Fenntucky Mike

Soon as I saw they were printing a 1,000,000 bill I thought about your set. Did you think or were you anticipating that higher denominations would be released when you started the Soberano set? From what I've read the bills are printed but will they be released into general circulation or even be available now that Maduro is trying to go cashless. I haven't seen any available yet and I think Zimbabwe's crown as the inflation king is safe. For the moment.

In general I'm with you but I don't tend to agree with your timeline. Central banks around the world have been experimenting with digital currency for years. My current collecting interest, Ukraine, launched a pilot project in 2016 to consider the possibility of issuing it's own digital currency, the e-hryvnia, but have yet to move on it. I guess we'll see how Venezuela does when/if they go cashless. I highly doubt the U.S. will be cashless in my lifetime and hopefully I've got another 40+ years in me. It is a great time to collect, as populations grow so does the collector base. As society slowly transitions to cashless, notes will become more sought after by collectors and the average age of serious collectors will still be around 45-50. I think.

+4 = 1,974 Slow week.

Ok, this was tough! I had to use some deductive reasoning with these. Ok, so my thought process is that none of these will beat the current Top Pop notes. Reason being, I'm assuming all the top notes were not claimed (stamped/written on). With my ceiling established I down graded from there. I feel like I'm a little harsh with my guesses and hopefully the notes go up from there. I'm going to rest my eyes for a min and take a look again this week, might tweak a few numbers. 1K 0017747 = 62 1K 0017726 = 60 5K 0289816 = 60 5K 0100726 = 61 10K 0089344 = 62 10K 0089586 = 62 20K 0103850 = 62 20K 0103852 = 62 50K 0108813 = 60 50K 0097162 = 62 100K 0081419 = 60 100K 0071977 = 62

I'm trying to figure out an IR light configuration for checking my notes right now. I wish BNW had one of those I could get off the shelf for cheap. The BNW UV light is very good, only complaint is I wish it was bigger. Now that I know what to look for in a UV light I might upgrade again in the near future. Well, by the end of the year anyway.

+13 = 1,970 Going to pass Haiti in total # graded next week if trends continue, maybe Netherlands Antilles if it's a good week.

Uh oh! Things took a turn for the worse on this, the note I had been watching is no longer available.

Saw this, doesn't look like they spent any money in design work. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-05/hyperinflation-pushes-venezuela-to-print-1-000-000-bolivar-bills

I'm in! Only thing I'm not sure of is how much the cancelation stamps and signatures detract from the note, guess it doesn't matter since they are all signed and stamped. Studying now. Submitting multiples is a tough question, I do (modern NCLT coins) to one increase my odds of a 70 with little or no risk, two to sell off the other recouping my money if a 69 and/or making a little profit if 70. Something like this is a different animal with a seemingly small collector pool, but in this instance with so few graded you might be able to sell them off for a profit and/or break even. On the other hand if you do submit multiples, with the long lead times if you did want to send in a second submissions after this one you might miss the deadline. Agh! If it's me I submit one of each including the P15 just so I have a straight run of consecutive Cert #'s, I would like the orderliness of consecutive #'s in my set, then I would tack on as many other bills as possible to fill gaps or add the fuel coupons. If there was left over money after that (from the prize winnings) I would consider adding the additional Cheques.

+12 = 1,957

That's awesome, congratulations again on the award! Pssst, you're gonna need a bigger shelf. Glad Sam liked the plaque so much, that pic of him holding/staring at it cracked me up. Reminds me of one of my nieces, she's in a similar situation/condition, biggest smile I've seen out of her was when I told her all my junk mail was for her and she opened a Luxury Accessories pamphlet I had gotten from HA. It had all kinds of purses and stuff in it, well, she had pretty much the same expression as Sam. Long story short she wouldn't put it down, took it home and her parents were pissed at me because that's all she would talk about/wanted (stuff in the pamphlet). Ooops. So what are the inside dimension of those boxes, how tall of a graded note could I fit in one and how sturdy are they? I've been watching those a long time and they look good.

+6 = 1,945

I'm much like you, same age bracket, very few attended shows if any, etc.. Collector age often comes up (when I say collector I'm talking about a person with the means, interest, time and passion to collect an item/s) and my opinion is that the average age of the collector will always remain middle age and up as that is typically the time of a persons life where all those things align. I'm not overly concerned with future demand, one, because I do think the future collectors and collector base is out there (there will be a slow gradual turn over of geezers to 40 somethings, most people probably won't even notice), two I don't collect because I necessarily think it is a good investment (although I hope so) I collect because I enjoy it. I'm not planning my retirement party anytime soon. Good topics by the way, glad to see someone else posting here.

Ordered this on Nov 6th and it finally just arrived last week.

+5 = 1,939

Uh oh... The new UV lights arrived earlier this week, I ordered both through Amazon, one a fluorescent UV light from Banknote World the other a LED UV flashlight. Both seem to be of good quality and I would have no problem recommending either one of them, depending on what you are using them for. Buuuut, we're talking banknotes here and one is better than the other, which will bring the question of "whether or not the label for anP82b in PMG holder is accurate" to a close. For reference, I initially examined the note using a single LED UV light mounted to a loupe. The first test was with the LED UV flashlight, it has a 2 inch array consisting of 51 LED's and emits light with a wavelength of 395 nanometers. Light at a wavelength of 400nm or less is considered invisible (or UV) and is below the visible spectrum. Violet being the color with the shortest wavelength, between 380 - 450nm, is the last color in the visible spectrum, hence UV or beyond violet. It's also of note that just because a light is rated at 395nm not all the light emitted is at that wavelength, there will be a range +-, meaning that some of the energy or light will be in the visible spectrum at this ratting (395nm). So, I took my five raw "control" notes and examined them in a dark room with the LED UV flashlight. The fluorescence of the latent imprint was clearly visible, especially when compared to the single UV LED in my loupe. The security fibers were much more identifiable along with the background fluorescence in the center of the note. The paper also has a slight red tint using this light. So far so good. With LED UV flashlight With single LED UV light in loupe Red tint to paper under UV and fluorescent background, gold in color. Next is the Banknote World UV light and stand with a 4W 6 inch fluorescent bulb. There was no information on the tube but all similar fluorescent UV light tubes I researched had a wavelength of 365nm, which makes sense, as there is a difference between the 395 LED and this light. I examined the "control" notes under the fluorescent light and the results were even better. The latent imprint was even more visible along with security fibers and fluorescent background. The red tint appearance of the paper is much less/gone. With Loupe With LED UV Flashlight With Fluorescent UV Light, background vivid, latent imprint clear and crisp, all security fibers clearly visible. So it seems that a UV light that emits strongest at 365nm is the way to go. The wavelength range for the 365nm tube remains below the visible spectrum so as to not "washout" the note in visible light diminishing the effectiveness of the UV light/fluorescence of the features on the note. Also the LED lights seem to "spotlight" more, whereas the fluorescent tube emitted a more diffused light, more evenly lighting the note. Now, my conclusion has to be that my original method *vigorously inhaled" and I'd better check that P82b again with the better equipment. Here we go. The label on the PMG graded note is correct! Well, I was wrong about the P82b in the holder. Sorry everyone, false alarm. The good news is that this was a lot of fun, I got to learn some new things, I upgraded my light situation, I can now put the note in my registry sets, I didn't send the note in for a label correction which would have been even more embarrassing and PMG was correct. The world makes sense again.

Great set! I like the signatures on the Riverside note. That set has a lot of room to stretch yet. I might start an "Old Citizens NB" set, then a "First Citizens NB" and so on. Baby steps for me, when I do start. So many ways to collect.

+3 = 1,934

You're a lucky guy my friend and that's a pretty great gift to boot! I have looked at these before and I liked them a lot but I didn't think they would fit some of the older "blanket" type notes in my collection, the tallest note I have with holder measures 6.5". I didn't know they had a little pocket on the end/bottom, super cool and I hadn't thought about orienting them that way but I guess you would have to in order to open them without everything spilling out. You could still stand them up like a book for security/storage though. Feeling jealous of those storage books and pretty inadequate due to my junk draw method of storage right now.

The Pick# 82b (with latent imprint) has been stuck in my head for the last few weeks. I don't know, just a feeling that I haven't investigated the note completely enough and some reservations with the capabilities of my equipment. Since I had no other 3 Karbovansti notes to compare it to I went and acquired several for a control group, they are fairly cheap for raw notes. Upon their arrival and inspection they looked as they should, in regards to the latent imprint, under normal lighting you can faintly see the imprint. A slightly off white/tan image is just barley visible behind the image of Lybid, so far so good. Next, UV light. I lay the notes out and see how the latent imprint "pops" under UV. Hmmm, not as clear/bright as I would have hoped. Ok, back to the graded P# 82b. Still nothing but now I think I'm seeing the outline of the latent imprint, probably pareidolia, but the UV light did not illuminate the latent imprint as I had hoped on the raw notes. Just to clarify I'm using a 40X loupe with UV light to inspect these notes. The UV light is small so you can't flood the entire note unless you are 6" away and it's not particularly powerful. So I'm still a little skeptical and I need an upgrade anyway. Having a few Amazon points available I pulled the trigger on a few new UV lights. One is sold by Banknote World (you can buy it direct if you want) the second is a flashlight type (I'm all set for scorpion lookout now). I haven't done a bunch of research into UV light (yet), the different bands/wavelengths, types, etc. but if anyone has some suggestions on a type of UV light to use or an article let me know. For now the search goes on, as there is still an inkling of doubt in the back of my head on what is exactly in the PMG holder. I'm hoping a better UV source will eliminate all doubt.

I've previously mentioned I wasn't planning on upgrading any notes, except for replacing a few AU notes and that I would consider an upgrade for a +2 note. I've been sticking to my guns but it's been much less of a choice to do so as the popularity of Ukrainian notes as increased. PMG graded Ukrainian banknotes have been increasing in popularity, number and price over the past year, with the largest price increases being seen for the higher grade notes. I'll have to go back through my records but some notes have seen increases of 150%. Below are a few banknotes that recently sold at auction. Top Pop 1/0, total graded 2. Somewhat hard to get raw, availability drives price on these. Top Pop 2/2, total graded 23. High denomination helps drive price on these. Pop unavailable, believed to be Top Pop with several other examples available in same grade. High denomination Top Pop 1/0, total graded 2. Again somewhat rare ungraded. All of these notes saw spirited bidding with multiple bidders, healthy hammer prices and all are great notes. The 106a is one of my favorites, I think the reverse is the best amongst all Ukrainian notes. I have no doubt that all of these notes would have sold for much less a year ago. I have seen these notes with the same or similar varieties/Picks and grades sell for between $40 - $80 in the past, it's great to see an increase in interest with these notes. Congratulations to all the winners! I'm going to have to be much more strategic with any future acquisitions, especially if I'm looking at HIGH NOTES.

That empty slot for the P-125, 50 Hryven commemorative is sticking out like a sore thumb now that I have all the slots surrounding it filled. I've had so many opportunities to purchase this note raw but other things keep popping up, the latest was an Isle of Man half sovereign last week. I have had the funds several times, I know were one is. Why can't I pull the trigger on this note!? Well, I'm in the same position I was almost a year ago, waiting to accumulate funds to purchase this note. For the now the note and slot are just sitting there, available, empty and endlessly mocking me.

+10 = 1,931

Definitely a centering issue, along with poor separation of the top and bottom perforations (not clean, crisp, clear tears/cuts like the sides) and a slight horizontal crease bottom center (more visible on the reverse). Not a stamp guy (yet) but that's what I'm seeing.