Paper Money: New Acquisitions

from Heritage last night;

 

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Something attractive about the numericals.

 

Yep, the numericals have always been a favorite of mine.

 

Today's new pickup is this $10 1902 PB national note from the City National Bank of Dallas... as a Dallas collector I love filling in a gap on the nationals list, and this bank is pretty common to be sure, still it's nice to check one off the list...on to the harder conquests as it were.

 

Something that always made me a bit angry and frustrated is the fact that US notes are SOOO much more expensive than comparably designed and comparably pretty foreign notes.

A note with similar design from Mexico, for example, would cost no more than $20 in CU condition. Ughhh

 

1944 Greece 500 million Drachmai hyperinflation note.

Obverse shows the head of a statue of Apollo. This particular statue is from the West Pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. The statue is from the Early Classical time period.
The Temple of Zeus held one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World - the colossal chryselephantine statue of Zeus. The statue was moved to Constantinople at one point, but was destroyed in an earthquake. The temple itself was completely ruined in an earthquake as well, but the pediment statues remained remarkably preserved - perhaps the best preserved Greek pediment ever (perhaps tied with the pediment of the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina). The reason was that the statues were completely buried very soon after the destruction of the temple, and remained that way until a (relatively) modern excavation.


Reverse shows a panel of the Panathenaic Frieze of the Parthenon in Athens. These sculptures were carved under the supervision of the famous Phidias, who was also the sculptor responsible for the statute of Zeus described above.

 

1898 Russian Empire 1 Ruble.

This note is from imperial Russia, during the reign of Nicholas II. Nicholas was an "okay" ruler, but obviously not good enough to stave off his forced abdication when the Revolution arrived in 1917.

In 1898, 1 ruble was roughly equivalent to around $22 USD in 2018 values.

This note is not terribly visually interesting, with an obverse featuring architectural elements and the Russian double eagle.

The reverse features the same double eagle surrounded by floral engravings.

 

Today's new pickup is another national note, and I think from here it only gets worse, my nationals addiction... I can't say no, especially to and old or rare note, and that's what this is, this 1865 $1 from the National Mechanics Banking Association of New York. Definitely a rare bank, but a good deal came by and how many times are you gonna have a chance at an affordable note on a rare bank? Exactly... so it's mine now...

 

from after action sale from Heritage:

 

Something a bit more recent!

1979 Haiti 2 Gourdes.

It is very hard to find any value charts, but I believe 2 Gourdes from 1979 is somewhere around $0.50 USD in 2018 values.

The note is engraved by ABNC, and it shows with its delicate engraving and colorful scheme.

The obverse features Dr. Francois Duvalier. Pres. Duvalier presided over a reign of terror leading to over 30,000 deaths, but apparently contributed to "unusual" stability of the Haitian government.
Although he died in 1971, he had declared himself "president for life" in 1964, and is thus referred to in the vignette caption.


The reverse features the Haitian coat of arms. The text on the bottom indicates that the note is legal tender due to an act of 1919; in addition, the note is payable in United States legal tender currency with an exchange rate of 5 gourdes to the dollar, provided one presents the Haitian note at the Bank of Port-Au-Prince.

 

Ugh, like the note, but the Duvaliers... not quite as ugly as them is this roughed up new pickup, an 1875 Ace national from New Yorks Irving National Bank. Note has bright colors but clearly was used in a tug of war between two toddlers... not quite as rare as the previous bank, it was a bargain, and I am a sucker for rescue notes...

 

I’ve seen 3 Lazy Deuces on this Large size only NewYork charter.

 

Your trade proposal is accepted...

 

Today's new pickup is this weathered obsolete ace from The Sanford Bank in Maine. Decent designs from this bank and this is no exception, red overprint, a train, couple of Amish folks hooking up using the Amish dating app Churner, and some folks with the most docile steers imaginable.

 

2007 Cambodia 1000 Riel.

Cambodia is one of only a few countries in the world that use United States Dollars as their official currency.
Cambodia is unique because they use both USD and CBR.
Modern Cambodia uses no coins at all, and has not for quite some time. Instead of coins, the Riel takes the place of change.
There is a generally accepted 4,000 Riel to 1 USD exchange rate, so each 1,000 Riel is basically 25 cents, and so forth.

When you buy something, you will receive your solid change in USD (most common is the $1 bill), and your loose change will be in Cambodian Riels.

For example, if you were to get $2.68 in change, you would get:
2x $1 USD
2x 1000 Riel
1x 500 Riel
1x 100 Riel

Anyways.
The note features text in both English and Khmer, a really neat language with an even neater writing system.

The obverse of this note features one of the sculpted gates of the Angkor Complex - a massive archaeological site/palace/temple/city that sprawls across a huge area.
The pointy tops of the gate are representations of the traditional Cambodia crown headdress, and the faces are supposed to represent a princess (I believe).
The balustrade leading to the gate is a long, sculpted naga snake, a 7-headed snake deity popular in Cambodia.


Reverse shows a shipping port, as sea trade is an important part of their economy as a significant part of their border lies on the Gulf of Thailand.

 

1998 Papa New Guinea 10 Kina.
This is worth about $3.00 USD.

Papua New Guinea used Australian Dollars until 1975. The Bank of Papua New Guinea was established in 1973, but PNG Kina currency circulated alongside Australian Dollars until about 1975 or so.
In 1998 The Bank of PNG celebrated its 25th anniversary, or "Silver Jubilee."

The obverse features the PNG National Crest, which features a Bird of Paradise. This special commemorative bill features a silver Silver Jubilee applique.


Reverse shows some traditional PNG items, including a Tami bowl, a bird of paradise skin, Tambu Shell Money, and boar tusks.

 

Went to a local aviary Saturday for me bday. After we get home the wife says oh btw, u want these? Nothing fancy but my first paper in a long time.

 

Today's new pickup is this well toned but elegant $5 obsolete note from The Exchange Bank of Virginia. Between the sigs, assignment, serial, and the rest of the design, alot of flourish on this note, a pleasing central vignette of ships, old George (and is that John C. Marshall at right? Not sure here...), the heavily faded but still visible printed, colored back is a bonus. Just a nice design typical of the day. Still, any time someone tries to use fancy language it always makes me suspicious, so tossing out terms like moiety makes me wonder about what's really going on here...

 

1967 Mexico 1 Peso.

Going by silver weights in 1964, this is worth the equivalent of approximately $0.60 in 2018 dollars.
Since Mexico stayed on the silver standard until 1979, this note was likely exchangeable for silver pesos at the bank.

The obverse features a beautiful rendition of the famous round Aztec stone calendar.


Reverse features the beautiful Angel of Independence Monument. This is very reminiscent of old Roman victory columns. The reverse is a gorgeous shade of dark red.