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Message:: [QUOTE="Bob White, post: 963573, member: 26497"]I enjoy all the beautiful notes on this site, and the enthusiasm for this hobby expressed by everyone that posts on CT. But we probably all have a sad, ugly, mangy dog of a note that holds a soft spot in our heart. So, what’s your ugliest or most bizarre note? You know what I mean – you look at it and say “what were they thinking”? I have two that come to mind.The 1 cent Zimbabwe Bearer Cheque, issued 1 August 2006, with an expiry date of 31 July 2007. You know your currency is in trouble when it includes a “best before” date. Zimbabwe has experienced hyperinflation over the past decade, resulting in 100 billion and 100 trillion dollar notes, all rapidly demonetized after issue. If an exchange value for this obsolete currency could be established, it would have a string of zeros trailing off over the horizon. Yet even the humble 1 cent note includes several security features, including a watermark and a metallic stripe. The country itself, home to Victoria Falls, is beautiful, and deserving of a better fate. I hope they will turn the corner soon. [ATTACH]91661.vB[/ATTACH]Then there’s my favourite ugly one – a series really. For years, I listened to my American friends compare Canadian money to monopoly money, with too many colours and too many changes. I always felt that they were missing something, and that our Canadian money was indeed beautiful. But sadly, we let Jimi Hendrix design a series of Canadian notes in late 60’s – early 70’s. Maybe he wasn’t actually involved but it’s hard to tell, looking back at the notes. The “multi-coloured” series was aptly-named. The whole box of crayons was used when they were designed. Hey, it was the 60’s, right? While the series was not all bad - the back of the $50 was the RCMP Musical Ride after all – they were way too trendy, so aged poorly as designs. Enough history, you be the judge. Here is the front of the $5 and $10. To top it off, there were two versions of the $5 and the $20 in the series, as the serial numbers were moved from the front of the notes to the back halfway through the series. Truly, an example of poorly thought-out design, with little integration throughout the series. They were replaced by the “Bird” series beginning in 1986, a well integrated series that closed a forgettable chapter in an otherwise proud tradition of Canadian Banknotes. [ATTACH]91663.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]91662.vB[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]

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