Fenntucky Mike

"It was a dark and stormy night" Not really but it was pretty crappy out so I decided it was a good time to sort through the pile of cr*p (why does crappy show in the Journal but not cr*p, need to work on their censoring) on my desk. In doing so I realized it was a pile of supplemental material that I had saved, news articles, pictures, notes I made, etc. Towards the bottom of the pile was a group of "banknotes" (?), oh yeah, I remember these. It was a set of commemorative "fantasy" banknotes that I picked up online about a year ago to go with my Ukrainian banknote set. It's a set of seven notes, printed in 2016 on behalf of the Ukrainian numismatic magazine Numismatics & Faleristics (Phaleristics), in an effort to raise funds to support the periodical. The fantasy issue is commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Vernadsky Research Base in Antarctica. They were made in the exact size, style and denominations as the 1991 Control Coupons, Picks 81 - 87. The designs on the "Fantasy" notes are appropriate to the subject matter and mimic the original Coupons nicely. On the obverse of the "Fantasy" notes is a penguin, to the left of which is written in Cyrillic (top to bottom) Ukrainian / Antarctica / Coupon / (denomination) / Karbovantsiv / 2016. On the reverse is a depiction of the Ukrainian Antarctic Base along with a depiction of the Antarctic Continent, with the flag of Ukraine marking the location of the base, printed over the depiction of Antarctica is 20 POKIB (20 Years). At the top center is printed ANTARCTIC STATION (in Cyrillic) at the bottom center is VERNADSKY / ACADEMY (in Cyrillic). Each note is printed in color schemes to match the original Coupons and the paper used has "crescent" shaped watermarks when held to a light. These are just a fun set of notes I picked up, notes that I think go well with my Ukrainian set even if they are not legitimate. Items that will never see the light of day in my registry set or probably even in my signature set for that matter, now that I'm thinking about it. Just one of the many items I've accumulated, to aide in research, enhance a collection or just because they're fun. These notes have been on my mind for the last few weeks as I have read a few different articles on penguin themed coins and I believe I read somewhere that another country issued a "Fantasy" series of penguin notes recently. Anyway, I just thought I'd post these and give them there moment in the sun as they will probably be packed away now for the foreseeable future. Here's the eye candy, enjoy. Obverse (Oh yeah, the notes came with a postcard) Reverse Crescent watermarks Side by side obverse (I like how they matched the pose of the penguin to the figurehead, it's even perched on the bow of a ship, like the figurehead. Cracks me up every time, where's DiCaprio when you need him.) Side by side reverse

100% agree, but they tend to have more of a story behind them, I think, especially if they were used. Ugly or not, this one is part of the set (which I agree with) and I'll add it in one day. I tend to be a bit over the top with my collecting habits, I'll try to add as many (what I think are relevant) items to the sets as possible, even if it is just for my personal collection/s at home. I can really get carried away sometimes with varieties or related items to add to my collections, making them more complete in my mind (telling a broader tale). I was actually doing some research on a set of items I bought last year to supplement my Ukrainian banknotes. I wasn't going to post them but now that I'm thinking about it they may be worth a journal entry. To Be Continued.....

No problem, just looking for people's best guesses. In the end it's up to me to pick one. After looking at the images again, I really don't like the margins, left margin on the obverse in particular, on #1935283. I'm pretty much ruling that one out of contention unless I or someone else sees any issues with the other notes. It sounds like they are loosening the reigns in regards to what they will and will not grade. It has a Pick # and is in the registry so I figure the odds are good. I pulled the trigger on a couple of "cashed" Certificates yesterday. Remainders are fine but nothing like having a legitimate "note", a little piece of history.

Hmmm, after studying the images myself, I probably should have used a black or darker background. Next time.

I've been putting together a group of notes for submission to PMG over the last month/s and I thought it might be interesting to get a few opinions on a couple of notes I have multiples of. The first group I have whittled down to six, these are notes that I'm torn over, notes that for the most part I consider equal using my minimal grading abilities. I know a person can't tell the condition of a note based solely on an image, I'm just looking for opinions on the things you can maybe judge like margins, serial # (fancy or not), ink quality/clarity, real or fake, paper foxing or staining etc. It is a group of six (remainders) 1,050,000 Karbovantsiv 1995 Privatization Certificates (notes), Pick# 101. I've grouped them together in two pictures, one of the obverse and one of the reverse, the notes are arranged the same in both pictures. If you want a close up image of one of the notes let me know and I'll post it. Let me know what you think the best note is and identify it by serial #, and thanks for the opinions. Since we're looking at these I might as well write up a quick description/history of this note. These certificates were issued during the start of the period of mass privatization in Ukraine (1995-1997), this was roughly four years after Ukraine acquired its independence from the U.S.S.R. and marked four years of trying to solve the privatization problem amidst rampant hyperinflation and cash shortages. While under Communist rule, approximately 96% of all enterprises were owned by the State, not to mention all housing and land (this figure was closer to 100%). The four years after independence was spent trying to figure out how to value and distribute these assets, that only yesterday belonged to the "People". One part of the solution was to issue every citizen "privatization certificates", every person was to receive their share of the State's property and could use/spend it as they desired. These certificates could then be exchanged for shares in companies or used to purchase any of thousands of small ventures and properties which were sold through auctions to new private owners. Well this went about as good as one would expect it to in the Wild West period of Ukraine's recent existence. The certificates dropped in value as they were being printed, were often rejected at the auctions because of the inflation and then Ukraine launched its own currency in 1996 after the Ruble Zone was dissolved. For those reasons along with other factors an estimated 3 million +, individuals did not use their vouchers. The Ukrainian Government purposely dragged its feet in regards to privatization by, allowing the certificates to drop in value, only putting up for sale companies that were essentially worthless or had no market value to discourage the use of the Certificates, provided no explanation or documentation on how to use the Certificates and all the while allowing the government cronies to snap up the certificates on the black market for a fraction of their original value. Then, when the profitable companies, businesses and properties did go up for privatization/auction take a wild guess as to who had the Certificates with which to "buy in" to these cash cows, (now enter cronies and ex Communist Regime types). As a result an oligarchy was created in the governing class of Ukraine. This, along with several other factors lead up to the Orange Revolution in late 2004-5 and then the Euromaidan Revolution in 2013-14. I'm not even sure if PMG will grade one of these, I'll have to check prior to submitting. Even if they don't grade these, I still need to identify the best one/s. Don't worry, I wont hold anyone responsible for the grade/s if I do send one in.

I was pretty sure but it was a little harder to tell on the Philippine note. So glad they were able to improve the holder and get rid of the tint. I do remember PMG launching the "Gen 4" earlier this year but it seems like it was more of a label and sticker (hologram) change than anything. I'm not sure if the holder is Gen 4 or if the label is, or both? https://www.pmgnotes.com/news/article/8221/new-pmg-label-and-holder/ The Gen 3 was launched in late March of 2016 https://www.pmgnotes.com/news/article/5201/PMG-Launches-New-Clearer-Holder/ The Gen 2 was launched back on January 3, 2011 https://www.pmgnotes.com/news/article/1918/Second-Generation-Holder/ Regardless, they still have a description of the PMG holder (with an image of a holder with the new label) listing the current holder/label as "Introduced in 2016, the third-generation PMG holder" which if correct would mean the current holder is still Gen 3 and the label is Gen 4? Maybe?

Cool notes everyone. Are both of those the green tinted holders?

Damn It Jim! I'm a doctor not an economist! (Probably a true statement being uttered in the halls of the Zimbabwe government.) Now I'm going to be thinking of scenarios on how the crew of the good ship Enterprise would fix this situation. Go back in time, directly meddle with the history of the planet, defeat a semi-gelatinous beast and mind meld with it, or fall arse backwards onto a pile of USD's hidden under the balancing rocks after destroying them in a phaser fight. All the while schmoozing with the locals, and ahem.....

That's where it started for me, where I first read about the new ZWD and how the government/local officials and companies were already undermining it or knew from the get go that it would not last. Excellent write up that really puts a bow on it to date. Can't wait to see the rest, even though we all know how this chapter is going to end. I can't look away.

Hmm, I would think they would if someone sent them in. They were issued by the RBZ so that should make them legit enough and I've seen similar items graded from other countries. PMG likes to make money so I'm sure they'd stick them in a holder if someone felt the need to get one graded. Side note: I read a short article in World Coin News and it looks like the life expectancy of the new ZWD will be shorter than predicted. It seems that the government is currently misstepping its way into another economic collapse. Let's see, they shut down the Stock Exchange last month, are paying civil servants in foreign currencies effectively re-dollarizing the economy, banning all mobile wallets/transactions and all the while reassuring people that the ZWD is still legal tender and to exchange all other foreign currency for it (after you just paid me with foreign currency, uhmm NO.). Looks like we can stick a fork in the new ZWD, at least at these denominations. I think they just go back to the USD or ZAR.

Phonetics and countries aside, a moire /mwär/ is a pattern of irregular lines produced by the superposition at a slight angle (or offset spacing) of two sets of closely spaced lines. Moire patterns or moire grids are commonly used on banknotes as anti-scanning (counterfeiting) devices, how effective moires are in helping the layperson identify counterfeits or preventing counterfeiters from producing fake notes is topic for another day. At any rate, this all started with an effort to obtain better quality images of my banknotes I thought "hey why not try scanning them, brilliant!", as I was browsing through the first scans and thinking "these don't look as good as I had hoped." the subject of moires and security features popped into my head. Hmmm. Well, ok, lets dive a little deeper. ("I'm not going to get to involved here so I'm just going to stick with one note and one particular area of the note to hopefully get a better grasp of what a moire pattern is/does." I said to myself, knowing full well it was a lie.) But I will stick with one note and one area for this journal entry. The guinea pig for my moire investigation is the 2013 50 Hryven (Pick 121d) banknote from Ukraine, and the area I'll be looking at is in the upper left corner, on the front of the note, comprising of a light purple rectangle with the words НАЦіОАΛЬНИЙ ЬАИК УКРАЇНА (NATIONAL BANK OF UKRAINE) inscribed within the area along with the signature of the Governor of the NBU. When first glimpsing this note from a distance (again focusing on the area mentioned above) a faint pattern can be discerned, it looks grid like but is hard to identify (for me). Upon closer inspection I begin to notice a repeating diamond pattern created by gaps between the lines in the (moire) grid. Ok, what else? (Picture of the obverse of the note.) (Picture of moire grid, "diamond" pattern evident from a distance.) (Picture of gaping between lines of moire grid, creating a "diamond" pattern.) By now I've probably inspected this note a dozen times with and without my loupe. I'm thinking "well is that it?", nope. I take a step back from the note itself and start going through images I had previously taken, enlarging them, rotating, etc. While doing this I notice a repeating "square" pattern in the same moire grid. How the heck did I miss that! It was so painfully evident in the images that I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't see it. From a distance, it was not evident to me (still isn't), using my loupe it is visible but doesn't jump out at you, especially when I was fixated on the gaping and offset line patterns. I'm thinking it's just one of those things where some people will see "diamonds" and some will see "squares". It's basically a 3D puzzle to me at this point. (Moire grid appearing as "squares".) One more surprise left, after further inspection of the images I had taken another pattern became evident to me. This effect is a little harder to see and I haven't been able to notice this with the naked eye or loupe, only through photography so far, but the lines in the moire grid merge at a distance and form a square "maze like" pattern in the field. (Sorry about the pics, best I could do at the moment.) (Moire grid lines merge to form larger "maze like" patterns) Finally, what does the moire grid look like when scanned? After all this is the main purpose of the moire on a banknote, to prevent counterfeiting in the form of scanning and printing notes. Well, the moire grid disappears as it should (as I believe was intended), although the line breaks are still evident. To me it's a bit anticlimactic, at least for that particular moire on this note. (Scan of note in PMG holder.) To me, a moire (in this instance) is a cool feature but to call it an anti-counterfeiting is a bit of a stretch. If the moire, when scanned revealed a hidden message like "NOT LEGAL TENDER" or "DON"T F***ING ACCEPT THIS NOTE" I think that would be more effective and hilarious. One other thought, I've tried searching PMG for an article related to this. I've tried several different word and phrase combinations but am not finding anything related to this. So PMG if you're reading this HOOK A BROTHER UP and release an article about this in the near future, I'd be curious to see what you have to say about this. On a side note there are several articles out there about moires and moire fringes or patterns, all worth reading if you get a chance.

This has me wondering.... Do you think PMG will start grading the Cargill Checks and the gas coupons? I assuming that PMG was not grading these at some point as well, similar to the Traveller's Cheques, since there are no registry sets listed.

The groundswell is building... ddr70, get ready to dig that note out in three months. At this pace that's about when you'll hit the 5 likes mark. Glad you didn't put a time limit on this.

That's what I thought was going to happen, there was no activity on that note. All yours, might want to double check the info. People weren't exactly lining up by my desk in school to see what my answers were.

I'm not sure what "ZIMBANK WASTE" is referring to on the stamp. Hmmmm, It's dated before the "PAID" stamp, might have to look around later.

Nice to see that P15 ended up with you and not at a bad price either (I think). I was board so I did a little research into the stamps on your P15, and it looks like it was endorsed and paid out at the Chisipite Branch located at 2 Hind House in a Shopping Center on the north side of Harare. The endorsement stamp is a little unique from stamps on other Travellers Cheques in that it has those two arches in the center and the ink mark above from the stamp pad, possibly unique to the person who stamped it. I've been looking around and have only seen one other Cheque (another P15) with that stamp used out of a few hundred I viewed. Kind of fun to think about if the stamp used and branch where it was cashed are rare, not that it really means anything or increases value. I'll be interested to see the back of it when you post it, more often than not the back will be endorsed with signatures, addresses, phone numbers, typing from when it was ran through the register and/or stamped, but the other Cheque cashed at this branch (that I've seen) had no other markings on the reverse, which would make it slightly out of the norm in general for this series. Great note, I like it.

Haha, awesome! Glad they included the Bond Notes, that made the most sense to me as well. Enjoy the #1 set while it lasts. JK. When I do enter my set, in the descriptions I'm just going to write **See the Pittman Family Zimbabwe Dollars Reborn set for descriptions.**, I'll never be able to top them. Nice to see they fixed the typo in the Set Type description, although Royal Bank of Zimbabwe does have a nice ring to it.

Yeah, the price jump on the first series helped push me towards the newest dollar series as my next set to collect. But I still like them and will revisit the possibility of starting a set of first series dollars. For now I'll just keep my eye on them and hopefully they'll drop in price a little. The new series and the first series (Picks 1-4) just seem to fit so well together (as you already mentioned) with the animal designs, the triangular design element on the front, the I'm going to call it a "checker board" background for now (on both sides), along with the man made "wonders" on the reverse and the balancing rocks on the front. The two series just complement each other nicely. Yes it is, another reason to not get that involved with it at the moment. Along with the Ukrainian series is also gigantic and that is going to be my primary focus for the near future. In my mind I need to be at least 75% complete with that series before I get serious about another one.

Nice. Might be the time to sell duplicates.

I'm watching that one as well, not to bid on but just to see where it ends up. I like staying up to date on the first series sell prices, especially since they seem to be coming out of the woodwork. Yeah, that's getting a little steep and with 13 watching and a few hours left it'll probably jump up a lot more. There was a seller out of Canada that had a few of the $10 notes for sale, some at 67 and at least one at 68. It was a little weird, one of those auctions that just pops up out of nowhere and only lasts 2 days, anyway they had respectable starting bids of under $35 (shipping was cheap as well) if I remember correctly and no one bid on them. I want to say there was a $20 note from the same seller but I can't remember for sure. Almost seems like the $10 and $20 notes are not getting the same attention as the $2 and $5. The $2 and $5 seem to be holding strong at around $40 - $50 for examples in 68.

Last night was a busy time for Ukrainian banknote auctions, there were eleven ending within roughly a hour of each other, from one seller. There were three lots I was focusing on in particular and the other 7 were lower on the wish list. I wasn't going to be online as the auctions were ending so I placed heavier then normal bids on the three I was really hoping to win and low ball bids on the rest of the lots. In addition to the Ukrainian notes there were also two Zimbabwe notes from the latest series, a $5 and $10, so while in a bidding frame of mind I threw a couple of low ball bids on those as well, not expecting to win. Why not, right? Well, after awakening from a sound slumber I turn on the old computer and start scrolling through emails, You Won!, You Won!, You Won! was peppered throughout several emails, uh oh better go check on the damage. As it turns out I took seven of the eleven Ukrainian notes and one of the Zimbabwe, the $10. Yes! It's always a bit of a shock when you win things you are not expecting to, a little bit of sticker shock. So you sometimes have the Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Paying, more so I feel when you are not live bidding. At any rate I'm thrilled to have gotten the notes that I did and it really wasn't that costly, in fact I would say that 6 of the 8 were good to exceptional deals and two I over paid. The only reason I have a little angst is because I'll be paying for this out of my "Mad Money" Pay Pal account, an account I keep for the buying and selling of coins or notes. As of last night, I did have enough to purchase the 2011 50 Hryven Commemorative banknote that I had mentioned in a previous journal entry, a note that is going to be tougher to get as time goes on, but with last nights victories I'm going to have to wait on that for a few more weeks until I sell some more items. Well enough musing and onto the results. The first lot was this pair of 2,000,000 Karbovantsiv (Pick# 91Br) consecutive banknotes (remainders), one with a fancy serial number, "Descending Pairs". I didn't know that PMG recognized descending pairs, anyway. These notes are not hard to find as remainders in good condition, in fact you can usually pick them up for a $1 a piece or less in bulk. I know, I already have several that I was sorting through to send in for my first submission. But to save me the trouble of submitting two on my own, plus one had a fancy serial # designation and because I wasn't going to be available to make a snipe bid at the last second, I put a larger bid on them. A bid that I think was more than they were worth. Here they are, pictures are from the seller. The next note I put a strong bid on, was again a 2,000,000 Karbovantisv note (Pick# 91B) but this one is signed and stamped, a valid note. These are much harder to come by in UNC condition and can range from $20 - $40+ (ungraded), depending on the stamp and signature. Again, for the reasons mentioned above I put a large bid on it and probably overpaid, maybe not as bad as the first notes. The third note I was really gunning for was a 2005 100Hryven (Pick#122a) these, while not necessarily difficult to find are not "plentiful". An example is probably going to run you around $15 (ungraded) from a source overseas (that includes the shipping), if you can get one at that price it's a good deal and hope that the condition is good. Again not wanting the hassle of trying to collect multiple raw notes and submitting, along with a respectable grade on this one, I put a high bid on this note as well. I don't feel I overpaid to severely on this one, although it was a little higher than I expected. The above notes are the first examples of such for my collection, so I was specifically keen on acquiring them. The other four Ukrainian notes are varieties of existing Picks and I was able to pick each of those up for less than the cost of grading (on average), so I'm very pleased with all of those. Now we come to the surprise of the night, a Zimbabwe 2020 $10 PMG 68 EPQ new series note (Pick Unlisted). I threw down a low ball bid on this one, what I thought was a real stinker of a bid and had zero chance of winning. Well, I won. I was as shocked at winning this note as I was at seeing the price realized on a Zimbabwe $5 PMG 70 EPQ new series note ($1,026.02). At under $25 (including tax and shipping), I'll take that every time. P.S. In my first journal entry I was hemming an hawing about the next set of notes to collect, Well let's end the suspense, (not that there was much) and make it official. I am now collecting new series Zimbabwe Dollars. I would like to get the complete series to date in 68 but we'll see how it goes. Currently only comprising of four denominations, it's not much of a commitment but it is as involved as I want to be at the moment on another set.

Great note, love those NBN value back's. Let us know how she grades. Do you think it will grade VF and/or receive an EPQ designation?

Nice, I was watching that one as well. I'd like to get the new series in 68's, I'm keeping my eyes on few Zimbabwe auctions. Only problem is there a several Ukrainian notes I'm going to be bidding on and I'm just going to have to wait before bidding on any Zimbabwe new series notes.

Are you *spooning* me, $1,026 unbelievable! It'll be hilarious when a second one gets posted in a few days.

Watching an auction like this always makes me wonder about bidding strategy. Is bidding 20+ times on an item going to net you a lower hammer price on an item like this, I tend to think no. One person seems bound and determined to win this note, I think one snipe bid at the end would have served them better. Makes me wonder if they are bidding beyond there means, hopefully not. If I was a real jerk, I would go back in there and make a minimal bid to drive that price up, just to see. Especially since the leader made another bid against themselves. Nah, I'm having to much fun watching.