Hello, how does one acquire specimen notes without buying them at auctions and stores at dealer price ? I did a bit of research and I know they're normally used exclusively among banks. But then, how come are there so many of them for sell ??? How do these people acquire them in the first place, and at what cost ? Any help is appreciated
What country are you talking about? During the 1930s, Czech notes were sold as specimens to collectors. That is why there are so many of them and why they are not scarce. During the early 1980s, the Franklin Mint sold a set of notes called Banknotes of the World that used all specimen notes. The notes from this series are fairly common.
Do these count at 'specimen' notes, échantillon (sample) notes. I bought a couple for very little from an online dealer. French échantillon notes
No country specifically. This is off topic, but I'm interested in any specimen note as long as it fulfills all the following conditions: Has no holes of any kind, has at least one serial number with all zeros, may have a letter prefix or suffix, is in UNC condition, is rarer than it's legal tender counterpart(don't know of any case where it is more common?). I guess I have to be on the lookout for such sells then, did the Franklin Mint sell the specimens through an auction ? I don't think they count, but I'll let someone with more experience confirm that for you. Trying to find a way around that...
The Franklin Mint notes will not meet your criteria. They had special serial numbers but not all zeroes. They were originally sold on a subscription basis from the Franklin Mint. Good luck on your quest. It is doubtful that you will find anything you are looking for other than through dealer channels unless you get to know someone real well at a bank that is still holding specimen notes. Bank specimens usually enter the marketplace when someone working at the bank takes them home and contacts a dealer or auction house to sell them. Unless they have been contacted by a private party and an under the table deal has already been worked out. Printer's specimens have hit the market due to the sale of the printer's archives.
Thanks, too bad I'm terrible at getting connections. I will however attempt something probably on Thursday. I'm currently in Quito, Ecuador, so I'll go to the central bank of Ecuador and ask them if they could spare me one specimen note which I will pay for. Not too sure what's the best way to ask them if I want to increase my chances though. Could you clarify this for me please ?
Ecuador uses the US dollar. It is doubtful that they have specimens of US dollars. They may have specimens of the old Ecuadorian notes, however. The American Banknote Company archives were sold at auction in the early 1990s or so. Printers specimens from Bradbury, TDLR and other printers have occasionally shown up in auctions.
There are quite a few situations where the Specimen copy of a note is more common than the regular issued note. For example many of the ex-French colony notes from the far east and Caribbean are found as unc Specimens but virtually unknown in unc condition as regular issues. By the normal definition of "Specimen" notes, the Echantillon ("test") notes wouldn't apply. They were made in much higher volume, largely for the purpose of testing ATM machines, and of most importance are not of issued designs. Dave
Yeah, I'm hoping they have specimens from the neighboring countries maybe ? Do you know what kind of auctions I should look for to get more for my buck when buying specimens ? Interesting... how would I know if a specimen is more common than its regular issue ??
I don't have any catalogs that show the number of Specimen issues printed (that's one reason I don't collect Specimens), but you can certainly find listings where the catalog shows a higher value on the regular issue than the Specimen. And of course just experience - i.e. I can tell you certain notes I've seen for sale many times as Specimens, but I've never seen a single regular issue in unc. If such a note comes available in unc, you can be assured it will fetch more than the Specimen. Dave
I've been to the Central bank of Ecuador yesterday. I had a 30 minute conversation with the security guard who kept going to the bank teller there to ask him for the information I was asking him about(wouldn't let me speak to him directly for some reason) and it would appear that they do not have specimen notes of any countries there because they do not change currency, they only have US dollars. He told me to go to banks downtown which I did today. Same story there, not a single of the 5 banks I've visited even admitted to having specimens. I do think however, the persons whom I spoke to did not know what an actual specimen is as I was referred to "papelarias" twice for specimens, some kind of stores who sell paper, pens and the such. I've even been to a major currency exchange place and 2 smaller places and I was told they don't have any. I'm going to need to make contacts it seems...
Yes, sure. I will buy several more specimens at dealer price and perhaps will never find those contacts. But it won't be from the lack of trying. I'm still young and I know there are ways out there to get them without paying dealer price, so I'll keep seeking them. If other people have achieved that, why couldn't I.
You can get US examples, on loan for free, here http://www.bep.treas.gov/images/Notice_CRM_Website_Sep_2010_2_.pdf . Just have to meet certain requirements.
