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Burundi new reduced-size 100-franc note reported

owen@banknotenews.com — 2010-07-29T08:22:46-07:00

On 5 July 2010, Banque de la Republique du Burundi issued a new 100-franc (US$0.10) note which has been reduced in size to 125 x 65 mm. Older notes of the same denomination remain legal tender until 31 December 2010. Additional information and images are requested.

Thailand to issue new note family in December 2010

owen@banknotenews.com — 2010-07-29T08:21:18-07:00

According to a post on The Nation, on 27 July 2010 the Bank of Thailand board approved the printing of new banknotes. The new 16th series of notes — in denominations of 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 baht — will include more anti-counterfeit features and is expected to be issued after 5 December 2010.

Vanuatu new 10,000-vatu polymer commemorative note reported

owen@banknotenews.com — 2010-07-29T07:56:04-07:00

The Reserve Bank of Vanuatu began issuing a new series of banknotes beginning with a polymer 10,000-vatu (US$100) note introduced on 28 July 2010, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of independence. This is the largest denomination in the country. Governor Odo Tevi stated, “The existing note series has come under a lot of pressure over the years, particularly with regard to the lifespan and counterfeiting challenges. It is apparent that in recent years most countries in our region have modernized their currency, therefore it is considered appropriate that in athe 30th year of independence, the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu takes steps to introduce a new modernized series of vatu banknotes.” The new note carries the theme of telecommunication to reflect the recent liberalization of Vanuatu’s telecoms market. The new note was produced by Note Printing Australia. Additional information and images are requested. Courtesy of Aidan Work.

Syria new 50-, 100-, and 200-pound notes confirmed

owen@banknotenews.com — 2010-07-27T12:32:53-07:00

50 pounds (US$1.05), 2009. ...Front: Ancient writing on clay tablets from Ebla. Back: Library of Hafiz Al Assad in Damascus; statue of Hafiz Al Assad. Windowed security thread with demetalized CBS 50. Watermark: Horse head and electrotype 50. Printer: Unknown. 135 x 65 mm. 100 pounds (US$2.15), 2009. ...Front: Ancient Roman theater and archway of main gate at Bosra. Back: Safe from Umayyad Mosque in Damascus; Central Bank of Syria headquarters building; ancient coin. Windowed security thread with demetalized CBS 100. Watermark: Horse head and electrotype 100. Printer: Unknown. 140 x 65 mm. ...Front: Norias (waterwheels) of Hama on the Orontes River. ... Windowed security thread with demetalized CBS 200. Watermark: Horse head and electrotype 200. Printer: Unknown. 145 x 65 mm. These three notes were issued on 27 July 2010 and are dated 2009. They are signed by Adib Mayaleh, Governor and Mohammad Naji Al-Otri, Minister of Economy. Anyone interested in buying one of these notes can contact the contributor by clicking the link below. Be sure to say you saw it mentioned here on Banknotenews.com.

India 2009 20- and 100-rupee notes without inset letters confirmed

owen@banknotenews.com — 2010-07-27T07:10:14-07:00

20 rupees (US$0.40), 2009. Like P96, but new date and no inset letter. 100 rupees (US$2.15), 2009. Like P98, but new date and no inset letter. Courtesy of Jim W.-C. Chen.

Hong Kong new date (01.01.2009) 20-dollar note confirmed

owen@banknotenews.com — 2010-07-26T07:38:51-07:00

20 dollars (US$2.60), 1 January 2009. Like P207, but new date. Courtesy of Michael Reissner.

The Banknote Update available for 15% off through 15 August

owen@banknotenews.com — 2010-07-24T07:38:39-07:00

Anyone thinking about buying a printed copy of The Banknote Update should take advantage of a limited-time 15% discount now being offered by Lulu.com. The PDF version remains available directly from me for only US$15 via PayPal, but the print-on-demand version is available exclusively from Lulu. The normal price is $34.95 plus shipping, but if you buy between now and 15 August, you can get 15% off the list price by using the coupon code BEACHREAD305 when you place your order.

Japan's 2,000-yen note popular in Okinawa

owen@banknotenews.com — 2010-07-23T08:04:52-07:00

The following story is from a post on Japan Update dated 22 July 2010: Okinawa still likes the unpopular 2000-yen note The Japanese currency note is the only one in circulation bearing the number ‘2’, enough of a rarity to make people distrust it, leaving only Okinawans as champions of the beleaguered money. The Bank of Japan began issuing the ¥2000 bill on July 19, 2000 to commemorate the Group of Eight summit in Okinawa, but this bill didn’t catch on with the general public and remains unpopular. There are around 110 million ¥2,000 notes in circulation, about 1% of all Japanese currency. Okinawans have good reasons for loving the bill; the Okinawan symbol ’Shureimon’ is printed on one side of the bill. The Shureimon Gate in Naha was built in the 16th century as the main gate to Shuri Castle. Shureimon Gate is a symbol of peace, and Okinawans say they want “to promote the spirit of peace from Okinawa” with the ¥2,000 note. Local Okinawa businesses have begun a campaign to promote use of the currency, with local banks converting ATM machines to accept them and shopping malls now giving change in ¥2,000 notes. The Bank of Japan stopped issuing the ¥2000 bill in fiscal year 2003, and has kept tons of the bills stored in its safe. The circulation of this bill peaked in 2004 but has been in decline ever since. There are various reasons to unpopularity of the ¥2000 bill. The bill resembles the ¥5000 note, and the lack of ATMs that issue them when customers draw cash have made citizens wary. Courtesy of Mike Link.

Congo Democratic Republic new 500-franc commemorative confirmed

owen@banknotenews.com — 2010-07-28T12:31:42-07:00

500 francs (US$1), 30.06.2010. Green. Front: Port of Matadi with buildings, cranes, ships, and mountains; map. Back: Kinsuka bridge; 50th anniversary logo. Solid security thread with demetalized REP DEM DU CONGO. Watermark: Okapi head. Printer: Unknown. 151 x 70 mm. Banque Centrale du Congo issued 20 million notes to commemorate the country’s 50th anniversary of independence from Belgium. The commemoratives will circulate in parallel with the preceding notes of the same denomination. Anyone interested in buying one of these notes can contact the contributor by clicking the link below. Be sure to say you saw it mentioned here on Banknotenews.com. Courtesy of banknoteshop@gmx.net and Hartmut Fraunhoffer.

Armenia new sig/date (2009) 5,000- and 20,000-dram note confirmed

owen@banknotenews.com — 2010-07-22T12:39:16-07:00

5,000 dram (US$13.65), 2009. Like P51, but new date and new signatures. 20,000 dram (US$54.60), 2009. Like P53, but new date and new signatures. Anyone interested in buying one of these notes can contact the contributor by clicking the link below. Be sure to say you saw it mentioned here on Banknotenews.com. Courtesy of Armen Hovsepian (www. MEBanknotes.com).

Hong Kong unveils new 500- and 1,000-dollar notes

owen@banknotenews.com — 2010-07-21T08:28:18-07:00

On 20 July 2010, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced it will begin producing banknotes with Braille and embossed lines for benefit of the visually impaired. The new notes will be phased in over the next two years and will feature Braille at the bottom left corner of each note, together with embossed lines that correspond with each notes value. The HK$1,000 (US$129) and HK$500 (US$65), which were unveiled at the press conference, will be put into circulation in the last quarter of 2010 and early 2011, respectively. The design of the remaining three denominations, HK$100, HK$50 and HK$20, will be unveiled in mid-2011. Each of the three banknote-issuing banks, the Bank of China, HSBC and Standard Chartered, will issue their respective versions. All will retain the current color schemes. Visit the official HKMA site for more information.

Indonesia new 10,000-rupiah note reported

owen@banknotenews.com — 2010-07-21T08:10:28-07:00

On 20 July 2010, Bank Indonesia began issuing new 1,000-rupiah coins and 10,000-rupiah (US$1.10) notes. The coins have a picture of Garuda Pancasila on the front, and the angklung traditional musical instrument on the back against the background of the Gedung Sate building in Bandung. The new 10,000-rupiah note is similar to the preceding issue, but the overall color has changed from reddish purple to a bluish purple, and several security features have been revised: • Additional security elements in the form of rainbow printing in a pentagon shape, which has the effect of changing color (rainbow effect) when observed from certain angles, on the right-hand side of the main image; • Additional small red (Omron) rings filled in white scattered on the right-hand side of the main image; • A change to the blind code, consisting of a circle that was previously invisible, which is now visible and noticeable to the touch (intaglio printmaking), positioned on the right-hand side of the main image; • Discontinuation of Optically Variable Ink in the shape of an octagon, which changed from green to blue when viewed from different angles. Instead opting for the BI design logo framed by an ornament from the Palembang region, which does not change color (offset printing), positioned on the bottom right-hand side of the note. Additional information and images are requested.

Unique challenge of making money from cotton waste

owen@banknotenews.com — 2010-07-21T08:08:05-07:00

Live Mint has posted an interesting article on banknote production in India.

De La Rue admits problems at one banknote paper mill

owen@banknotenews.com — 2010-07-21T07:56:03-07:00

Shares of security printer De La Rue have fallen to a two-year low following the company's admission that it has recently discovered quality and production irregularities at one of its mills—believed to be Overton in Hampshire—which produces the paper used in banknotes. DLR prints notes and supplies security paper for approximately 150 central banks worldwide. Production and shipment of the paper has been suspended while DLR carries out an investigation and attempts to determine if the substandard paper has ended up in circulation.

Book reviews and info added to Banknotenews.com

owen@banknotenews.com — 2010-07-20T17:40:14-07:00

In case you haven’t noticed already, I recently added a new page to this site. Click the Books tab above to see reviews and announcements about books of interest to banknote collectors.

Book Review: World Paper Money Errors

owen@banknotenews.com — 2010-07-20T11:07:35-07:00

While there are several catalogs covering United States paper money errors, this book is the first attempt at a systematic approach to describing, documenting, and pricing errors on world banknotes. As such, it’s an important new addition to the world’s numismatics knowledge base, but it suffers from some shortcomings I hope will be addressed in future editions. ...Fischer does a very good job of explaining the various types of errors found on banknotes and has distilled them down to an eight-point FEN (Foreign Error Note) ranking system in which higher numbers correspond to more significant errors. Reasonable people might disagree over whether a missing overprint is more dramatic an error than an inverted back (FEN 4 and 7, respectively), but the codification of the taxonomy of errors is a welcome improvement to a subjective field of study. ...The book has color illustrations throughout, usually with the front and back of the error note at 50% actual size, along with a non-error note for comparison. This allows you to see the magnitude of the error and appreciate the artwork and intended design of the reference note, although some illustrations would have benefited by close-ups or annotations to highlight the affected areas of the note. There are lots of examples from many different countries and time periods, which is good overall, but it’s overkill for some types of errors, such as missing serial numbers, which are easy to understand without repetitive illustrations. ...As a writer and editor myself, I’m amused by the fact that central banks sometimes fail to catch embarrassing typos until after printing and issuing millions of notes into circulation. ... Entirely lacking are any examples of errors in security features, such as when a thread intended for one note appears in another, or the wrong watermark is used. ...At first glance these appear to be errors, but may have been intentionally created by unscrupulous collectors/dealers by miscutting individual notes from sheets or using chemicals to alter notes, for example. ...For example, he mistakes the front and back of Ukraine’s 20-hryvan note of 1992 (Pick 107), includes a 1,000-shilling fantasy note from Somaliland without mentioning its dubious origin, and the last few pages of the book are incorrectly set in fonts of varying size, resulting in a jumbled appearance. ...My main complaint with this book is that author tries too hard to make the case that world error notes are undervalued. He provides a number of possible explanations for the disparity in prices between comparable errors on US and foreign notes, yet ignores what might be the most obvious explanation of all: differences in the values of the corresponding non-error notes. For example, he laments that a foldover error on a United States 10-dollar note dated 1969C (Pick 451d) is worth $1,000 - 2,000 whereas a similar printing error on a Mexican 500-peso note (Pick 69) is valued at $200 - 300. But when you consider that the SCWPM lists non-error examples of the former at four times the value of the latter, the price disparity between the errors doesn’t seem so significant nor unwarranted. Judging by the passion with which he approaches his subject, it is apparent that the author loves error notes, but his insistence that world error notes are “undervalued,” with “considerable upside potential,” and “could be ready to explode,” comes across as a hard sell by someone with an agenda. ... However, prices were chosen to indicate what should be [emphasis mine] the fair market value…Moreover, the assigned price ranges reflect an extrapolation of expected prices over a period of five years from publication.” Pricing non-error world notes is fraught with difficulties (fluctuations in currency exchange rates and differences in foreign/domestic demand for a country’s own notes, for example) which are only compounded when considering far less common—sometimes even unique—error notes and trying to guess what they should be worth far into the future. The book would have greater credibility if it merely reported current free market prices and suggested reasonable premiums a collector might expect to pay for different types of errors. World Paper Money Errors carries a list price of US$34.95 and can be ordered directly from Zyrus Press Publishing, P.O.

Dominican Republic new 20-peso oro polymer note confirmed

owen@banknotenews.com — 2010-07-23T12:57:33-07:00

According to a press release, on 1 July 2010 the Dominican Republic's Central Bank issued a new 20-peso oro (US$0.55) note that is like P169, but now printed on polymer. More info can be found here. Anyone interested in buying one of these notes can contact the contributor by clicking the link below. Be sure to say you saw it mentioned here on Banknotenews.com. Courtesy of Claudio Marana, Art Matz, and Hartmut Fraunhoffer.

Chile new 20,000-peso note issued 28 July 2010

owen@banknotenews.com — 2010-07-29T07:55:38-07:00

According to a press release dated 8 June 2010, the Central Bank of Chile intends to issue a new 20,000-peso (US$36.50) note on 28 July 2010. Coppery orange in color and measuring 148 x 70 mm, this cotton-based note is the third denomination in a new family of notes, all of which feature representations of the country's natural beauty. The front of the note features a portrait of Andres Bello based on a painting by French artist Raymond Monvoisin (1790-1870) belonging to the University of Chile. Next to him is the heart of Copihue, the national flower, and Antu, a Mapuche symbol representing the sun that fertilizes the soil. The back depicts Salar de Surire Monument, located in northern Chile in the region of Arica and Parinacota. It also contains the image of a Chilean Flamingo, a bird that lives in shallow water areas, fresh or salt over the whole country. Intaglio printed by Crane AB (Sweden), the 20,000-peso note features a portrait watermark with electrotype 20 MIL. There are two security threads; one solid, the other a windowed Motion thread within which there is a Antu, an icon that moves across the banknote is tilted. There is also the denomination printed in green-to-orange OVI. Additional information and images are requested. Courtesy of Mark Allen.

Ghana new 2-cedi note confirmed

owen@banknotenews.com — 2010-07-23T07:47:43-07:00

On 14 May 2010, the Bank of Ghana introduced a new 2-cedi (US$1.40) banknote to meet public need for an intermediary denomination and reduce the frequency, and associated cost, of printing large volumes of the GH¢1 banknote. The bank also acknowledges that the use of a single, identical portrait (The Big Six) on all the five denominations introduced in the July 2007 re-denomination exercise (and the previous ¢10,000 banknote that was withdrawn from circulation in 2007) makes it hard for the public to distinguish between denominations. As such, the bank has chosen to recognize departed national heroes who positively impacted on the lives of Ghanaians, such as Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, whose portrait appears on the new 2-cedi note in commemoration of the centenary of his birth. The back of the note depicts the old and new Parliament buildings, signifying Ghana’s deepening democracy. The introduction of the new coincides with the conclusion of the year-long centenary celebrations of the birth of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, and has the commemorative text “CENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF DR. KWAME NKRUMAH”. Future issues of the GH¢2 banknote are not expected to have this text; making this introductory issue a collector’s item. Anyone interested in buying one of these notes can contact the contributor by clicking the link below. Be sure to say you saw it mentioned here on Banknotenews.com. Courtesy of Dieter Eheim.

Tell a friend about Banknotenews.com

owen@banknotenews.com — 2010-07-20T17:27:09-07:00

I’m pleased to report that the average number of page views on Banknotenews.com now exceeds 1,800 per day. It’s personally gratifying to realize so many collectors and dealers rely upon this site to keep up with all the breaking news about our great hobby. More visitors translates into more contributors, which means I’m able to provide even more information and images of new notes on a timely basis, thereby making this site even more useful to everyone. To keep this virtuous cycle going, I humbly ask you to help spread the word about Banknotenews.com among your other friends who collect or sell banknotes. As I do not charge for access to this site, I have no budget for promoting it, so your word-of-mouth recommendation is the best advertising possible. So please, take a moment right now to send a brief email to a fellow collector suggesting that they visit to see all that this site has to offer. And if you operate your own web site, feel free to link to Banknotenews.com. Thank you in advance for doing so, and thanks to everyone whose financial donations and contributions of images and information help make Banknotenews.com possible.--OWL