Starting in Paper Money

I've looked at a few paper threads around here and now I'm considering collecting paper money. I'm mostly interested in fractional currency and silver certifracates(which I have one of). Can someone tell me some basics of collecting?

 

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1. Get a copy of "The Comprehensive Catalog of US Paper Money" by Chambliss and Hessler.
2. Read it cover-to-cover.
3. Read it again.
4. See #3.

 

Knowing which currency you want to collect is an excellent first step. Educating yourself, learning how to grade, where to look, when to buy, and determining rareity & values is next. After the ball gets rolling, you'll need to know how to safeguard your collection, and keep good records. The education phase is never over. Join currency forums, ask questions, attend coin/currency shows and develop relationships......but most of all, have FUN.

 

yeah get a book, learn to grade, and learn to dicker on prices

 

I must admit that grading paper money takes longer than learning to grade coins; however, it is an EXCELLENT skill to have. You will have knowledge when going to shows and dealers that illustrate that you're not some person who "wants old bills." Those people generally get ripped off. Having grade ideas and what aspects of a note would knock it down grades is great to have. Get a reference book, get out to shows to look around with the book, etc. One good site to use for someone who is just starting is http://oldcurrencyvalues.com/GradingCurrency.html since it gives grades, descriptions and pictures of what these grades look like.

 

For some reason, this entire page does not display on the oldcurrencyvalues website. At least my computer does not display the entire page. Check out what they have to say about world currency on the webpage. I am surprised that anyone would be so dismissive of world currency to advise that most of it is worthless.

 

Helpful resources of the OP

If primarily U.S. Currency is your interest, here are some useful links and recommended books:

Books for small size FRNs:

"A Guide Book of United States Paper Money" 2nd Ed. (Official Red Book)
by Arthur Friedberg

and

"Standard Guide to Small-Size U.S. Paper Money - 1928-Date" Ninth Edition
by John Schwartz and Scott Lindquist.

Also consider Coin World's publication called Paper Money available in online subscriptions and on most book stores magazine rack in the hobby section.

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Set up a free account on Heritage Auctions account and use the search features to learn about notes in the 'Currency Auction Archives'.

Heritage Auctions has a nifty Currency Grading Tutorial online that you can read.

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For ideas of what to look for in grading, the two major Paper Money TPGs have the following two scales developed that they utilize:

PCGS Currency.com -- Grading Scale

PMG Paper Money -- Grading Scale

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Check out some of these fun links I've posted on my profile page in the Visitor Messages section.


And for a whole lot of online Paper Money resources check out these CT threads full of links:

• Currency Websites

• Information Resources for Paper Money Collectors ​

 

Really? I felt learning to grade notes as being very much easier than coins. Each coin series has its own grading standards - with indian cents, if liberty shows its one grade, if its a lincoln cent and the the columns shows its this grade ect ... but with notes, if its paper, it has the same standards - 3 folds is this grade ect.

 

I felt it was a little easier for me to learn paper grading once paper got hold of me, but it could be that many years of studying coins gave me a certain familiarity with grading concepts and it wasn't too much of a leap to apply that to paper.

 

Fairly amazing, I agree. I suppose anyone can put up a web page though...

Dave

 

Get ibns membership from the www.theibns.org so collectors will know you and you know paper money collectors as well.
Regards.

 

"Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your path."

Forget where I heard this. Think it was about collecting coins. I could be wrong.

 

No, not about coin collecing, it was the character Yoda speaking to Luke Skywalker in Star Wars - Return of the Jedi

 

Yeah. Yoda was telling Luke not to get into paper money, world coins, or ancients.

 

I just think that with coind it is a little easier to grade due to the refernce material out there and that every coin has a refernce, e.g. Full bands, bell lines, liberty showing, etc. With paper money you have differences in paper quality depending on obsoletes, confederate, etc., and other factors. Just saying it's a good skill to pick up but you need to pay closer attention at first glance to the notes than to a coin. My opinion though!

 

While I agree that joining IBNS is a good idea (especially since I sit on its board of directors) if you are only interested in US notes, the Society of Paper Money Collectors is a good organization to join.

http://www.spmc.org

 

wow, my spelling was atrocious for that last post. sorry about that!

 

I also am looking at getting into paper money and I'm wondering if it would be better to first get an album to hold my paper money and a reference book, or just start collecting?

 

I'd go either way on the album, the main thing is to find some Mylar-type holders for your notes, but you can put them in a shoebox for all it matters. But yes, the reference book(s) are critical to have before you start spending money of any consequence. If you know the area you're thinking of collecting, you can most likely find a specialized catalog for it. Or if you're collecting a very broad selection of notes, the Specialized Catalog of World Paper Money is your best bet.

Dave

 

I haven't picked a particular area of interest yet. I was looking at getting the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money General Issues. Is this a good book or are there better?