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Slippery slope

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ColonialCoinsUK

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When I started collecting coins I was drawn to the discovery of new varieties as I found this fascinating, more so as it turned out that the standard reference books for world issues don't usually contain much, if any, information concerning such details. It transpires that the situation is much the same for medals.

So, having recently added banknotes to my collection it rapidly became apparent that 'paper' was no different and records concerning Series, control letters, dates, signatures etc was surprisingly difficult to come by for some issues. (See my Journal posts on some Mexico Revolutionary issues  'A pile of tatty notes' which highlighted control letters on Durango notes and 'It's made of paper' which mentioned the Chihuahua dos caritas series).

I have also acquired quite a few Latin American notes beyond Mexico as the fortunes of individual countries are intimately linked to those of the wider region. Compared to the intricate designs and vignettes of the early Banco issues I was attracted to the simplicity of this readily available 1 colon note from El Salvador- and not just that it had an extra date on the back :) (17-Aug-1973 in this case).

MCEsv002-1col-P115a-PMG66-F-crop.thumb.jpg.9481c8e3309e847f811fae0e86f6d432.jpgMCEsv002-1col-P115a-PMG66-B-crop.thumb.jpg.c12c728b816d9e434b27ff82417a5c0c.jpg

 

So for a single Pick number (115a) it appears there are different signature combinations, front and back, and multiple series, dates etc with no mention of what these are in the SCWPM issue that I have and El Salvador is one of the several Latin American countries missing from the 2014 Banknote Book volumes. Numista records 24 different dates but these are not linked to the Series letters so this prompted a quick look at auction records etc and it was great that the sequence of Series letters used rapidly became apparent with the serial numbers suggesting 1 million notes per Series for 1972-1977.

GN - GW
QA - QJ
HQ - HZ
PK - PT
IA - IJ
UB - UK
EF - EO
RK and RL

However the examples that I could find were still very limited (26 out of the possible 72) and the situation with the linked issue dates is even worse. Some Series have several issue dates so I wouldn't be surprised if the number of dates was nearer to 100!:o

This collecting lark is a very slippery slope as I now have to look at all the other 1 colon issues and also the other denominations. Fortunately this can all be worked out electronically as auction lots now have pictures, and it keeps my wife happy as she says it keeps me out of trouble - it doesn't :ph34r::roflmao: .

 

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So for a single Pick number (115a) it appears there are different signature combinations, front and back, and multiple series, dates etc with no mention of what these are in the SCWPM issue that I have and El Salvador is one of the several Latin American countries missing from the 2014 Banknote Book volumes.

Have you made any progress on identifying the signatures, how many variants, and any additional series letters since posting? A very interesting undertaking and one that will be ongoing, as they always seem to be. For me at least. 

I wonder if TDLR would be a viable resource? This being a modern note they may be able to look in their archives or provide some additional info. (shrug) When I contacted Pobjoy looking for mintages for IoM modern coinage that was a bigtime bust. :pullhair:  But Pobjoy is completely dysfunctional, TDLR seems more helpful from what I've read on other forums. 

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From my own research the President appears to be Edgardo Suarez Contreras but I still have no idea who the others are!

Front issued date 1971 + Juan S. Quinteros signature on the back + Large seal =
GN - GW
QA - QJ
HQ - HZ
PK - PT

Front issued date 1972 + Juan S. Quinteros signature on the back + Large seal =
IA - IJ

Front issued date 1972 + Jorge A. Dowson signature on the back + Small seal =
UB - UK
EF - EO
RK and RL

Just to complicate matters the signature and seal positions on the back also vary but it is starting to look like P115 may be simpler than some of the other 1 colon issues and that's before even looking at other denominations. It may be many years before notes appear to allow all the missing gaps to be filled. As you suggest TDLR may be able to help as could the Central Bank for El Salvador, it appears that such information is surprisingly difficult to find - it must be there somewhere though!

Given my interest in the earlier notes I thought putting a few 'modern' sets together would be a worthwhile, and simple, side project.xD

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It looks like TDLR are usually a great source of information however given the thread on Venezuelan specimen notes over at IBNS it appears they are without an archivist at the moment and therefore are not able to help. :frown:

From their FAQs at https://www.delarue.com/faqs

How can I enquire about a currency collector question?

During COVID19 we are unable to answer the questions that would previously have been answered by our archivist.

 

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On 6/18/2022 at 8:59 AM, ColonialCoinsUK said:

It looks like TDLR are usually a great source of information however given the thread on Venezuelan specimen notes over at IBNS it appears they are without an archivist at the moment and therefore are not able to help. :frown:

From their FAQs at https://www.delarue.com/faqs

How can I enquire about a currency collector question?

During COVID19 we are unable to answer the questions that would previously have been answered by our archivist.

Well that stinks! :taptaptap:

I glanced that thread at IBNS a while back but was hopping that TDLR had gotten back to business as usual. Hopefully they get everyone back in the building or hire an archivist in the very near future. :wishluck: Not a dead end just a delay. 

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