I'm looking for some suggestions from colonial collectors about where I should start. This week I acquired a copy of Newman's "Early Paper Money of America" which I here is the ultimate guide. While all this information is right in front of me, I'm overwhelmed with where to start. My end goal would be a nice piece from each of the 13 colonies and see where it goes from there. Any suggestions would be awesome. My budget is at a novice level, still investing heavily in my 19th century and deadball era baseball cards. Feel free to show off anything you have in your collection, that always makes threads more exciting.
I do not collect Colonial currency but do be aware that it is easy to counterfeit these on modern parchment paper. Do a Google search for "Colonial Note Dealers" and buy from only trusted dealers. There are inexpensive notes out there but as always it's about condition. Also be aware of a number of these that were printed in the 1960's that say "Copy" on them. Some people sell these on ebay without noting this. They look real but are not.
In Newman’s book, read the Introduction. It is a very valuable part of the book that will help you to appreciate this area of collecting. I know many people skip introductions, so I mention it here. It has some short articles on paper, printing methods, numbering, etc. that you will find interesting if not helpful. Remember to look at the appendices as well. As Tommy Co3 said, it is wise to be wary of counterfeits, but really just those who are selling the reproductions of the notes that can be found at parks, museums and historical shops. You can buy some yourself to see the difference (nominal costs) or just google Revolutionary money reproductions and look at them. Once you've seen one, you'll not be fooled by them again. Some of the differences between these tourist reproductions and the real notes: Reproductions usually have strong signatures and serial numbers. These are all the same color as the type on the reproduction notes. Real notes will often have fading in some signatures or serial numbers. The inks used were different in color and composition from the typeset on the real notes. Newman’s book often lists the colors of signatures when they vary from signer to signer. Reproductions are typically thin paper, have a crispiness to them that is similar water damaged notes and are almost always an ‘antiqued’ hue throughout. Real notes are usually thicker rag paper. The colors and hues vary depending on the circulation of the notes, and are usually not all the same throughout. Paper on many real notes have shiny flakes of mica in them as well as fibers. Remember too, that contemporary counterfeits were all the rage back then. When I created my set, I decided to try my best to avoid these, and referencing the book was invaluable. Often, these contemporary counterfeits are worth as much as the original notes. A great deal of wonderful history has been written about counterfeiting these notes, both American and British, and both colonial and continental notes. Again, the book you have will list these variants in the individual notes. Newman’s book has a nice counterfeit section in the back. As was said earlier by Dean295, Denly’s and Don Kelly are good. Check out Coast Coin, Treasured Stocks and LaBarre as well. Treasured Stocks is higher priced, but worth a look. Some sellers on eBay are good, but be sure to check them out to your own comfortability (as I’m sure you would anyway). One of the things I did first was to buy a lesser value note that had the strong signature, color, and serial number that I thought would give me an overall appreciation and educate me on the type of paper and printing that was used. Of course, I made sure to get it ungraded, so that I could feel it and smell it and become very familiar with it. For me, that was a great thing, as I was able to study it firsthand, and become more comfortable with future purchases, both graded and raw. Then remember to ask questions here as often as you like! Here’s my collection: http://www.banknoteden.com/USA_Colonials.html
