Fenntucky Mike

Here are the notes from Thailand,

Skip to the last paragraph if you want the short version. In a previous entry I had mentioned passing on P125 to go after several other notes that I had open slots for in my sets. A few days after that journal entry an auction pops up with 5 Ukrainian specimen banknotes in it, ok, now we're talking. Now I'm feeling even better about my choice to pass on the P125, a few specimen notes would look great in my collection. The auction was for seven days and would end end around 3:30 in the afternoon EST, perfect. The auction ending during the day gives me the opportunity to pounce on these babies with some snipe bids, POP, POP, POP, POP, POP. I get all five of them for roughly half the price of the P125, sweet! In the meantime, while this auction was going on ten more specimen notes go up for sale from another seller. Now, still with half of my funds left, I focus my attention to these specimens. These notes were up for sale from an ebay seller I frequent but the starting price was a little high for my blood, especially after getting the five for a reasonable price. Some of the specimens were more coveted notes and carry a higher premium than the others, that being said I waited and let the auctions end. There were three that I was really hoping wouldn't sell and I wouldn't know until the next morning. Well, one of the three I was watching sold, in fact it was the only note of the ten to sell. Knowing this sellers habits, I wait for them to repost the notes with BIN pricing, they did right on schedule. They had the BIN price the same as the starting auction price, which is typical of this seller. That being said, the two notes I was watching were there and I decided to snap them up. The price was a little high but with others watching I didn't want to wait it out hoping the seller would drop the price and they had a P115, a note I've been waiting on for quite awhile, combining the shipping on all three helped save a few bucks. Nice, I turned the money for the P125 into seven specimen notes and a P115, now all I have to do is wait for them to arrive in the mail. The first five were coming from Greece the other three from Thailand. As is typical, the notes from Thailand arrived in about 5 days. I don't know if this seller has a private jet or what but notes I get from them always arrive supper fast. All that's left is to wait for the notes from Greece, waiting, waiting, waiting... Ok, in the mean time I'm getting PMG to place the two specimens I received into slots in my sets. Well, upon further review PMG felt it prudent to create three new registry sets specifically for specimens and change the existing sets to issued notes only. I was surprised by this decision, pleasantly so, I had anticipated that PMG would grant my request and plug the notes into existing sets or I would be given the dreaded response "these notes are more suitable for a Signature Set". Apparently the amount graded justified the specimen sets, sweet, I'm going to have to request a replacement set for the 2nd series coupons now. I'll probably wait on requesting "tweaks" to the existing registry sets and new sets until after the new year, I'm going to try and focus on updating descriptions and my signature sets for the next few months. Finally, the specimens from Greece arrived a full 38 days after I purchased them, I don't mind saying that I was sweating the first 35 because the tracking info said they were still sitting in Athens with no anticipated delivery date. Anyway, WHEW, they made it safe and sound and are now placed in my registry set. I'm very happy with the decision to wait on the P125 and acquire these notes, patience for the moment seems to have paid off. Here's the eye candy, the notes from the Greek auction have the older generation holders. I had seen these notes before (the notes from Greece) as they were up for auction by A. Karamitsos https://www.karamitsos.com/auction.php?id=644&page=15&chapter=00000&keyword=Search&sort=0&type=-&view=all (they are towards the bottom of the page) an affiliate of PMG/CCG. There were seven lots of Ukrainian specimen notes the starting price was 90 Euros, I thought that was a little steep so I passed, this was in early September. These same notes later popped up from a different Greek seller (different name anyway) on ebay with a starting bid of $.99, in the end I was able to win the notes for between $50 -$77 USD each. Just passed on another specimen up for auction, it went unsold auction started at $80.

Congrats on the P-77, patience pays off again. You have yours (P-72) and I have mine (P-125). Some of the parallels between our sets make me laugh at myself, I always think its just me. I have two journal entries cued up and if I combined them into one entry it would be very similar to this. One, I'll hold back now, the other I'll publish today or tomorrow. My notes are supposed to be delivered today. Nuh uh, well.... Unless you're talking about the P-99 to Date set, then yes. I can't wait to get rid of those $2 bond and $20 67's and upgrade them. For most modern notes you should be able to get a 68, at low cost.

Nice,

LOL, still too much for me but I'll keep watching. On a separate note, I did pull the trigger on a P-86 for my billion set. One a year is a good pace for this set.

I laughed out loud when I saw that one. I'd say you did pretty good, someone just placed a bid on a 68 EPQ P91 with the opening bid starting at $139.99. Still seems high to me for the # graded but people apparently keep sending them in (and buying) as quite a few of the P91's for sale on ebay have the latest generation PMG holders.

Thanks, I read a little bit about her as well "wrong place wrong time" popped in my head. Josefa Camejo on the soberano's seems more interesting, she took charge.

To tie into my journal entry.

I recently read a PMG article titled "Collection Inspiration: Women Writers". In the article a Ukrainian note is referenced, the 200 Hryven banknote, featuring Lesya Ukrainka on the front of the note. In the article a brief description was given about the Poetess and the note, PMG chose to highlight the 2nd series note (good choice) and I thought I would take the opportunity to expand on the evolution of the note itself. After Ukraine declared independence from the USSR in 1991 the two countries remained tethered to one another monetarily. Russian rubles circulated freely in Ukraine and were used in conjunction with the newly released karbovantes coupons (karbovantsi for 2 -4 , karbovantsiv for 5 or more). When circumstances dictated that the two countries sever all monetary ties completely, on November 12 1992, this meant that the coupons were now the sole currency in Ukraine, to be used for all transactions. An exchange rate of ruble to karbovantes was established as 1:1 and the sum of exchange was without limit. This parting of ways lead to massive inflation (up to 11,000%) with the coupons and the need for monetary reform was immediate. The Ukrainian government had been working on a national currency as early as 1991 and the first Hryvnia banknotes were designed and printed by CBNC in 1992 with a second issue in 1994 by TDLR, but finalization of the new currency and distribution wouldn't happen until September 2, 1996 when the hryvnia was officially introduced as Ukraine's national currency, the exchange rate of karbobanets to hryvnia was set at 100,000 : 1. The NBU issued 1,2,5,10, 20, 50 and 100 hryvnia banknotes into circulation, these were the 1st issued notes of hryvnia. The first issue notes were a mix match of printers, artists and designs making the fist issue seem inconsistent. There were two different designs for the 1 hryven released on the same date from two different printers (CBNC in 1992 and NBU in 1994), the 2, 5, 10 & 20 were printed by the CBNC in 1992, the 50 and 100 were printed by TDLR in (estimate) 1994 and are a completely different design from the lower denominations. Both the 50 & 100 are considered 2nd issue notes even though they were released at the same time as the 1st issue notes. The 2nd issue notes are again a mix match of printers and designs the 1, 2, & 20 were printed by the NBU the 5, 10, 50, 100 & 200 were printed by TDLR. The 200 hryven note was issued 5 years after the 2nd series was first issued, again this note was presumably printed in 1994 which would mean these notes were in a vault for 7 years prior to being released. The NBU took over all banknote design and printing in 1997 and has printed all Ukrainian banknotes since. So the first hryvnia series not having a 200 Hryven note means that this denomination does not have as many design changes as some of the lower value notes. (Although the 1, 2, 5 & 10 hryvnia banknotes have since been discontinued (starting with the 4th series) and replaced by coins.) Below is the first 200 hryven note, printed in 1994 and issued in 2001, it was replaced in 2007 by the 3rd series note and remained in circulation until Oct 1, 2020 when it ceased to be a means of payment and was no longer accepted as a cash payment in Ukraine. Artistic design wise, it's a good first effort but not very flattering to the subject. The portrait was taken from images of the poetess later in life. The color pattern, portrait and overall design leave much to be desired. Here is the 3rd series 200 Hryven note (2nd 200 hryven note), the artists and NBU pretty much knocked it out of the park with this design. This is probably the most popular modern Ukrainian note, design wise, and deservedly so. Finally, here is the 4th series (3rd 200 hryven note). Just some small tweaks to the overall design from the 3rd series note to this one. A toned down color palette, sharper portrait and more stylized reverse design are the major changes. The subject matter of the 200 hryven note has remained the same throughout, a portrait of Lesya Ukranika on the front and a depiction of the entrance tower of Lutsk Castle (or Lubart's Castle) in Lutsk where she live for a short time. Born Larysa Petrivna Kosach - Kvitka, she was forced to adopt the pseudonym Lesya Ukrainka at the time of here first published poem, as Ukrainian language publications were illegal at that time in the Russian Empire. Because of this many of here Ukrainian language publications were printed in Western Ukraine, which at the time was under Austro-Hungarian rule, and were then smuggled into Kiev for distribution. She was a prolific writer of poems, plays, short stories, and sociopolitical articles and essays. Some of the early inspiration for her early writings came from the works of Taras Shevchenko and Ivan Franko, both of who are featured on Ukrainian currency, the 100 & 20 Hryven notes respectively. Ukrainka was vocal advocate for freedom of speech, women's rights and an independent Ukrainian state free from Czarist rule. On August 1, 1913 after an almost life long battle with extrapulmonary tuberculosis of the bones she died at a Georgian health resort at the age of 42, four years prior to Ukraine gaining a brief but chaotic independence starting in 1917 until 1920. Here is one of her poems titled Contra Spem Spero (Hope Against Hope) Thoughts away, you heavy clouds of autumn! For now springtime comes, agleam with gold! Shall thus in grief and wailing for ill-fortune All the tale of my young years be told? No, I want to smile through tears and weeping., Sing my songs where evil holds its sway, Hopeless, a steadfast hope forever keeping, I want to live! You thoughts of grief, away! On poor sad fallow land unused to tilling I'll sow blossoms, brilliant in hue, I'll sow blossoms where the frost lies, chilling, I'll pour bitter tears on them as due. And those burning tears shall melt, dissolving All that mighty crust of ice away. Maybe blossoms will come up, unfolding Singing springtime too for me, some day. Up the flinty steep and craggy mountain A weighty ponderous boulder I shall raise, And bearing this dread burden, a resounding Song I'll sing, a song of joyous praise. In the long dark ever-viewless night-time Not one instant shall I close my eyes, I'll seek ever for the star to guide me, She that reigns bright mistress of dark skies. Yes, I'll smile, indeed, through tears and weeping Sing my songs where evil holds its sway, Hopeless, a steadfast hope forever keeping, I shall live! You thoughts of grief, away! (Translations will vary) In addition to the 200 hryven banknote Lesya Ukrainka is also featured on postage stamps, coins and medals of Ukraine, below is the 1,000,000 karbovantsiv NCLT coin.

Just noticed this thread,

I did it again, actually twice more but I'll just focus on one for now. My love for companion pieces to my Ukrainian banknote collection knows no end. I recently picked up a few more fake or "fantasy" notes, they are in the same vein as my previous acquisition of a commemorative Antarctic set of notes, see my Journal entry "You need more, more, more (Stuff)" for details on those. As with the Antarctic notes these were printed on behalf of the Ukrainian numismatic magazine Numismatics & Faleristics (Phaleristics). The repro's were printed in 2015 with 1150 sets being produced. The set is advertised as a Ukraine Propaganda Collectors Set, containing 6 "fantasy" notes a post card with a depiction of a map of Ukraine from 1910 and a title card with a description of the set and serial #. I purchased this off of ebay for (including shipping) $15, the thought process behind this was "it's cheap, there could be some information in regards to the actual banknotes, it'll go well with my collection and it looks cool.". Well there wasn't much in the form of information that came with the set, so I'm going to have too consider this a purely "for the fun of it" buy. I have bought quite a few items in the hope of gleaning some sort of information from them, sometimes it pays off sometimes it doesn't. The notes are printed on low quality paper (the Antarctic notes were much better quality), the watermark consists of vertical lines spaced about an inch apart. There is some light embossing from the serial numbers, the print quality is low, the paper dimensions are different from the real notes, and each note contains several discrepancies in design including wrong dates, denominations and serial numbers and prefixes. There was no attempt to pass these off as anything other than "fantasy" issues or repo's. In the end the price was right, the time was now and I'm a sucker for fake Ukrainian banknotes. Anyway here are the "fantasy" notes. Here's a side by side of the Taras Shevchenko note next to the real thing. Which one's which? Not sure how this note ties into propaganda, going to have to look that up. This note was printed to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the magazine. The 15th anniversary is a knock off of P5. Ran out of space to post a picture of P5, look it up online if you're interested or check out my registry set.

Hang on, here is the P5.

So how rare is a specimen? Well, if you collect Ukrainian banknotes not very. I've been looking at Ukrainian specimen notes for a while now, over a year, and one of the initial observations was that "wow, there are a lot available". Meaning that they are not hard to find and they are not hard to find a reasonable prices. For the modern issues anyway, 1991 to date. A quick search of ebay, lazily typing in UKRAINE SPECIMEN, nets 281 hits, of which I would say 50-75 are actual banknote specimens, seems like a lot to me. If I type in Venezuela specimen, boom, tons of hits, I can buy a complete run of 2018 Bolivares Soberanos specimens for $150. A quick search of the PMG population report for Ukraine shows 54 specimens have been graded (including samples and proofs) out of 1,815 notes, hmm ok seems high. So how does this compare to other countries, Zimbabwe has 6 graded specimens out of 13,988 notes, Venezuela 823 of 3,917 (wow), Belarus 22 of 1,497, Lithuania 333 of 3,246, Latvia 26 of 812, Estonia 296 of 1,889 (what) and Disney Dollars 67 of 7,740 . Ok, so nothing really correlative there, just some fun statistics. Still it seems that Ukrainian specimens are easy to come by, so much so that PMG felt it prudent to create specimen sets for the registry. There is really no way to statistically determine the rarity of a specimen unless I have the number of specimen's printed, the # destroyed and total notes issued, at least as I type this I think that would be the most accurate statistic. In most cases, yes, specimens are more desirable than regular issues but don't get crazy when you see one because, yeah it's pretty much just a specimen. Ok, now that I'm done dumping on specimens, here's a few of mine. I will say this about collecting world notes and even more so, world notes that don't have a big collector base. You get the opportunity to add harder to find notes and have more comprehensive collections. You don't have nearly the struggle, competition or cost to acquire some really great notes (graded and raw). I'm not sure if there is a specimen U.S. set of any type but I bet it would be very difficult and expensive for someone to try for a set like that. I'll stay here in the cavernous shadows of the world registry for now, I'm just having too much fun to leave at the moment.

That tweet is kinda neat, did he write a news article or air a story using that headline? Wouldn't mind reading it if he did. I'm waiting . Looks like I'll need to go update the description for my $20 Ditto, I regretted snapping up the $20 in 66 so I upgraded a few weeks ago. Might have been me who out bid you on that $20 a few weeks back, patience is something I need to deploy more in my collecting. Oh well, I now have a Zimbabwe $20, 66 EPQ stocking stuffer for someone on Christmas. Or, I also play numismatic trivia with family members via group text and will award a prize for the first person to XXX points, usually takes 3-4 weeks to get to the arbitrary point total, at the end of which I give out a prize. Maybe that will be the $20's fate.

Wow! That's disappointing. Was the estimated turnaround 62 days when you submitted, what has customer service said?

Makes sense, very strange to have three VERY similar designs of different denominations circulating. At least they changed up the portraits for the Soberano's, well except for the dude with the glasses.

No argument there, printing the full numerical denomination would have been better and should have been done. I wonder how the locals felt about it or if there was much confusion on the ground, the color schemes are very different so it was probably not that bad. Probably stumped a few tourists/visitors though.

I don't know, I kinda like the reverse of the P100 better, to much red saturation for me on the 99, the obverse could do with out all that shadowing around the portrait. Regardless, very cool looking notes. I love it when things fall into place. Combining shipping really makes a good deal even better. There just seems to be an endless supply of graded foreign notes out there in mid-high grades, these are great for filling out sets and on the pocketbook. It's hard to ask for a new set when you have nothing to put in it, I know. I've been thinking about the registry construction for some of my sets and for moderns, let's keep it similar to the coins and say 1955 to present, I feel that creating sets for each issue seems to be the most logical to me. Prior to that you almost have to categorize banknotes by government or historical event. I will give PMG credit in that for one of the categories I collect in (Ukraine) they took it upon themselves to create three new, what I would have considered custom, sets. PMG is pretty accommodating when it comes to suggestions on how to construct registry sets, at least for sets with few collectors in them or that are little known.

Update: Sold for 1,700 pounds, plus 20% juice, plus 5% tax. 500 pounds above high estimate.

LOL, no doubt. I figure I'll have several more opportunities in the future to try again on this note. Hard to justify dumping that amount of cash on a collectable right now, although I do still have my stimulus check laying around somewhere. hmmm

Well, I can talk about this now that I'm out and the auction is almost over. A seldom seen Ukrainian bank note popped up for auction recently ( A PICK # 50!), it was in a PMG holder and was in good condition. I felt this was a good time (for me) to place a fairly serious bid on the note, I placed a minimum bid on it last week Wednesday, I was outbid by Friday then waited and bid again yesterday. My last bid was over the auction estimate but was not strong enough as I didn't overtake the current bidder. I thought long and hard about continuing to bid but I decided to put this note on hold, similar to the 50 Hryven Commemorative note (Pick 125) that I've been continually kicking down the road. Once again the main argument to myself is "more is better", meaning that there are several Ukrainian bank notes out there right now that will make for a more complete collection. As I've said previously this is one of two key notes in the series, this and P125, are note/s I may never get. I don't feel nearly as torn passing on this note as I have on the P125, probably because the P125 is constantly staring me in the face. It's too bad, because this is an awesome note with a great story. We'll meet again Pick 50, oh we'll meet again but right now I just have to walk away. Here is the 1942, 2 Karbowanez note, it's a beauty. A brief synopsis of the story behind the note is. The note was printed and loaded onto pallets and into boxcars of an awaiting train. The train departed and was in transit from Germany to Ukraine when it was attacked and destroyed (including almost all of the notes) by Ukrainian partisans. If I ever acquire this note I'll do a proper write up on it.. Someday.

Yes, lowball! That should be an easy one to add and not disrupt the current registry structure. Fr# is another good one.

So if it was up to you, what sets would you add? I read mention of denomination sets, I think that would be a good start. Any others? Would you want it to go as far as State sets, counties, individual banks? In general I agree, the more sets the better, and the better for me to look at them. I feel that more sets helps to keep the registry more organized and easier to view, enjoy and interpret.

This is a follow up to a previous Journal entry where I mentioned a story about "borrowed" specie, see Journal entry "But it was obsolete before I opened the box" for additional info on The Bank of Allegan and Michigan "wildcat" banks in general. Here is an Obsolete banknote from another wildcat bank, The Bank Of Singapore (Michigan), organized Dec. 7, 1837, closed 1839. The settlement of Singapore was established in 1836 and subsequently abandoned by 1875 when the last saw mill was moved. Nothing visible remains of the settlement as anything that was left behind including buildings was buried by the shifting dune sands located along Lake Michigan. The Bank of Singapore issued notes in denominations of $1, $2, $3 & $5, which was common for the time period and type of bank. The bills were printed by Rawdon, Wright & Hatch of New York, the denominations were printed on one side of a single sheet, these sheets were then shipped to the Bank and stored as remainders, as notes were needed the sheets were cut then signed and dated by the Cashier (Rob Hill) and Bank President (Daniel S. Wilder), both signatures are present on this note. It is common to find 1837 notes dated Dec 25 and Jan 1, this note is dated Jan 10, 1838. Records indicate that banknotes valued at $15,952 were put into circulation, this would be equal to about 1,450 sheets or roughly 5,800 individual bills if complete sheets were cut. The hard money or specie reserve (which should have totaled $15,000 based on the bank's capital stock, but probably wasn't even when it was present) was kept in the vault in an old nail keg. As was common at this time Banks pooled their specie and shipped it from bank to bank ahead of the inspectors who were there to verify these banks had enough specie on hand to back the notes being issued, this leads to the story mentioned in a previous Journal entry. The Bank of Allegan and the Bank of Singapore being "neighbors" commonly pooled their specie, after the state bank inspector viewed and counted the pooled specie at the Bank of Allegan the bag of gold was quickly packed up and given to a local Native American, who loaded it into his canoe to transport it down the Kalamazoo River to The Bank of Singapore, which was the inspectors next stop. The inspector was in route to Singapore via horseback and roads being nonexistent in those days, traveling by canoe down the river was the fastest mode of travel. The Native American, paddling swiftly to beat the bank inspector, hit an obstacle in the river and capsized. The bag of gold sank to the bottom in a particularly deep part of the river, the man righted his canoe and rushed ahead to tell the Bank officials at Singapore what happened, immediately a plan was devised. The local blacksmith began to fashion a drag hook to retrieve the gold, in the meantime a dispatch was sent to the town of New Richmond, centrally located between the two banks at a ferry crossing. The inspector was plied with food and drink, a party was staged and night's logging offered. Meanwhile, downstream the men of Singapore were using the hook on the end of a dragline to recover the bag of gold from the river, the gold was pulled from the river and sent to the bank to dry out. Word was sent that the inspector could proceed and a short time later (maybe the next day) the inspector and specie met again at the Singapore Bank. Another story involved a local merchant who purchased a supply of boots, boots being in short supply and the locals being desperate for them tried to pay with banknotes from The Bank of Singapore, the merchant refused to accept the notes. This did not suit the officers of the bank so they promised to redeem their bills from the merchant with eastern money in time for him to remit to his dealers. The parties agreed and the entire stock of boots was sold out, amounting to about $600. On the day the Bank was supposed to redeem the money, they were unprepared and pushed the date back, this went on for over a month. Having run out of time and at his wit's end the merchant knowing where the cashier resided and suspecting he carried the "good money" of the bank with him decided to wake him one morning. The merchant went to the clerks room, entered and locked the door, then woke the clerk, laid the wildcat bills on the bed, drew his pistol and demanded the exchange be made then and there. Suffice to say the clerk made the exchange, having raised his pillow and removing a roll containing about $1,000 (the total genuine capital of the bank), $600 was given to the merchant leaving the bank with $400 of good money. The charter of the Bank of Singapore was formally annulled by the Michigan Legislature on February 16, 1842, along with charters of most of the other wildcat banks of Michigan. One evening several locals were invited to the home of one of the officers of the Bank of Singapore to witness the destruction of the bills on hand at the bank at the time of suspension. There was a 4" x 4" table covered with bills in packages lying in piles from three to six inches deep. These were burned in a stove and "sufficed for boiling a tea kettle twice", or so the story goes. Remainders are fairly common with these notes, including uncut sheets. I've read stories and first hand accounts of people lining their boots with uncut sheets or stuffing them into the cracks of walls to keep drafts out or pillows. Signed notes are much harder to come by as most (it seems) were destroyed. It's not a bad looking note, with a depiction of Justice & Liberty on the left, a factory and canal on the right and a depiction of a port in the center. They definitely didn't skimp out on the ink for these notes.