Fenntucky Mike

The personal connection might be gone but the historical relevance will still be there. I imagine money/note collecting will fall into a similar vein as art, fossil/mineral, books/manuscripts, arrow heads, ephemera, etc.. People like to collect and they will continue to collect notes and coins for decades to come. I just can't see the collector base shrinking in size, it will continue to grow, but a loss of market share can and probably will happen at the same time. Low grade and common notes will remain low, high grade and rarities will climb. I just have a hard time envisioning much will change overtime other than the prices due to inflation or a gradual increase in value. Teleport me 50 years into the future and there will still be a bunch of >40 year old individuals bidding on banknotes. Telepathically maybe?

Sweet! Also thank you for the very nice write up last month in the featured set article. One of the best, I think, but I guess I am a little bias. Thanks Again Ali!

Just thought this one was cool, it has a Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon vibe going on. I think. Or maybe a hood ornament?

Hi, Could a Specimen set be created that included the following notes? 1908046-010 8077604-039 8077604-038 8077604-037 Thanks, Mike

Prognosis Negative, unless I need to hit the minimum for free shipping again.

Scratch the 10 Dollar, I'm going to go with the 5 Billion note. It has the same depiction and I have an open slot in a set for it, two birds with one stone.

My Signature/Themed Set is based on tractors/farming equipment and there just happens to be a tractor depicted on that note. Thanks, I'll check it out but I'm most likely going to go with a lower grade. I saw a 68 for $33, I'll probably go that route, I can't really justify paying top dollar for high grade notes on a not so serious set. I'm not planning on going much over $30 for most of these notes and hopefully between $30 - $20 for 80% of them, there will be a few that will be more expensive and in those cases I might consider paying a little extra for a higher grade or specimen but probably not or I might just omit them completely. In my searching I've come across a lot of turtles and elephants, A LOT! But still no skunks.

"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!" I spoke too soon on the Zimbabwe banknotes, it appears as though I will be getting at least one more for a signature set. The 2007 10 dollar note, what yah do.

I've been burned by just saving links, too many times I'll go back and the article will have been pulled. I now save everything I find in Word documents.

+0 = 2,229 The first time the number has been stagnant, uh oh.

I'll check those articles out in the next few days. God, I enjoy reading about this stuff WAY too much. I think I may have a problem.

That is interesting but I guess not unexpected when I think about it. Now the question is will PMG differentiate between the two? I'm with you on the size I had imagined them as being smaller as well. I'm not as shocked that they came in a book, that's pretty standard practice, I think. The perforations probably don't show very well in a scan.

I may start a Signature set of ancient ruins in the near future, we'll see.

Just arrived today, I really love the artwork on these notes.

Condition is everything, yours appear to be in good condition but it's impossible to say if they would grade high enough to be worth sending in without seeing the back and in person. Star notes do pull a premium over face but it's not enough to cover the grading fees. Most likely they are not worth sending in but they are definitely keepers all the same. You can find BEP production numbers here U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing - Monthly Production Reports (moneyfactory.gov) FYI, it looks like they printed 639,999 notes in that run, not a small batch.

You'll be the first to know.

Meh, don't get me wrong big denominations are fun to collect and interesting to study but I'm more of a design guy, that's what usually brings me in at first, but the designs on those notes just didn't speak to me. As to the story behind them I can check our your sets anytime so no real need for a deep dive there either. The only reason I have Third dollar Billions and 2008 Agro Check sets was pure frivolity and since I do have these sets I have a slight inclination to complete them but not in any serious manner.

LOL!!! I'll remember you said that. I'm really happy with the new dollars and don't regret for a minute getting them, I'm probably most proud that I've kept myself in check and kept my Zimbabwe sets to a minimum. One day I may go for a first dollar set but we'll see, that's a long way off if it even happens at all.

I guess I would have to count myself among that group but I can guarantee that I would not have even sniffed the new series if you hadn't posted about it and the Bond notes. It's interesting that you are putting the upturn pre pandemic starting with the new series, I'm onboard with that, but would the current price levels be the same without it? In Ukrainian notes, I'm seeing silly amounts going to Top Pops and SOME one-offs but if there are more than three the prices fall off a cliff and notes sit. Granted, there is a smaller base competing for these notes. I expect a precipitous fall for the, now, more common notes in grades below 69. Looks like good news on the gas coupons front, good luck.

Too late, I'm on a mission now. I went through the entire SWC (Modern Issues) and I was skunked on the skunks. It wasn't a fruitless effort though, I found lots of notes for my themed signature set. I haven't given up on the skunks yet but it's looking grim.

+9 = 2,229 OK, here you go @Revenant Increases were observed in the following categories 10 Hryven +1 20 Hryven +1 500 Hryven +1 100 Karbovantsiv +1 2,000 Karbovantsiv +1 5,000 Karbvantsiv +1 5 Karbowanez +1 10 Karbowanez +1 100 Karbowanez +1 Still not sure I can glean much from this, so we'll see if I have time before next week to expand the spreadsheet by Pick #.

That's what I'll end up doing, just post what I have, I tend to treat my descriptions like a living document anyway "constantly tweaking". I've been picking up a few notes here and there, notes I find attractive, and I have chosen a theme for a new signature set. I think the themed set will provide a nice distraction from my Ukrainian sets and in the end get the juices flowing for the descriptions.

Mainly my Ukrainian sets, I'm wondering how much of the human aspect I want to put in the descriptions. The balance of factoids about the note and how/why it came into existence and why it stopped circulating, I find it really tough to do both and not end up writing a book about it. Probably one of the reasons I'm dragging my feet on these. I think I need a word limit/goal.

Banknotes, when playing Guess The Grade. As you go along your collecting journey it is almost impossible to NOT end up with a few duplicate notes, whether do to buying a bulk lot that contained a note you already owned, upgrades, winning an auction with a lowball bid, you purposely wanted a second note or you were running up the bid and got stuck with it. Ahem! No matter the reason I really enjoy having duplicates as it give me an opportunity to further study and learn about the note. My most recent duplicate was a Ukrainian 1918, (Pick# 23) 500 Hryven PMG graded banknote. You don't get to see two of these in the same room very often so I was very pleased when I won this on a lowball bid. When it arrived the first thing I did was measure the thickness of the holder because it felt very thin/flimsy to me and because I'm a maniac. Turns out the new holder (current generation) was the same thickness as the old (previous generation) holder. The reason it felt floppy to me is the size of the note/holder, the OD of the holder measures 8 x 6.5. I measured the thickness using my Starrett calipers. Make sure the jaws are clean and measure between the note and the weld on the edge Don't touch the weld with the jaws. The measurement, .025, in that location. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, duplicates. Side by side comparison is the major reason I don't mind having a few duplicates, you can measure the notes, log S/Ns, compare the ink and printing qualities, watermark positions, overprint size, ink and positions, characteristics of the notes in relation to the S/N, etc.. The other reason I enjoy graded duplicates is that it gives you an opportunity to hone your grading skills. So lets get to the game. Below are scans of the two PMG graded notes, front and back. Any guesses? Note #1 Note #2