Hello, I recently bought a book at a garage sale..and inside a book was all this paper money. It appears as if it is very old and not all bills are in that great of condition... but interesting. Not sure if any of it is worth saving? Some of it has hand writing on it with dates. One bill signed by a sgt ...Very hard to understand what it all is. Any input would be appreciated to have some history and if it's worth holding on to or tossing? If I'm in the wrong forum...I apologize. Please let me know if that is the case. I can send individual pics if requested. There is about 10 different bills. Thank you for your time.
do not toss it! Notes with those sig's and dates are called 'short snorters' and are a popular piece of memorabilia, especially when they can be tied to a historical event (WWII, Tripoli, is the date significant to that place, certain names, etc.) I'm going to bed now but others will agree: Do a little homework on them and you may be surprised at what you find out. Welcome to the forum.
Thank you for the reply!! I am intrigued by the fact there are actual signatures and they appear to have military relation of some sort. The one bill has a military figure on it. Have a good night and thank you for the reply!
Most of them are damaged due to the tape that was applied, while others are really ragged conditionally. Certainly the signed ones would have collector appeal as mentioned, and doing some research to tie them to a place and event would be key to finding out what kind of interest your notes could attract, if you were to ever to sell them. I can tell you some of the notes are what are known as Military Payment Certificates (MPC) and others Allied Military Currency (AMC) issued by US Military for use as currency after invading Europe or used by troops during periods of occupation in various regions. Particularly the 10 Lire (square) note, an AMC, issued for the campaign in Italy during WW2. You can get an idea of MPC and try to identify some of your notes here at usmpc.com. And some info here. As mentioned about the Short Snorter notes, here's a bit of information on them too. While it's obvious the condition is poor on many of the notes you found, it may help if you can scan your notes individually, front and back, and post those image files for members of the forum who know more about various nation's currency, to help you identify and understand what you found. Scans are much better for showing notes' details and condition than a camera picture. It's a bit tedious to scan so much, but it would aid those who can help you out. Thanks for sharing your discovery.
The Chinese note is a "one yuan" (1 元) "Customs Gold Units" note issued by the Shanghai Branch of The Central Bank of China and dated 1930. Gary
There is also an AMC issued for France (10 francs) and two interesting notes of British occupation in Tripolitania (Libya) during WW2, 10 Lire and 50 Lire issued by the (British) Military Authority in Tripolitania. In the first time of occupation, the British tried to introduce an occupation paper money in British values (pence, shillings), but African population refused, and they were obliged to print these notes in Italian Lire, as Libyans were accustomed, because Libya was an Italian colony since 1912. petronius
What a wonderful find. The banknote at bottom left (in the group shot) is a Tunisia 50 Francs from 1938-1945. It is an emergency wartime printing issued under France's Vichy government.. Designed by Carre and Simon. Printed by Bank of France.
