Oldest Banknote That Cost You Under $50?

What is the oldest banknote (but at least 100 years old, from any country) that you acquired which you still found to be affordable? Or, which country's banknotes have you seen that fit this bill even though you may not collect it?

"Affordable" can be flexible, I figured under $50 would likely be universally considered "affordable". Let's see what's out there!

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

An 1898 1 rouble banknote. It's about the same price as a silver certificate, so it's quite affordable.
Here's another old Russian banknote that I like. (The image is from the internet, since the one I have is in the safe right now.)

 

My earliest notes are the French Assignats before the revolution. Here's one from 1792, it cost me $35.

 

Wow, that note is in fantastic condition for its age! I've seen these assignats pop up on eBay all the time and wondered from time to time if any of them are forgeries? Or are they so common that there is no interest in doing so? I've been considering adding one of these to my collection for a while.

 

Yes there are forgeries, but the originals do a pretty good job of security, given their age. Most have watermarks, both light and dark (who's ever seen a "dark" watermark on anything before?), key engraves signs to catch forgeries, etc. And of course they quickly became worthless in the actual implementation, so forging them probably wasn't a long-term thing.

There are Russian assignats too, you may know more about them than I.

 

Florida Fractionals 1863

 

In the old days (1980s) you could still find assignats in junk boxes.

 

Very true - for a couple bucks apiece. And you also had dealers with entire sheets they cut up in recent times, which is likely why this one is in such good shape.

 

I purchased a small 1793-dated French assignant for around $7-$10.

 

My first CSA note was $35.00 with cannons, a common bill from the 1860's.

 

Thanks for sharing these notes, everyone. I'm going to look for some 1700s French assignats and some 1860s CSA notes to add to my collection.

In the last few days I was lucky enough to pick up these beauties here (seller pictures, haven't received yet - huge shout out to @Dave L for helping me tremendously as far as background info). They are Japanese Hansatsu, the long one is from 1736 and the shorter one from 1856. Hansatsu are banknotes that were issued during the Edo period (1603-1868) for use within the different feudal domains of Japan. I'm just starting to research these, but the colors and visual appeal had me hooked as soon as I saw them.

 

I've acquired a fair amount of hansatsu myself, pretty neat, even though I cannot read a lick of it...