So, while I have been collecting coins for a couple of years I have recently branched out into paper money. It started with my desire to get a complete bicentennial set, and that included the 1976 series $2. After that, since I was collecting world coins with Buddhist images I branched out to include currency with Buddhist images/themes on them. My problem is that my paper money collection is growing faster than my coin collection, thanks in large part to the amazingly low price of most world currency in my area (southeast asia mostly) and I'm not sure what to do with it all... Also, I've decided to start a small collection of US paper money, concentrating on $2 bills (of course my coin collection started with just Lincoln cents and look where I am now...). So my main question is storage, I keep the notes in those plastic holders you can buy online, but what do I do after that? My collection is both small bills and large bills and I would like to add 4 subject uncut sheets to the mix. What works best? Shoe boxes? Binders (do they make pages to hold currency holders for binders?)? All my coins fit neatly into little red boxes (or larger blue ones for the proofs) and it looks all respectable. My currency is a pile of plastic holders that love to slip and slide all over and get into everything. I need help! My second question is, for the sake of my inventory spreadsheet, what info is needed to categorize US paper money? I know for coins its series, denomination, mint mark, that sort of thing, but I am lost when it comes to paper money. I remember being told that US paper money is printed for different Federal Reserve Banks, like Atlanta or New York, and I know that they come in series named for the year, but the series does not change every year like coins, but that is the extent of my knowledge. Please Help! Cheers, David
There are holders for binders for paper money. Large notes I think come 3 per page, and small notes 4. However, for these I believe you have to remove them from their original sleeve, and put them in the page. As far as organizing them. I'd probably do it based on Series and Bank (B is new york, F is Atlanta) and Denomination (although it sounds like you're only doing 2$ bills... we'll see how long that lasts )
David, Welcome to the Paper Fourm... You will get a variety of answers here from some very fine folks. So I suppose I will be first..well see how fast these guys are..I'm second LOL The mylar sleeves are the right thing to do to protect your notes. US notes and Foreign notes can both get expensive it depends on your collecting taste! Some folks use albums to store the currency in and I am sure someone will post a link for you. For me, I use a separate cash storage box for each denominatiuon I collect. I put small silica gel bags in with them to absorb any moisture or humidity, then put em in the main safe or saftey deposit box. I think you will be pleased to see all the help you get here. Post some pics of your currency as there are quite a few here that have some fantastic foreign collections! Regards, RickieB
For presentation style, I use the binder pages for the notes I have organized. For bulk storage, I use the boxes from searching dimes. They hold about 150 to 300 notes depending on how thick the sleeves are and how much I've doubled up on notes in the sleeves. When I buy the sleeves, I make sure they are "archival" quality. There are cheaper sleeves available, but there is no guarantee that the plastic will not alter the note (just like you would never put a coin in PVC, despite the fact that many people can do it for years and not have a problem) Good Luck
as mentioned, if you plan on pulling the notes out often enough, a binder may be a better way to go! it allows for the ease of pulling them out, and the ease of viewing the notes without getting finger marks all over them. Right now, for most all my modern notes, i keep each country in its own envelope, inside a large box meant for baseball cards. I remove the inserts, and i fit a whole lot of envelopes. For more expensive notes, or special notes, i use heavy duty solid plastic holders, which are about 1/2" thick when assembled. when all is said and done, everything is pl;aced in a large safe with anti moisture elements!!! as for spreadsheet .. i use Excel. For us currency, i track by denomination and list: Value- Type - Date - Cat # - Condition - Price Bought - Plate #'s - District - Graded - Friedberg/Krause # - Varieties-Notes/Description Value is the denomination Type is a way to differentiate us currency like FRBN or FRN ect date is the date appearing ont he note, usually the series date cate # is my own internal catefory numbering system condition is easy to explain price bought for my own record keeping Distric is easy to explain plate numbers is too Graded is an easy way for me to see how many notes i have that are TPG graded Freidberg/krause numbers help me see what numbers i might have and which i still need varieties helps me see any special variety that might exist Notes/Description usualy is where i would put the signatures, serial numbers and any other special notes
I have been doing some online reading, as it is cold here in Florida today (even my dog is under a blanket) and I looks like each FRB has a letter, A for Boston, and a number, 1 for Boston. Why is that? Also, how do you find the plate number?
General info on currency features: http://www.uspapermoney.info/general/note.html Has plate number info and district info.
David, Always glad to see another person dive into the currency pool. Some great advice here so far, I do have a question though. What is this organization thing everyone keeps talking about? I'm not overly familiar with the word.
I think my question still stands though, why are the districts given both a letter and a number? I mean if you see a note with an B on it, or with a 2 on it (in the right spot) you know the note is from FRB NY. Its not like you can have a note with a B on it and the number 5 or something? Can you??
some people cant read, but can count... and other cant count but can read ?!?! so.. to help all ... you need both the letter AND the number
well, i was just joking i am not sure of the real reason behind the need for both, one of the Money Forum experts might be around who know for sure
Just a couple of notes... Mylar holders are fine for paper currency but i prefer the much stiffer top loaders which come in small and large sizes for US currency any any sort of odd sizes from post cards to magazines which may be useful for some of the odd sized world notes you run into. There are also red cardboard boxes out there made to hold either the small or large sized currency. Each box can hold 200-250 notes or so. Check any supply house or ebay for them, wizard supply also carries them. ..Joe
