Very nice Les. The street scene in front of the Treasury building, with cars and pedestrians, never gets old.
Well, I said I got a passle of them, and well, I did... these are State of Chihuahua Revolutionary notes from 1915, various denominations. Not a bad overall design honestly, I love the rampant griffons on the back framing the building, decent quality considering the cirumstances down there. And I love the different colors, that blue really pops, even the pink back isn't bad, and I like the yellow front with the green back. The 20 is a little ho hum, but as I say, they can't all be winners can they? And as Les Nesman says, enjoy these notes from Chee-hoowaa-hoowaa...
Just won this 35 double date on eBay. Can't wait till it's here. The start of my silver certificate 35 collection.
1935 China Bank of Communications 5 Yuan. Using the 1933-34 Chinese 1 Yuan silver coin as a benchmark, 5 Yuan in 1935 is worth the equivalent of about $110.00 USD in 2018 values. The note cost me $2.50. The engraver of the note is Thomas De La Rue of London. It seems like TDLR and ABNC were the two main competitors, with very similar quality and style of engraving. I might give the artistic edge to ABNC, who I think make a slightly nicer look to their engravings. The obverse features the reason I bought the note: a cool vignette of a Chinese junk ship! The reverse shows a small vignette of Longevity Hill, from Empress Dowager Cixi's Summer Palace. The main building in the vignette is the magnificent Tower of Buddhist Incense. I did a presentation on Cixi's artistic patronage, including how much she spent. I did a calculation of how much she was said to have spent, and came up with somewhere around $500 million in 2017 values. The amount spend on the Summer Palace, if it was a country's GDP, would be #25 in the world. Yikes.
Got this 1950 $100 bill at the bank about a week ago. Clark-Snyder signatures. I'm probably going to spend it soon though, because of its high denomination.
Nothing special over here, but a lady in front of me paid for her stuff with a five dollar bill with one of those smaller, non-purple fives in the corner. I didn't see the year, but when I got it as change off of a $10 bill, I saw it was one of the more common 2003A bills. Disappointing, I thought it was older (1999 or 2001).
Today's new pickups, well, more Revolutionary Mexico notes, from Provision Government Issues of various states. I do think the design is nice, even if the engraving is maybe second tier. Always like the eagle and snake on the cactus, volcano in the background. Colored backs always add a nice touch...
MEC2, I love your Mexican notes! Here's the newest of mine. 1914 Chihuahua 20 Pesos. Using the 1914 Mexico silver peso (*Bank of Mexico) as a benchmark, 20 Pesos in 1914 is worth the equivalent of about $570 USD in 2018 values. This rounds out the three-note set Series 1914 Chihuahuan 5, 10 and 20 pesos. The 20 pesos is generally the most expensive of the three, usually trading for around $30 or more. I was fortunate to get this at a very affordable $13.50, but it does have some stains on the back and pinholes. But, I'm only here for the gorgeous vignette, which is undamaged and uncreased, and stands out wonderfully. The obverse features the "farmer" scene (the 5 peso features the "miner" and the 10 peso, the "cowboy"). This is a nicely detailed ABNC engraving that never fails to impress. I scanned at a higher resolution so you can zoom in more if you wish. The bill, issued by the State Bank of Chihuahua has text that indicates that the bill is legal tender in accordance with a December 1913 decree. Under the vignette, the text says that the bill is "national gold value" - what I assume to be the equivalent of a US Gold Certificate, in that it would have been exchangeable for gold at the State Bank of Chihuahua. The reverse is fairly standard, with no text except "State Bank of Chihuahua." It features a central Eagle-Snake-Cactus motif, the national symbol of Mexico. The back is a gorgeous golden color, calling attention to its gold certificate status.
Update to the 1950 $100, I traded it to a friend for some more contemporary notes along with a 1974 $20. The 1974 was one of the final years I needed for my series/signature collection. I will probably post it tomorrow.