/1000 Yen Korea - 100/500/1000/1000 Won Kyrgyzstan - 1/10 Tyiyns Laos - 5/50 Kips Lebanon - 1000 Livres Luxembourg - 5/100 Francs Album #3 Madagascar - 100 Ariary Malawi - 20 Kwachas Mexico - 1/5/5/10/20/20/50/100/200/500/1000/2000/5000/10000 Pesos Mongolia - 10/20/50 Mongos + 1/10/20/50/100 Tugriks Morocco - 1/ 5 Francs + 5 Dirhams Myanmar - 50 Pyas + 1/1/15/20 Kyats Nicaragua - 5/25 Centavos Nigeria - 1/5/10/20 Nairas Nepal - 5/10 Rupees Netherlands East Indies - 5 Cents New Guinea - 500 Francs New Zealand - 5/20 Dollars North Korea - 1/5/10/50/100 Won North Macedonia - 10/25/50/100 Denari Oceania [Japanese Occupation] - 1 Shillings Paraguay - 1/5/5/10/100/500/1000 Guaraníes Album #4 Peru - 100 Intis Philippines [Japanese Occupation] - 1/5/10/50 Centavos + 1/5/10 Pesos Philippines - 20 Centavos + 2/5/10/20/100 Pisos Portugal - 100 Escudos Prussia - 25 Pfennige Republic of Artsakh - 2 Drams Russia - 50/1000 Rubles Saudi Arabia - 1 Riyals Singapore - 1 Dollars Slovakia - 50 Koruny Slovenia - 2 Tolarjev Somalia - 50 Shillings South Africa - 10 Rands Soviet Union - 100 Rubles Spain - 100/100 Pesetas Sweden - 100 Kronor Taiwan - 100/500 New Taiwan Dollars Tajikistan - 1/10/20 Rubles Thailand - 1/10/10 Bahts Transnistria - 1/1/5/10 Rubles Uganda - 1000/2000 Shillings Ukraine - 1/3 Kynoh + 1/2 Hryvni United States [Food Coupon] - 1 Dollar United States [Military Certificate] - 10 Cents United States [Private Banks] - 12 ½ Cents United States - 10 Cents + 2 Dollars Uruguay - 500 Pesos Album #5 Uzbekistan - 200/500 Sum Venezuela - 1/2/2/5/5/5/10/20/20/50/500/500 Bolívares Vietnam [South] - 20 Xu + 1/1/1/5/20/50/100/500/500/500/1000/1000 Đồng Vietnam - 1/1/2/2/10/50/100/200/500/1000/2000/5000/20000 Đồng Yugoslavia - 20/50/100/1000 Dinara Zambia - 10/10/20/50/100 Kwachas Album #6 Various countries, mostly Germany
I took a look at Album #2 just to see the Hungarian notes. While scrolling, I noticed the beauty and diversity of the notes from around the world. Some countries small and relatively poor, still had some interesting pieces. Whenever I go to large shows like Whitman and the ANA, I always stop by the foreign coin/note dealers to see what they have relating to Hungary.
Like you I collect coins but occasionally dabble in the foreign currency but don't know anything about value. I'd say if you got these from currency "junk bins" you did really well. There's a lot of older stuff and things I've never seen before.
There are a few notes that may get some collectors excited but most are in Fine condition or worse. Many have extra issues (or "details") & most collectors wouldn't give them a 2nd look. Some of the colonial US or the 25 cent shinplaster from Canada have pieces missing so they'd be hard to get rid of TBH. There's also a LOT of what is referred to as "dealer stock" which are super cheap notes in AU-UNC & also found in junk bins (like most from China, Indonesia, India, Philippines etc). JIM (Japanese Invasion Money), hyperinflation & notgeld can be often purchased for $1.00 each in EF - UNC. The 10,000 Pesos from Mexico (10,000 Colones from Costa Rica) might be a tough variety. 5 Francs from Luxembourg & Morocco are also tough & may attract some attention. Higher denoms from pre-Euro, Central America & some Caribbean countries may have been brief issues/scarce but (again) condition is paramount to value. Most of your older German notes are in rough shape & can be bought cheaply in UNC. "Hell notes" & most coupons are worth pennies a per item (if that) to a very specific type of exonumia buyer. There also a note that looks to be from French Indo-china (now Vietnam) but could also be from Laos, which may be of interest. Other than that, can't really see anything that jumps out at me (that doesn't have details).
+1 I apologize if I did not compliment you on the super size & scope of your collection. I'm sure there's lots of "goodies" I missed. Tell us how you came about the USA colonial 12 1/2 cents note?
Can you clarify what you mean? Everything I have is in my post. I found these in an Arizona coin store when I made my coin road trip earlier this year. The shop didn't know much about world currency and neither did I lol. But I have a few Dansco #7001 Currency albums and wanted to fill them out. So I did a bulk deal and the 12 1/2 cent note was included in them! A collector on another forum shared some insights about it. "Most of your world notes aren't my forte but I looked at the few pieces that represent the U.S. and I found a little gem there. Your 12 1/2 cent "private banknote" is actually quite a rarity. It's a merchant scrip note engraved by Wm. Kneass (A US mint engraver), and one that I haven't seem before. It appears to be signed by a "Richards". Despite the low grade and damage and fact that these are anything but popular and widely collected, I would offer you another 12 1/2 cent private banknote in much better condition along with $100. I (and perhaps a few others) collect Kneass engraved notes. I understand that you may want to keep this interesting note as it is probably the best note presently in your collection. Despite it's damaged condition and few collectors, it's rare and significant." I may make the deal... but it's cool to have a note engraved by the second Chief US Mint Engraver!
-Very interesting! You just proved that old saying "you never know what you might find." -Absolutely & incredible find. Who would expect to uncover that: so even if you do "make the deal" it's a great story you can share about a scarce note.
