ddr70

A  Feature Photo/album/album cover art work to get everyone in the Holiday mood. 
I was scouring the world for Ukrainian banknotes the other day and one auction, at a major overseas auction house located in Prague, had 39 PCGS graded Ukrainian banknotes!  I've come across PCGS graded Ukrainian banknotes many times, so it's not like it's unusual to see them but typically PMG graded notes out number PCGS graded notes BY A LOT!  A quick search of ebay lists 217 PMG graded notes and 21 PCGS graded notes, a roughly 10:1 difference, and this spread is typical of what I normally see on a daily basis. That's why a listing of 39 PCGS graded notes is shocking to me! The group of notes is IMPRESSIVE, with five Karbowanez issues, several specimens and error notes, the error notes are worth the time just to look at. Here are a few of the more dramatic ones.





The fold errors are cool but those inverted overprints are AMAZING!  I've a few error notes, including a fold error, but man those overprints are fantastic. I'm super jealous right now, one day though. 
The PCGS holders look good and have more information on the labels compared to identical notes graded by PMG. I'm not planning on switching to PCGS graded notes, HELL NO, but I do have a couple that I'm planning on crossing to PMG and the new PCGS holders are an improvement over the old ones. In addition to the 39 notes I have also been seeing a ton of PCGS graded Ukrainian coins, more now than in the last five years combined, right now on ebay there are 116 Ukrainian coins  graded by NGC and 63 PCGS graded coins. A much closer spread than the banknotes. 
The graded notes and coins have me wondering, how big of a play (if at all) is PCGS trying to make in the world market and the banknote market in general, PMG currently has a strangle hold on graded notes in general and NGC is the king of the hill in the world/ancient coin markets.  Did this auction house submit these and do they have an exclusive deal with PCGS in regards to who they send coins and notes to for grading or were these from a collection and consigned to auction by a collector? I don't know, but it's interesting to see the increase in PCGS graded items in my collecting areas and hopefully it will mean more items get shook loose and hit the auction blocks. A bunch of PCGS graded notes is actually a blessing in disguise as they typically bring less at auction than their PMG counterparts, and the Karbowanez probably will sell for below typical pricing, but the specimen and error notes will be an exception, as the holder they are in should not affect the pricing. I expect these to realize pretty good prices. Especially those overprints. 
Happy Halloween! 

Saint Paul, MN The National German American Bank of St. Paul, Ch. # 2943 VAR 2 Battle of Lexington vignette (On Holder) PMG 15 $20 1882 BB Fr. 494 SN 2302/E512790 pp A/2 dtd. May 9th, 1883 Proof certified May 21, 1883. Large only bank with two $10BBs and this $20BB.  Paper with 2 continuous horizontal threads and Variety 2 vignette.  Vertical charter numbers were used up until September of 1890 and the mid way point of the E-block SN indicates an 1891 production date consistent with signatures of John W. Krapfel, Cashier (1890-1892) and J. Lockey, President.  Lockey served as cashier from 1884-1889, President from 1890-1892, and back to cashier by 1894-1902.  The cashier's signature is fantastic, but the president's has faded as is often the case with a penned signature from the cashier and a stamped signature of the president.  The bank liquidated 11/27/1912 and circulation was assumed by The Merchants NB (Ch2020).  The Treasury SN is consistent with 1890-91 and the last use of paper with two horizontal threads and the Variety 1 State Seal with bp 2 (best observed on the proof of the back from the Smithsonian).  I had PMG record the paper variety and the vignette variety.  I should have had them add the cashier's name...
Krapfl translates as donut in Google translator, but my wife tells me its a cookie in her Austrian cookbook.  Krapfel was from Bavaria and has an extensive banking bio.  He was a banker in Waterloo, Iowa and he took the job as cashier of the N German American Bank in St. Paul, but was convinced to return to Waterloo.
Variety: 1) Battle of Lexington Vignette, 2) State seal variety (bp 2), 3) paper (with two continuous horizontal threads) 4) bank officer signatures, 5) probably something I overlooked :-)
You can find that note here:  https://www.pmgnotes.com/certlookup/8090100-019/15/

Incorporated in 1840, Clearfield is a borough in and the county seat of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census the population was 6,215 people making it the second most populous community in Clearfield County behind DuBois.
On the night of May 12, 1869, the County National Bank of Clearfield was broken into, the door of the safe ripped open, and $15,000 in currency and $4,500 in U.S. Bonds taken.  This story is pieced together from newspaper articles of the time. Note that some reports mistakenly have the bank robbed as the First National Bank. A sizeable reward of $1,000, or possibly $5,000 was reported.  Two men were arrested near Centerville on the 19th by Deputy Sheriff Huzzard and John Defibaugh.  They took passage on the stage some distance from Bedford, and the driver being suspicious of them sent word to the Deputy Sheriff and drove slowly until he was overtaken by the official. The two were taken to Bedford and jailed and the officers of the bank were notified. Cashier D.W. Moore, Esq., arrived the next day. A third robber with over $15,000 was still at large. In the meantime, D.R. Anderson and John B. Whip of Centerville found a package containing $4,500 in U.S. Bonds and $60 in new postal currency [known better now as Fractional Currency, issued from 1862-1876] hidden in the hollow of a stump near where the two men were arrested.  A preliminary hearing was held before Justice Nicodemus and the parties gave their names as J.M. Newman and Jacob [possibly James] Wilson. District Attorney Kerr made an application to have them removed to Clearfield County for trial and Sheriff Steckman was directed to convey them to the county jail in Clearfield.  It would come out that one of the two robbers was the notorious safe-blower known as Jack Nelson, alias "California Jack" and the third man named Jeddie E. Lamoine had made his way to St. Louis.
Governor Geary of Pennsylvania made requisition to Governor McClurg of Missouri for return of Lamoine to Clearfield for trial.  Cashier D.M. Moore was dispatched to Jefferson City and with this document was able to procure an arrest warrant.  Lamoine was arrested by officers in his residence on Franklin near Garrison Ave., making no resistance.  Officers Harrigan and Tracy made the arrest.  Lamoine had previously been arrested on suspicion of having been connected with the safe robbery of the Franklin County, Missouri treasury of some $10,000, but was acquitted.  He had since been engaged in the liquor business under the firm of Lamoine & Co.  He was about 35 years of age with a wife and children.  Mr. Moore, accompanied by Officer Tracy departed St. Louis for Clearfield with the prisoner.
By July 16, 1869, two of the Clearfield bank robbers were found guilty and sentenced to four years in the penitentiary.  The third party, "California Jack," turned States evidence and escaped punishment.
Altoona Tribune, Altoona, PA, Mon. Apr. 4, 1892.
Clearfield bank robbery The Daily Evening Express, Lancaster, PA, Thu., June 10, 1869.
Bedford Inquirer, Bedford, PA, Fri., June 25, 1869.
Bedford Gazette, Bedford, PA, Fri., July 16, 1869.
The Clarion , Clarion, PA, Sat., June 5, 1869.
Clearfield , Clearfield, PA, Wed., June 2, 1869.
Valley Spirit, Chambersburg, PA, Wed., May 19, 1869.
In December of 1869, perhaps tiring of his duties as cashier, Daniel W. Moore purchased the Altoona Vindicator and changed the name to the Altoona Sun.  He had been associated from 1838-1865 with the Clearfield as sole or part owner.  He would become best known as a prominent citizen of Clearfield County and veteran Democratic Editor.
About a day ago I submitted this on the bank wiki here:  County National Bank, Clearfield, PA (Charter 855) - Bank Note History

Incorporated in 1840, Clearfield is a borough in and the county seat of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census the population was 6,215 people making it the second most populous community in Clearfield County behind DuBois.
On the night of May 12, 1869, the County National Bank of Clearfield was broken into, the door of the safe ripped open, and $15,000 in currency and $4,500 in U.S. Bonds taken.  This story is pieced together from newspaper articles of the time. Note that some reports mistakenly have the bank robbed as the First National Bank. A sizeable reward of $1,000, or possibly $5,000 was reported.  Two men were arrested near Centerville on the 19th by Deputy Sheriff Huzzard and John Defibaugh.  They took passage on the stage some distance from Bedford, and the driver being suspicious of them sent word to the Deputy Sheriff and drove slowly until he was overtaken by the official. The two were taken to Bedford and jailed and the officers of the bank were notified. Cashier D.W. Moore, Esq., arrived the next day. A third robber with over $15,000 was still at large. In the meantime, D.R. Anderson and John B. Whip of Centerville found a package containing $4,500 in U.S. Bonds and $60 in new postal currency [known better now as Fractional Currency, issued from 1862-1876] hidden in the hollow of a stump near where the two men were arrested.  A preliminary hearing was held before Justice Nicodemus and the parties gave their names as J.M. Newman and Jacob [possibly James] Wilson. District Attorney Kerr made an application to have them removed to Clearfield County for trial and Sheriff Steckman was directed to convey them to the county jail in Clearfield.  It would come out that one of the two robbers was the notorious safe-blower known as Jack Nelson, alias "California Jack" and the third man named Jeddie E. Lamoine had made his way to St. Louis.
Governor Geary of Pennsylvania made requisition to Governor McClurg of Missouri for return of Lamoine to Clearfield for trial.  Cashier D.M. Moore was dispatched to Jefferson City and with this document was able to procure an arrest warrant.  Lamoine was arrested by officers in his residence on Franklin near Garrison Ave., making no resistance.  Officers Harrigan and Tracy made the arrest.  Lamoine had previously been arrested on suspicion of having been connected with the safe robbery of the Franklin County, Missouri treasury of some $10,000, but was acquitted.  He had since been engaged in the liquor business under the firm of Lamoine & Co.  He was about 35 years of age with a wife and children.  Mr. Moore, accompanied by Officer Tracy departed St. Louis for Clearfield with the prisoner.
By July 16, 1869, two of the Clearfield bank robbers were found guilty and sentenced to four years in the penitentiary.  The third party, "California Jack," turned States evidence and escaped punishment.
Altoona Tribune, Altoona, PA, Mon. Apr. 4, 1892.
Clearfield bank robbery The Daily Evening Express, Lancaster, PA, Thu., June 10, 1869.
Bedford Inquirer, Bedford, PA, Fri., June 25, 1869.
Bedford Gazette, Bedford, PA, Fri., July 16, 1869.
The Clarion , Clarion, PA, Sat., June 5, 1869.
Clearfield , Clearfield, PA, Wed., June 2, 1869.
Valley Spirit, Chambersburg, PA, Wed., May 19, 1869.
In December of 1869, perhaps tiring of his duties as cashier, Daniel W. Moore purchased the Altoona Vindicator and changed the name to the Altoona Sun.  He had been associated from 1838-1865 with the Clearfield as sole or part owner.  He would become best known as a prominent citizen of Clearfield County and veteran Democratic Editor.
About a day ago I submitted this on the bank wiki here:  County National Bank, Clearfield, PA (Charter 855) - Bank Note History

It's been awhile since I've created any new sets for Nationals.  I'd like to say, I need room to post at least one more picture.  I have tried to standardize in the past decade or so to post a front and a back in their proper slots.  It makes for a neat looking collection.  So here's that new collection--not terribly impressive and that's why I haven't had a MA set in the past.  
I just recently added the note on The Second NB of Malden, MA (11014) because it's a fairly tough to find variety produced with early plates from the Government Printing Office (GPO).  GPO plates produced a better product than BBS, the BEP's contractor whose logotypes lacked serifs on charter numbers and did not do justice to the Caslon font used for town names.  I need that space for a 3rd picture to highlight the differences.  So follow the link to see the front and back of the Malden note and check out the picture here comparing the GPO and BBS produced notes.  The GPO produced plates for about 20% of the banks that issued series of 1929 in an effort to meet demand that overwhelmed BBS.  However BBS plates were more durable, so the GPO plate for a bank was destroyed once BBS was able to deliver.  Additionally, the Serial numbers for GPO plates are lower and the notes suffered more circulation and attrition being the earlier ones to circulate as the country switched from large to small sized currency, NOTE:  the GPO plate is on the left.
The PMG 64EPQ note on Easthampton I've had for many years.  I bought it before I knew about its status as a hoard note; I just wanted a nice Type 2 $10.  I value the Malden note more.  But I do appreciate George Wait's effort, saving a thousand of these notes from Easthampton.  Someday I want to catalog the front and back plates used over that production run.  I do like the bp on my note which is 321. 
I'm fairly sure I'll swap out the back on Malden note for the comparison shot one day soon.  I wonder if it would be easy to increase the number of pics here from 2 to 3?  It would make variety collectors' collections glow a little brighter!

A recent Replacement note find by a friend at the Higgins Museum located in Okoboji, IA on Fall River, MA Series 1902 $50 Date Back SN 247/A147633 pp C prompted this work.  Stars of course were NOT used on national bank notes.  You have to find notes produced with old paging machine numbering technology to identify these large size national bank note replacements.  For some examples see my signature set: 
My goal was to narrow down on the production date for this, and any Series of 1902 $50 DB and then I added Plain Back and Red Seals for good measure.  The real motivation was because the numbering showed the typical old font used for numerals from paging machines that dated pre-1903—except for the A.  The A was a short legged (I call stubby) modern A.  Mixing of modern font with old font numbering wheels occurs, particularly for 4s.  Mixed font replacements are known as hybrids and for 4s, the earliest known was ~1915.  When was this hybrid note produced?  For $5s, $10s, and $20s, you can use the Treasury SN and data from Huntoon to narrow down to the production year.  Like data for $50-$100s wasn’t available due to the much lower quantities of high denomination notes produced. 
The assumption I started with is that the notes with Nap|Thomp or Nap|Burke plates, first produced in years of most interest, with low bank SNs are from the 1st production run, so the Treasury SN production use ought to be shortly after the plate date on those notes.  I searched Heritage’s archives by Fr. # for $50s and $100s and recorded plate date and SNs. This to me was much easier and quicker than looking through ledgers from Comptroller of the Currency for deliveries of notes.  Basically I found consistent data for my method and expanded as much as possible to get a good coverage of what year a given Treasury SN was produced from 1908-1925.  Table 1 has the $50-$100 Series of 1902 DB and PB data and Table 2 has the data for high denomination Series of 1902 Red Seals.   Using the table below I think Fall River's Treasury SN A147633 was from production in 1912 which is the earliest known hybrid Replacement (known to me). Fall River's DBs were replacing red seals, so the quantity not as great as if replacing series of 1882 notes. Nevertheless, quite likely this note is from the first production run, quite possibly only of 250 sheets, for Fall River and near the June 26, 1912 certification date for the CDEC plate and proof.  SN 247 is a survivor; how it ended up at the Higgins is likely a great story.  I could confirm delivery date of the Fall River note with a trip to the National Archives and someday I hope to do so.
Table 1.  50-50-50-100 Series of 1902 DB and PB Treasury SN approx. date of production.
SN       Plate date   Bank (Charter)        Bank SN
A1       Nov 2, 1910            1744            1* [Burlington, IA Merchants NB]
A1125    Nov 20, 1910           4507           25  [La Junta, CO FNB]
A3926    Jan. 8, 1911           1799           52  [Albia, IA FNB]
A28651   Aug. 26, 1911          4676          321 [New Castle, PA  CNB 3x$50-$100 SN 834 in same run]
A30743  Aug. 27, 1911           1881          233 [Dixon, IL The Dixon NB]
A33766  ?Sep-Oct 1911           1889          156 [Rock Island, IL The Rock Island NB]
A45384   Oct. 11, 1911          4653          254 [Longmont, CO The Farmers NB]
A79213 %  Sep. 16, 1911          1896           82 [Sycamore, IL The Sycamore NB] %Same SN entered as BB
A113464  May 21, 1912           4742          216
A193021  Jan 15, 1913           2093          143
A204260  Mar. 14, 1913          2098          422
A221630  Mar 31, 1913          10360          482
A251524  Aug 8, 1913             906          490++ 
A243914  Sept. 1, 1913          2128          401
A258068  Dec. 23, 1913          2132           64
A275968  July 11, 1914          2158          280
A380962  Aug. 24, 1914          2176          324 [series of 1902 50s and 100s only]
A654733  Sept. 7, 1914          2189          155
A704904  Oct. 20, 1914          2205           10 [SN 309 in same run]
A726412  May 15, 1915           2300          158 [SN 240 in same run]
A729571  June 4, 1915           5002          417 [SN 619 in same run]
A733557  Aug 5, 1915            1080            1 [Huntoon, estimate 1st PB]
A735802  Sept. 8, 1915         10778          316 [Chatham and Phenix NYC $100; SN 1918 in same run]
A736955 Oct 9, 1915            10793            9 [San Antonio, TX $100]
A738528  Jan. 21, 1916          5033          142 [Mayfield, KY $100]
A741868  Apr 7, 1916            5038          102 [50s and 100s only]
A755894  Jan. 16, 1917          2349          264
A768941  June 25, 1917         11037            1 [Kansas City, MO $100; SN 1074 in same run]
A777143  ~Feb. 15, 1918          2377            9
A790441  Dec. 9, 1918           5161          131
A792176  ~Feb. 20, 1919         2412           26
A798118  May 31, 1919           2428           28
A850793   Feb. 2, 1920          11596          151
A852295  May 10, 1920           5491           33
A859698  Apr. 11, 1920          5303          126
A860269  June 26, 1920          5498           77
A863457  Feb. 19, 1920          2456           45++       
A864601  July 25, 1920          5525           46
A864547  Aug. 6, 1920           5547           95
A869361  Jan 18, 1921           5716          219 [SN 39 in census]
A874772  Mar. 15, 1921          2511          370
A916633  Jun. 18, 1921          5716          536 [Oklahoma City $50]
A919784  Sept. 12, 1921         2566          292 [SN 522 in same run]
A921600  Sept. 17, 1921         2576           28
A932092  Nov. 1, 1921           2584          190 [SN 588 in same run]
A938277  Dec. 14, 1921          2604          103
A942618  Feb. 4, 1922           2637           74 [SN 200 in same run]
A963517  Mar. 26, 1922          6186          523 so called 4th charter
B67214  Dec. 15, 1923          12475          380 [Galveston, TX Fr. 685]
B67241  Dec. 15, 1923          12475          541 [Galveston, TX Fr. 685]
B67375  Dec. 15, 1923          12475          541 [Galveston, TX Fr. 707]
B67820  Dec. 15, 1923          12475          986 [Galveston, TX Fr. 707]
B132649 Apr. 24, 1925          12707          525 [Dallas, TX Fr. 707]
B141584  issued Aug 25, 1925    8409          340*
B141504  issued Aug 25, 1925   11603          390**
*Huntoon, first/last DB issued by CoC w/treasuy SN amd **Huntoon, last PB issued by CoC w/treasury SN
Table 2.  50-100 Series of 1902 red seals Treasury SN approx. date of production.
SN       Plate date   Bank (Ch. #) Bank Sn
A1      Sep 9, 1902   2670           1  [Huntoon; Chicago FNB]
A1424   May 3, 1902*  2719           69 [Geneva, OH]
A26642  Feb 25, 1903   283          746
A27526  Feb 25, 1903   170         2630
A41762  May 20, 1903  2999            1 [Bridgeton, NJ]
A92661  Jun 8, 1904   3206         1240 [Minneapolis, MN]
A94975  ~Aug 1904     7384            1 [Sargent, NE REPLACEMENT]
A132625 Mar 11?, 1905 1016         1380 [Denver, CO]
A146972 Mar. 22, 1905 7709            1 [Petersburg, VA $50]
A113992 Jan 24, 1905   819           43  [Bloomington, IL]
A178288 June 13, 1905 1365          784 [Elgin, IL]
A190228 Nov 14, 1905  3413          259 [Richmond, IN]
A242708 Dec. 4, 1905  8026            1 [Rochester, NY]
A253945 Mar. 10, 1906 3471            8 [Boise City, ID]
A312302 Jan 16, 1907  3632           49 [Stroudsburg, PA Fr. 666R REPLACEMENT!]
A351269 Aug 9, 1907   3777          138 [Abilene, KS]
A424681 Oct 20, 1908  6484           847 [Huntoon; San Juan, Porto Rico]
*Appears Chicago's order was placed first ahead of others

A recent Replacement note find by a friend at the Higgins Museum located in Okoboji, IA on Fall River, MA Series 1902 $50 Date Back SN 247/A147633 pp C prompted this work.  Stars of course were NOT used on national bank notes.  You have to find notes produced with old paging machine numbering technology to identify these large size national bank note replacements.  For some examples see my signature set: 
My goal was to narrow down on the production date for this, and any Series of 1902 $50 DB and then I added Plain Back and Red Seals for good measure.  The real motivation was because the numbering showed the typical old font used for numerals from paging machines that dated pre-1903—except for the A.  The A was a short legged (I call stubby) modern A.  Mixing of modern font with old font numbering wheels occurs, particularly for 4s.  Mixed font replacements are known as hybrids and for 4s, the earliest known was ~1915.  When was this hybrid note produced?  For $5s, $10s, and $20s, you can use the Treasury SN and data from Huntoon to narrow down to the production year.  Like data for $50-$100s wasn’t available due to the much lower quantities of high denomination notes produced. 
The assumption I started with is that the notes with Nap|Thomp or Nap|Burke plates, first produced in years of most interest, with low bank SNs are from the 1st production run, so the Treasury SN production use ought to be shortly after the plate date on those notes.  I searched Heritage’s archives by Fr. # for $50s and $100s and recorded plate date and SNs. This to me was much easier and quicker than looking through ledgers from Comptroller of the Currency for deliveries of notes.  Basically I found consistent data for my method and expanded as much as possible to get a good coverage of what year a given Treasury SN was produced from 1908-1925.  Table 1 has the $50-$100 Series of 1902 DB and PB data and Table 2 has the data for high denomination Series of 1902 Red Seals.   Using the table below I think Fall River's Treasury SN A147633 was from production in 1912 which is the earliest known hybrid Replacement (known to me). Fall River's DBs were replacing red seals, so the quantity not as great as if replacing series of 1882 notes. Nevertheless, quite likely this note is from the first production run, quite possibly only of 250 sheets, for Fall River and near the June 26, 1912 certification date for the CDEC plate and proof.  SN 247 is a survivor; how it ended up at the Higgins is likely a great story.  I could confirm delivery date of the Fall River note with a trip to the National Archives and someday I hope to do so.
Table 1.  50-50-50-100 Series of 1902 DB and PB Treasury SN approx. date of production.
SN       Plate date   Bank (Charter)        Bank SN
A1       Nov 2, 1910            1744            1* [Burlington, IA Merchants NB]
A1125    Nov 20, 1910           4507           25  [La Junta, CO FNB]
A3926    Jan. 8, 1911           1799           52  [Albia, IA FNB]
A28651   Aug. 26, 1911          4676          321 [New Castle, PA  CNB 3x$50-$100 SN 834 in same run]
A30743  Aug. 27, 1911           1881          233 [Dixon, IL The Dixon NB]
A33766  ?Sep-Oct 1911           1889          156 [Rock Island, IL The Rock Island NB]
A45384   Oct. 11, 1911          4653          254 [Longmont, CO The Farmers NB]
A79213 %  Sep. 16, 1911          1896           82 [Sycamore, IL The Sycamore NB] %Same SN entered as BB
A113464  May 21, 1912           4742          216
A193021  Jan 15, 1913           2093          143
A204260  Mar. 14, 1913          2098          422
A221630  Mar 31, 1913          10360          482
A251524  Aug 8, 1913             906          490++ 
A243914  Sept. 1, 1913          2128          401
A258068  Dec. 23, 1913          2132           64
A275968  July 11, 1914          2158          280
A380962  Aug. 24, 1914          2176          324 [series of 1902 50s and 100s only]
A654733  Sept. 7, 1914          2189          155
A704904  Oct. 20, 1914          2205           10 [SN 309 in same run]
A726412  May 15, 1915           2300          158 [SN 240 in same run]
A729571  June 4, 1915           5002          417 [SN 619 in same run]
A733557  Aug 5, 1915            1080            1 [Huntoon, estimate 1st PB]
A735802  Sept. 8, 1915         10778          316 [Chatham and Phenix NYC $100; SN 1918 in same run]
A736955 Oct 9, 1915            10793            9 [San Antonio, TX $100]
A738528  Jan. 21, 1916          5033          142 [Mayfield, KY $100]
A741868  Apr 7, 1916            5038          102 [50s and 100s only]
A755894  Jan. 16, 1917          2349          264
A768941  June 25, 1917         11037            1 [Kansas City, MO $100; SN 1074 in same run]
A777143  ~Feb. 15, 1918          2377            9
A790441  Dec. 9, 1918           5161          131
A792176  ~Feb. 20, 1919         2412           26
A798118  May 31, 1919           2428           28
A850793   Feb. 2, 1920          11596          151
A852295  May 10, 1920           5491           33
A859698  Apr. 11, 1920          5303          126
A860269  June 26, 1920          5498           77
A863457  Feb. 19, 1920          2456           45++       
A864601  July 25, 1920          5525           46
A864547  Aug. 6, 1920           5547           95
A869361  Jan 18, 1921           5716          219 [SN 39 in census]
A874772  Mar. 15, 1921          2511          370
A916633  Jun. 18, 1921          5716          536 [Oklahoma City $50]
A919784  Sept. 12, 1921         2566          292 [SN 522 in same run]
A921600  Sept. 17, 1921         2576           28
A932092  Nov. 1, 1921           2584          190 [SN 588 in same run]
A938277  Dec. 14, 1921          2604          103
A942618  Feb. 4, 1922           2637           74 [SN 200 in same run]
A963517  Mar. 26, 1922          6186          523 so called 4th charter
B67214  Dec. 15, 1923          12475          380 [Galveston, TX Fr. 685]
B67241  Dec. 15, 1923          12475          541 [Galveston, TX Fr. 685]
B67375  Dec. 15, 1923          12475          541 [Galveston, TX Fr. 707]
B67820  Dec. 15, 1923          12475          986 [Galveston, TX Fr. 707]
B132649 Apr. 24, 1925          12707          525 [Dallas, TX Fr. 707]
B141584  issued Aug 25, 1925    8409          340*
B141504  issued Aug 25, 1925   11603          390**
*Huntoon, first/last DB issued by CoC w/treasuy SN amd **Huntoon, last PB issued by CoC w/treasury SN
Table 2.  50-100 Series of 1902 red seals Treasury SN approx. date of production.
SN       Plate date   Bank (Ch. #) Bank Sn
A1      Sep 9, 1902   2670           1  [Huntoon; Chicago FNB]
A1424   May 3, 1902*  2719           69 [Geneva, OH]
A26642  Feb 25, 1903   283          746
A27526  Feb 25, 1903   170         2630
A41762  May 20, 1903  2999            1 [Bridgeton, NJ]
A92661  Jun 8, 1904   3206         1240 [Minneapolis, MN]
A94975  ~Aug 1904     7384            1 [Sargent, NE REPLACEMENT]
A132625 Mar 11?, 1905 1016         1380 [Denver, CO]
A146972 Mar. 22, 1905 7709            1 [Petersburg, VA $50]
A113992 Jan 24, 1905   819           43  [Bloomington, IL]
A178288 June 13, 1905 1365          784 [Elgin, IL]
A190228 Nov 14, 1905  3413          259 [Richmond, IN]
A242708 Dec. 4, 1905  8026            1 [Rochester, NY]
A253945 Mar. 10, 1906 3471            8 [Boise City, ID]
A312302 Jan 16, 1907  3632           49 [Stroudsburg, PA Fr. 666R REPLACEMENT!]
A351269 Aug 9, 1907   3777          138 [Abilene, KS]
A424681 Oct 20, 1908  6484           847 [Huntoon; San Juan, Porto Rico]
*Appears Chicago's order was placed first ahead of others

A recent Replacement note find by a friend at the Higgins Museum located in Okoboji, IA on Fall River, MA Series 1902 $50 Date Back SN 247/A147633 pp C prompted this work.  Stars of course were NOT used on national bank notes.  You have to find notes produced with old paging machine numbering technology to identify these large size national bank note replacements.  For some examples see my signature set: 
My goal was to narrow down on the production date for this, and any Series of 1902 $50 DB and then I added Plain Back and Red Seals for good measure.  The real motivation was because the numbering showed the typical old font used for numerals from paging machines that dated pre-1903—except for the A.  The A was a short legged (I call stubby) modern A.  Mixing of modern font with old font numbering wheels occurs, particularly for 4s.  Mixed font replacements are known as hybrids and for 4s, the earliest known was ~1915.  When was this hybrid note produced?  For $5s, $10s, and $20s, you can use the Treasury SN and data from Huntoon to narrow down to the production year.  Like data for $50-$100s wasn’t available due to the much lower quantities of high denomination notes produced. 
The assumption I started with is that the notes with Nap|Thomp or Nap|Burke plates, first produced in years of most interest, with low bank SNs are from the 1st production run, so the Treasury SN production use ought to be shortly after the plate date on those notes.  I searched Heritage’s archives by Fr. # for $50s and $100s and recorded plate date and SNs. This to me was much easier and quicker than looking through ledgers from Comptroller of the Currency for deliveries of notes.  Basically I found consistent data for my method and expanded as much as possible to get a good coverage of what year a given Treasury SN was produced from 1908-1925.  Table 1 has the $50-$100 Series of 1902 DB and PB data and Table 2 has the data for high denomination Series of 1902 Red Seals.   Using the table below I think Fall River's Treasury SN A147633 was from production in 1912 which is the earliest known hybrid Replacement (known to me). Fall River's DBs were replacing red seals, so the quantity not as great as if replacing series of 1882 notes. Nevertheless, quite likely this note is from the first production run, quite possibly only of 250 sheets, for Fall River and near the June 26, 1912 certification date for the CDEC plate and proof.  SN 247 is a survivor; how it ended up at the Higgins is likely a great story.  I could confirm delivery date of the Fall River note with a trip to the National Archives and someday I hope to do so.
Table 1.  50-50-50-100 Series of 1902 DB and PB Treasury SN approx. date of production.
SN       Plate date   Bank (Charter)        Bank SN
A1       Nov 2, 1910            1744            1* [Burlington, IA Merchants NB]
A1125    Nov 20, 1910           4507           25  [La Junta, CO FNB]
A3926    Jan. 8, 1911           1799           52  [Albia, IA FNB]
A28651   Aug. 26, 1911          4676          321 [New Castle, PA  CNB 3x$50-$100 SN 834 in same run]
A30743  Aug. 27, 1911           1881          233 [Dixon, IL The Dixon NB]
A33766  ?Sep-Oct 1911           1889          156 [Rock Island, IL The Rock Island NB]
A45384   Oct. 11, 1911          4653          254 [Longmont, CO The Farmers NB]
A79213 %  Sep. 16, 1911          1896           82 [Sycamore, IL The Sycamore NB] %Same SN entered as BB
A113464  May 21, 1912           4742          216
A193021  Jan 15, 1913           2093          143
A204260  Mar. 14, 1913          2098          422
A221630  Mar 31, 1913          10360          482
A251524  Aug 8, 1913             906          490++ 
A243914  Sept. 1, 1913          2128          401
A258068  Dec. 23, 1913          2132           64
A275968  July 11, 1914          2158          280
A380962  Aug. 24, 1914          2176          324 [series of 1902 50s and 100s only]
A654733  Sept. 7, 1914          2189          155
A704904  Oct. 20, 1914          2205           10 [SN 309 in same run]
A726412  May 15, 1915           2300          158 [SN 240 in same run]
A729571  June 4, 1915           5002          417 [SN 619 in same run]
A733557  Aug 5, 1915            1080            1 [Huntoon, estimate 1st PB]
A735802  Sept. 8, 1915         10778          316 [Chatham and Phenix NYC $100; SN 1918 in same run]
A736955 Oct 9, 1915            10793            9 [San Antonio, TX $100]
A738528  Jan. 21, 1916          5033          142 [Mayfield, KY $100]
A741868  Apr 7, 1916            5038          102 [50s and 100s only]
A755894  Jan. 16, 1917          2349          264
A768941  June 25, 1917         11037            1 [Kansas City, MO $100; SN 1074 in same run]
A777143  ~Feb. 15, 1918          2377            9
A790441  Dec. 9, 1918           5161          131
A792176  ~Feb. 20, 1919         2412           26
A798118  May 31, 1919           2428           28
A850793   Feb. 2, 1920          11596          151
A852295  May 10, 1920           5491           33
A859698  Apr. 11, 1920          5303          126
A860269  June 26, 1920          5498           77
A863457  Feb. 19, 1920          2456           45++       
A864601  July 25, 1920          5525           46
A864547  Aug. 6, 1920           5547           95
A869361  Jan 18, 1921           5716          219 [SN 39 in census]
A874772  Mar. 15, 1921          2511          370
A916633  Jun. 18, 1921          5716          536 [Oklahoma City $50]
A919784  Sept. 12, 1921         2566          292 [SN 522 in same run]
A921600  Sept. 17, 1921         2576           28
A932092  Nov. 1, 1921           2584          190 [SN 588 in same run]
A938277  Dec. 14, 1921          2604          103
A942618  Feb. 4, 1922           2637           74 [SN 200 in same run]
A963517  Mar. 26, 1922          6186          523 so called 4th charter
B67214  Dec. 15, 1923          12475          380 [Galveston, TX Fr. 685]
B67241  Dec. 15, 1923          12475          541 [Galveston, TX Fr. 685]
B67375  Dec. 15, 1923          12475          541 [Galveston, TX Fr. 707]
B67820  Dec. 15, 1923          12475          986 [Galveston, TX Fr. 707]
B132649 Apr. 24, 1925          12707          525 [Dallas, TX Fr. 707]
B141584  issued Aug 25, 1925    8409          340*
B141504  issued Aug 25, 1925   11603          390**
*Huntoon, first/last DB issued by CoC w/treasuy SN amd **Huntoon, last PB issued by CoC w/treasury SN
Table 2.  50-100 Series of 1902 red seals Treasury SN approx. date of production.
SN       Plate date   Bank (Ch. #) Bank Sn
A1      Sep 9, 1902   2670           1  [Huntoon; Chicago FNB]
A1424   May 3, 1902*  2719           69 [Geneva, OH]
A26642  Feb 25, 1903   283          746
A27526  Feb 25, 1903   170         2630
A41762  May 20, 1903  2999            1 [Bridgeton, NJ]
A92661  Jun 8, 1904   3206         1240 [Minneapolis, MN]
A94975  ~Aug 1904     7384            1 [Sargent, NE REPLACEMENT]
A132625 Mar 11?, 1905 1016         1380 [Denver, CO]
A146972 Mar. 22, 1905 7709            1 [Petersburg, VA $50]
A113992 Jan 24, 1905   819           43  [Bloomington, IL]
A178288 June 13, 1905 1365          784 [Elgin, IL]
A190228 Nov 14, 1905  3413          259 [Richmond, IN]
A242708 Dec. 4, 1905  8026            1 [Rochester, NY]
A253945 Mar. 10, 1906 3471            8 [Boise City, ID]
A312302 Jan 16, 1907  3632           49 [Stroudsburg, PA Fr. 666R REPLACEMENT!]
A351269 Aug 9, 1907   3777          138 [Abilene, KS]
A424681 Oct 20, 1908  6484           847 [Huntoon; San Juan, Porto Rico]
*Appears Chicago's order was placed first ahead of others

So, apparently "Operation Sunrise" has been used as the name for military operations in WWII and the Vietnam War, but it was also the name given to the RBZs and Zimbabwe's "plan"  in 2005 to bring inflation under control by cutting 3 zeroes off the currency and make the 2nd dollar in the 1st redenomination. I say "plan" because I don't know why they ever thought it would work. But the release of the 2nd Dollar Bearer Checks were the first part of Zimbabwe's "Operation Sunrise."
I've always tried to make my main competitive sets for my Zimbabwe collection do a decent / respectable job of standing alone as individual sets an not just as competitive chunks of "Gradually, then Suddenly." I think I've mostly achieved that with the First Dollars, the 3rd Dollars (and sub sets thereof), the 4th dollars and the "new" / modern Z dollars, but I think the 2nd dollars lost out and got the short end of the stick with presentation. I've been doing a bit of work to go back and fix that - building out the set description better and finally taking more advantage of the fact that note descriptions in competitive and signature sets can be different to allow me to make the 2nd dollar set "stand alone" better. As part of this re-vamp I'm renaming the set "Operation Sunrise."
I feel like that has to be one of the more ironic names. That set / series wasn't the dawn of a new day. It just be came the first in a long series of failed attempts at a reboot of the national currency.
On that note, I've also changed the name on my New dollars set from "Zimbabwe Dollars Reborn" to "Zimbabwean Zombie Dollars," because that currency is surely the monetary version of the walking / shuffling dead.

I'm starting to get frustrated and impatient for some VEN 104s to pop up in good grades. There's a 65 EPQ and a 66 EPQ that keep getting relisted and going unsold because... no one wants those. Anyway...
I'm getting tempted to just snap up that 66 just to fill in the hole in my Soberano set that keeps taunting me but I know that's a mistake.
The rest of the set just came together so fast and so easy and now that one gap is taunting me and graded examples of the new 2021 notes still haven't hit the market yet to distract me...
I want a 67 EPQ or a 68 EPQ. I just paid to get a 68 EPQ of the 102a to replace a 66 EPQ 102a*. I just put money into bumping a 66EPQ VEN91 to a 68EPQ in the competitive set... I don't want to buy any more 66 EPQs right now! Even if it is cheap!
I'm probably ultimately going to try to make all the 66 EPQs in my Venezuela competitive sets 68 EPQs, but I'm going to try to get different varieties to simultaneously build up the signature set in a fun way. I'm not going to start actively chasing variety sets, but if you're upgrading anyway, why not at least get different varieties so they build-on / expand what you have instead of just making redundancies?
I have money to spend and stress shopping to do... If these notes don't pop up soon I may start upgrading Zimbabwean 3rd and 4th dollar notes and then the wife is really going to be looking at me sideways...  

The use of prefixes actually predates their recognition as security enhancements implemented in 1869 on original series notes. Here's the story created with much help from Huntoon... The treasury sheet SNs and seals were overprinted on Original Series notes at the forerunner to the BEP at the Treasury Dept. Building in Washington. Bank sheet SNs were printed by the bank note companies prior to delivery to the Treasury Dept. Once the first million serials were consumed, treasury switched from red to blue numbers. A prefix letter was used beginning with the 3rd million, or as early as January 1865 for $5-$5-$5-$5 sheets. Treasury sheet SNs as security devices was examined in April 1869 and there were 3 changes implemented. (1) In most cases, prefix letters were added to the numbers if they were not already in use for that plate combination. [exceptions were 50-100 (see pic), 4x$500 and 4x$1000] (2) numbers were terminated with brackets (but see pic--I would call it a parenthesis) (3) spaces between prefix letters and numbers were eliminated. Estimated 1st secured numbers: 5-5-5-5 E225978, 10-10-10-20 A61264, 50-100 245090, 1-1-1-2 B556082. I collected a few examples for the sheets listed above, both before and after implementation of the security enhancements. The interesting one to me is for the 10-10-10-20 for Raleigh (1682) $10 SN A77519 (that's the earliest note with an A prefix that I could find). It's a great note with a rare Jeffries-Spinner Treasury signature combination found on original series notes.  It sports those security enhancements although that number is just a bit crooked if I'm allowed to be critical of this awesome note!   

What do you call the right delimiter on the treasury SN for a series of 1902 Date Back or Plain Back?  They look like right-looking eyes to me or I've also heard chicken foot.  Here's my latest collage on the variability of those eyes (or feet), basically from about 1908 through to 1925.  Oh, a useful piece of info is that series of 1902 red seals used a different delimiter and the highest treasury SN on a 4x$10 plate was Y608545... my Warren note shown last in the collage has Y576088.
Most of these notes can be seen in my signature set where I track treasury SN by the back plate number.  Look for the notes from sheets of 4x$10s at the end.  The Warren, PA notes are fun as the delimiter is very different on each (the V-block awaits the next PMG submission).

Hopefully you noted the two replacement notes included in the collage.  Those may be found in a different signature set:   
I'm not sure, but I don't think paging machines needed the 'chicken foot/eye looking R or L' delimiter until after rotary number machines were introduced in 1903. Someone better at type currency can correct me, but I know that delimiter exists on 1905 $20, and 1907 $10, and 1922 series Gold Certificates, but not on anything earlier?? Before 1903 when numbers were paged??  So when was the first use of a paged chicken foot? I'm thinking it was on a NBN Replacement. Maybe this one: https://currency.ha.com/itm/national-bank-notes/cincinnati-oh-5-1902-date-back-fr-592-the-fifth-third-national-bank-ch-m-2798-pmg-choice-very/a/3581-20433.s?ic4=ListView-Thumbnail-071515#

So, in asking a question about grouping invoices I found out that the gas coupons would need to go in under “economy special,” and not “modern,” like I’d been thinking and hoping. That ups the cost of grading these from $20 each to $40 each. And… I don’t think it’s worth that for now. It is / was just so much easier for me to justify $20/note for fun and the enjoyment of popping those into that signature set but it is so much harder to justify $40/note. I thought about it. I just can’t talk myself into that for now.
Not a complaint about the fees or saying their services are not worth it but I don’t think its worth $40 / coupon to me to get those coupons graded. Unless they just graded REALLY well, I don’t think that’d be money I’d ever see again. Sometimes you notice that something hasn’t been done / graded before and you figure out why.
I have them. I have examples of a lot of them in good condition, safe in top loaders. I may add more varieties, but I have what I have and raw / ungraded is good enough for me for now.

Incidentally, since I only have about $140 left of my grading credit, and I really want to grade those 2 P-3 notes I bought raw, and something came up today that might also lead to me grading something else…
I’d been thinking this morning, even before this news that I might need to scale back my planned / hoped for 7-8 in favor of something else. I won’t say what that is in case it doesn’t pan out but… yeah. I think this news killed the plan of grading the coupons for now.
So I’m not saying the plan to grade the gas coupons is dead, but it most likely won’t be this year.
This may oddly make me more interested in getting more of these and having a raw collection of them, just enjoying them and not worrying about it.
Maybe, since they’re basically one-sided, I just composite some images together and use an extra note to plug in some images into the signature set and talk about them there anyway in a raw state.
 
In other news, the checks arrived home today! I'm thrilled!
15 Notes and 3 top pops. I never would have dared hope for that could of an outcome with the Traveler's Checks. I just kept telling myself to try to be happy with 12 AU50s and AU55s and like 63s and 64s on the bearer checks, because I just didn't want to be disappointed.

I mentioned a few months back that I got some of the gold foil replicas of the 100 Trillion note. I’d been thinking at that time that getting some of the silver foils could be fun but that got set aside for a while and I kinda forgot about it.
I was on reddit recently and a guy told me that I’d inspired him to get two of the 100 Trillion notes, but, when he told me that he only spent a few dollars on it I told him what he’d probably really bought was a couple of the silver foil replicas - which was exactly what he’d done. He felt a bit silly for that but said he might then go ahead and try to get one of the real ones soon-ish.
It’s interesting to inspire someone to start collecting something that you collect, and I wish him well with it, but this got me thinking about the silver foils again and about a month ago I ordered a group.
These cost me a bit more than the gold ones - I paid $7 for 20 gold ones and paid about $11 for 10 silver ones… Go figure. The silver ones were more expensive than the golds.
It’s an interesting group to look at - and not especially easy to image.

I’ve long viewed the gold ones as harmless because they’re just obviously not right, but I’ve also long considered the silver ones more dangerous because they look a lot more like shiny versions of the real thing. If you’re not paying too close of attention you might see the silver / white and blue and think someone is selling you one of the genuine notes like that guy on reddit did. But his experience just confirmed for me that these are just a little more dangerous. Fortunately, I don’t see them as too much of a problem as they are still cheap, and I don’t see many people crying over wasting a couple of bucks.
The silver foil ones came with this silly little CoA that I just want to laugh at. I’m not at all convinced that these are plated with genuine silver. I’m not at all convinced that the production of these was limited in any way, much less to 1000. There might have been 1000 in that run… with was probably run number 50 or something. The fact that the CoA is made of the same shiny material as the notes just makes it look so silly and over-the top.

It's been awhile since I've created any new sets for Nationals.  I'd like to say, I need room to post at least one more picture.  I have tried to standardize in the past decade or so to post a front and a back in their proper slots.  It makes for a neat looking collection.  So here's that new collection--not terribly impressive and that's why I haven't had a MA set in the past.  
I just recently added the note on The Second NB of Malden, MA (11014) because it's a fairly tough to find variety produced with early plates from the Government Printing Office (GPO).  GPO plates produced a better product than BBS, the BEP's contractor whose logotypes lacked serifs on charter numbers and did not do justice to the Caslon font used for town names.  I need that space for a 3rd picture to highlight the differences.  So follow the link to see the front and back of the Malden note and check out the picture here comparing the GPO and BBS produced notes.  The GPO produced plates for about 20% of the banks that issued series of 1929 in an effort to meet demand that overwhelmed BBS.  However BBS plates were more durable, so the GPO plate for a bank was destroyed once BBS was able to deliver.  Additionally, the Serial numbers for GPO plates are lower and the notes suffered more circulation and attrition being the earlier ones to circulate as the country switched from large to small sized currency, NOTE:  the GPO plate is on the left.
The PMG 64EPQ note on Easthampton I've had for many years.  I bought it before I knew about its status as a hoard note; I just wanted a nice Type 2 $10.  I value the Malden note more.  But I do appreciate George Wait's effort, saving a thousand of these notes from Easthampton.  Someday I want to catalog the front and back plates used over that production run.  I do like the bp on my note which is 321. 
I'm fairly sure I'll swap out the back on Malden note for the comparison shot one day soon.  I wonder if it would be easy to increase the number of pics here from 2 to 3?  It would make variety collectors' collections glow a little brighter!

So today the mail carrier delivered my new Soberanos notes. A new crop of 67 EPQs that will help fill out most of the 2018 notes and start me into 2019 - I think I'll probably move to get the remaining 3 2018/2019 notes soon and then I'll just have the 2021 series.
So here is where I'm going to sound like a crazy person.... the seller sent a P-107a. The listing title only said P-107 - it did not list a sub-type. HOWEVER, the picture for the listing showed a P-107b.
So... As it happens, I didn't have one of these before, so this wasn't a problem for me. But, if I'd had a P-107a, and I'd been wanting a P-107b, I would have been Sooo annoyed. If this had happened when I was trying to get my complete variety set for the 2nd series of the 1st Zimbabwean dollar I would have been fit to be tied.
So, note to self - don't trust the picture if the sub-type / variety isn't listed in the title of the auction / listing!

Be honest, folks. Am I crazy?  Am I losing it?  
Also: I'm keeping my promise to myself - I'm not going to into collecting varieties and sub-types in Venezuela like I did with Zimbabwe. I'm not doing it! I swear!   Oh dear... I have a problem. 
Edit to add: Just for fun I had to pull these out and see them together. My wife was sitting in bed next to me and said, "That is ridiculous." She said it's cool... but it's ridiculous.

In part to help enhance a Journal entry I'm currently working on, also to "level up" my current banknote skills and what the heck because it's fun and cool I've added a new contraption to my banknote collecting arsenal, an IR Camera. I've been reading up on Infrared, lights, wavelengths, and cameras for a few weeks now along with researching the IR ink features on banknotes. I was considering constructing my own Infrared station for banknotes but since I had a bunch of Rewards Points through Amazon I figured I'd try this out first.

The Royal Sovereign Dual Band Infrared Camera! On sale and Available now from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Royal-Sovereign-Infrared-Counterfeit-RCD-4000D/dp/B00S1IKHEC/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Royal+Sovereign+Dual+Band+Infrared+Camera+Counterfeit+Detector+(RCD-4000D)&qid=1616956248&sr=8-1 
It's nothing special and very lightly made, as most things are today but what do you want for under $35. The only negative would be the size, it would be nice if it was bigger and/or had a taller pedestal so you could view the whole note for imaging purposes. Other than that it's been working great. Dual Band, I'm assuming this means it emits IR on both the 850nm and 940nm wavelengths but in true guy fashion I opened everything up, removed the parts, threw all the packaging out including instructions and then put it together.  I'll never outgrow this instinct. At any rate for modern note collector's equipment such as this is invaluable, one for counterfeits and two to enjoy notes on a whole new level if you want. The first thing that gravitates me towards a note is the design/artistic appeal, then history of the design or subject, security features and finally the economics. 
So now armed with my books, loupe, UV and IR lights I'm feeling pretty well prepared for now and think I need to simmer down for a few days. But I still want to build my own desk, area or whatever it turns out to be for banknotes that includes bigger/better UV and IR light stations and I might as well work photography in there while I'm at it. More to come...
Here are a few examples (images) of banknotes placed under UV and IR lighting and scanned. All three of which will display security features on modern notes.
2020, Zimbabwe $20
Scan

UV Light

IR Light

 
2005, Ukraine 100 UAH
Scan

UV Light

IR Light

Ok, there goes my day. Pfft, whom am I kidding, there goes my week. I'll be busy using this thing for a while.

So I'm outside in the driveway cleaning out trash from my wife's car (it got a bit trashed when we resorted to camping out in it for warmth the week of President's day) and the mail carrier drives up and drops off this yellow padded envelope - which is a complete head scratcher to me because I wasn't really expecting anything.
I open it up and it's the PMG "Best Presented" Plaque - just the PMG one; I'm guessing the NGC Journal one is coming soon and on its own.
I'm really shocked at how fast NGC and PMG have been on getting these things out the last couple of years considering what I know of how long it takes to just get these things made by a 3rd party company and delivered to you. They must be getting the orders over to the award company almost as soon as the announcement is made or even sooner / before the announcement to get them out to us this fast. I was really shocked to get my Journal Award last year on March 2nd but PMG has done one better this year by getting it in just before the end of February. I'm going to be really happy if the NGC one comes early next week and they repeat last year's fast turn-around on the NGC side.
I can't say I could at all blame NGC if they're a bit slower getting theirs out this year than PMG - they have way more to send (like 5 times more) and they're sending out those special coins this year (Side note, but I'm super curious about what that coin is going to be... Did they ever say publicly?)
As soon as I opened it and saw what it was I showed it to Shandy and Sam was right next to her. He immediately flipped out and demanded that it be given to him and took an immediate shine to it.


Seriously. He seemed really into it. I think because it is black and, yet, somehow still shiny.

I eventually got to have it back...

I gotta say, it is a trip to get to have "Best Presented" awards on the NGC and the PMG side. Maybe it's time to start some shenanigans on the Comics (CGC) side?  (Wife seems very firmly opposed to this lol)
It has been a stressful few weeks here in Houston. This brightened my day in a really nice way.
Edited to add:
Also last week I got my 3rd note storage box and finally got my notes all in the new boxes, taking some time out to do that as "me time" as a break from cleaning the house. I had to cram the two boxes of Zimbabwe notes a little more full than I prefer for the convenience of flipping through so I could fit them all. I definitely need a 4th box soon / at some point. Especially with some plans / hopes to add to the Zimbabwe note set soon with some graded traveller's cheques. 

What do Ontario, CA and Glasgow, KY and Warren, PA have in common?  Those are three towns of many that had National Banks with "Citizens" in their titles.  David Wooster, a general in the American Revolutionary War has at least one municipality named in his honor.  What state is it in?  By the way, it had a Citizens NB and the note I have posted there happens to have a nice radar serial number.  Keene, right?  Yep, it had a Citizens NB and was one of the first banks to have BEP produced plates which was a reason for Series of 1875 National Bank Notes!   

My collection of graded notes exploded in the last couple of years as I've worked on building the Zimbabwe collection. My storage and organization has lagged far behind with the notes just in large plastic sleeve that hold up to 8-10 notes and having those stacked up.
It actually made things a bit of a nightmare for me when trying to look through and enjoy the notes because they were just hard to manage like this.
My wife and I exchanged Valentine's presents early this weekend and she gave me some graded note storage boxes that look like old books on the outside.


They are different colors (I think they're available in 4 colors) but they also have a small label pocket for saying what's in each one.

She got me 2 to start out but I'm going to get to add a 3rd in a couple of days and take advantage of 5% eBay bucks at the same time.
I'd initially been linked to these on eBay by another reddit user when I saw a post by that user showing one. I've had the impression that my wife might have / might be getting me some of these. This paradoxically in the short term made my organizational practices even worse - I lost all interest in fighting my old system to try to get things in order and sort in new notes when I knew these might be coming in a week or two. And, they would have been coming, because if she hadn't bought them for me they probably would have been the next thing I bought myself.
I got really excited when I saw these in that reddit post and saw that the price was reasonable ($20/box). I've been wanting something like this f or a while and prefer something like this to albums and pages.
I clearly haven't finished putting all my notes in them yet but I can already tell they're  going to make life so much easier when dealing with my notes.

Not really, but.... 
Most of the Ukrainian notes coming up for auction/sale as of late are duplicates of examples I already have but some would be upgrades for me. So do I take the opportunity to replace a few low grades in my set or not, I'm not so sure right now. There are many factors in a decision to upgrade your collection, as a collector you would of course want the best examples available (that are within your means). I'm definitely not upgrading anything unless it's a 2+ increase in grade, I do have a few AU notes I would like to get in BU condition. Those are the easy decisions but most of the current notes I'm seeing are only a 1 or 2 tier increase in grade, all BU examples. Those are the notes that I'm having trouble with, I just can't seem to generate enough enthusiasm to want to upgrade those notes. Added to my lack of "want to" is the cost of such upgrades and that I'm currently concentrating on the coin side of my collecting endeavors. 
This question (to upgraded or not) and the number of upgrades available is a bit of a reflection of my collecting style, meaning that I'll tend to grab the best available note for my sets knowing that there are better notes out there (I religiously check population reports). I tend not to wait, at some level this question is self inflected and also unavoidable. So many factors, the increased popularity of Ukrainian notes is yet another. With more collectors will more notes become available? Do I now practice patience and wait? The thought process being, more newly graded notes will become available in the very near future because sellers will have more graded as this latest class of notes are snapped up by new collectors. Then of course there is the question do I submit raw notes, modern Ukrainian notes are readily available raw and in good condition, I'm thinking this will be the route I take in the very near future, especially with the harder to obtain notes (I already have a healthy stash of raw notes). At this time I'm going to wait it out and pass on nonsignificant upgrades, holding out for notes that will complete my collection. Waiting will also have the added benefit of allowing me to focus on the coin side for the moment and to allow me to do some more in-depth research into the Ukrainian notes I currently have. 
Can't have a Journal entry without a picture of a note, got these a few weeks back.


They're basically stamps and there a few unlisted variants, they also have a cool history/story that I'll share one day. 

Here's my card to all here on collectors society.  Indiana, PA The FNB Ch. # 313 J.R. Daugherty and J.P. Blain Strong stamped signatures PMG 30EPQ $10 1902 PB Fr. 624 SN 44344 pp J/995 dtd. Feb. 25, 1903 radar SN and Charter #. Earliest of 3 National banks located here. Indiana is a borough in and the county seat of Indiana County. The borough and the region as a whole promotes itself as the "Christmas Tree Capital of the World" because the national Christmas Tree Grower's Association was founded there. There are still a large number of Christmas tree farms in the area. The largest employer in the borough today is Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  Two state note, two radars, too good not to share!

Here's my card to all here on collectors society.  Indiana, PA The FNB Ch. # 313 J.R. Daugherty and J.P. Blain Strong stamped signatures PMG 30EPQ $10 1902 PB Fr. 624 SN 44344 pp J/995 dtd. Feb. 25, 1903 radar SN and Charter #. Earliest of 3 National banks located here. Indiana is a borough in and the county seat of Indiana County. The borough and the region as a whole promotes itself as the "Christmas Tree Capital of the World" because the national Christmas Tree Grower's Association was founded there. There are still a large number of Christmas tree farms in the area. The largest employer in the borough today is Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  Two state note, two radars, too good not to share!

I finally completed a type set of BB's.
 

In addition to foreign banknotes I also collect Obsolete and NBN's from the State of Michigan and I recently picked up this beauty.

It's not in the best shape but the price was right and the $3 notes are always hard to find because of the "nonstandard" denomination (the $3's are the most popular because of this and harder to find). It's not a real attractive note in regards to the design, a simple geometric design wreathed in a stylized floral design was used for the left and right dies, then a depiction of an eagle for the center image. The eagle is not well depicted, with an overly large body in relation to the wings and to put it politely is "ratty' looking. Especially when compared to a similarly depicted eagle on say a 1918 FRN.

These "Wildcat" Banks began popping up in 1837 (Michigan was admitted to the Union on March 15, 1837) shortly after the first Michigan State Legislature session ended (March 22nd).  During the first session the General "Banking Law" was passed and went into effect on March 15, this law authorized any 12 persons to make an application to the treasurer of the State for a bank. The capital stock had to be at least $50k and not more than $300k and 30% of this capital had to be in specie by the time of commencing operations. But due to economic hardship, over-trading and mismanagement a large amount of debt, nationally, was accrued, as a result the specie would not meet the outstanding debt. Reacting to this, eastern banks got their states to suspend specie payments this caused a drain of specie out of the State of Michigan so on June 22, 1837 specie was suspended by the Michigan banks enabled by an act of the Michigan legislature. The suspension of specie payments meant that unscrupulous individuals could open a bank/s without having to redeem the bank notes until May 16, 1838 when specie payments were to resume. The state legislature sought to curb this by appointing three bank commissioners instead of just one and have them examine the books and specie of said banks. The examiners found that instead of actual gold and silver, specie certificates were being used and were given by bank officers as a receipt of specie being held on deposit. Also "borrowed" specie was often used and then returned by a fast courier. One such instance of borrowed specie involved another Allegan County wildcat bank, a local Native American was transporting the needed specie, to present to an examiner, from one bank to another but the canoe he was traveling in capsized and the specie fell to the bottom of the Kalamazoo River (another story for another Journal entry). The Bank of Allegan (Organized Dec 30, 1837 - closed 1839) was one of many banks that began operation during this time, it was formed using "borrowed" specie. The opening and closing of this bank falls nicely into the "wildcat" timeline, around $100k was "poofed" when the bank closed.