Fenntucky Mike

What is the "(formerly VENUNL1000a)" referring to?

I enjoy following the Cert #'s if possible. I just find it interesting and it gives me a glimpse of the history of that individual note and if it crossed paths with other notes (including notes from different countries) not just in my sets but in other peoples sets. Gives me a glimpse of what these sellers are doing behind the scenes with there submissions, i.e. when submitted, how many, what denominations, etc. Although I haven't been able to translate any of this info into BIG BIG SAVINGS, or that any of it is relevant. It's just another layer of collecting that I've sunk to. I've been to BankNoteWorld a few times, in fact that is were my two Zimbabwe notes came from. Needed to get my cart total up to qualify for free shipping. Off topic, but I took a peek over at Banknote World while typing this and they have one add saying "Gold is at a 2012 high of $1800, now is the time to buy before the market moves higher" and another saying "Price Drop Silver Bullion now is the time to buy". I know I'm over simplifying this but striping those statements down to nuts and bolts. Which is it, buy high or buy low? I just find it amusing that they would have two seemingly contrarian statements scrolling back to back. Not that either statement is necessarily wrong.

You can type your Cert # into that slot, you will get a not valid for slot message, PMG will see that you tried to enter a Cert # review it and then if valid the'll add that Pick # to the slot along with your note. Usually only takes 24hrs for them to add your note and they'll send you a confirmation email when it's done. See Ali's response to me further up the string. LOL, I just did this again for one of my sets a few minutes ago.

Seems odd that they would use the same base designs back to back for the series, in different denominations. If you were going to keep the same base designs, I'm surprised that they didn't just tack three zeros onto the original notes then come up with two new designs for the 500 and 1,000. Were the Pick #'s changed for the second issue of notes? Not a big fan of these old holders, the blueish green tint detracts from the note.

I was taking a scroll through the NBU's website this morning and stubbed my index finger on the headline "OFFICIAL DENIAL: The 1,000 Hryvnia Banknote Does Not Depict an Unlicensed Font", well now you have my attention! It appears that the NBU Had a minor controversy in regards to the font used on the new 1,000 UAH banknote released in October of last year. There were questions raised as to origin and use of the font on the reverse of the banknote, specifically the phrase "One Thousand hryvnia" (see below) and an Adobe copyrighted font called Bickham ---script. The Cyrillic versions (see below) were published in 2016. It's been a little difficult to follow but here is the gist of it, or at least as I understand it. Bickham ---script was created in 1997 and licensed by Adobe, Bickham ---script was then pirated by a well known Russian font thief who slightly modified it and passed off several versions as original, this stolen and modified font was then apparently found on the NBU Banknote Printing and Minting Works network and was used on the new Ukrainian 1,000 hyvnia banknotes, of which 5 million were printed. Supposedly Adobe confirmed the unlicensed use of the font but I have not been able to find an official statement from them. Now, these news stories are not from what I would call mainstream media outlets so I'm taking all of this info with a grain of salt but there was enough of an outcry that the NBU actually responded to the accusations. The NBU released an official statement basically claiming Multiple Discovery. In their statement the NBU explains that "all the images on the banknotes are author's graphics. Artists who work on their design do not use ready-made drawings or fonts. They themselves create vector graphic design elements, including the lettering of the denomination of the banknote." read the official denial from the NBU here https://bank.gov.ua/en/news/all/sprostuvannya-na-banknoti-1000-griven-nemaye-nelitsenzovanogo-shriftu . Stories like these are one of the reasons I really enjoy collecting the notes and coins of Ukraine, it's like the wild west over there. I have to think that this is not the first time a question has been raised in regards to the font used on a banknote. Not necessarily from Ukraine but in general from all countries, feel free to let me know of any examples. You can bet I'll be paying attention to the next series of 1,000 Hryven banknotes to see if anything changed. Hmmmm, my photog skills suck. The 1,000 Hryven Banknote was one of 22 nominated for note of the year (2019) by the International Bank Note Society. The Central Bank of Aruba was awarded the top prize for their 100 Florin bill.

LOL, Five new listings have just popped over the last 24hrs from that same seller, all in shiny new PMG holders. One would be an upgrade and the other two will fit into empty slots in my sets. The funny thing is that the slots the notes will fit in are Pick # specific, meaning that I already have at least one version of the notes in that base Pick # and the ones posted just happen to be the variants I need for those notes. Let's see if the seller posts any additional notes over the next few days, like another ten. I wish this seller would show the reverse of the note so I could see the cert #, that would help answer the question of were these part of the last submission the seller made, meaning the first seven digits of the cert #'s would match the cert #'s on the notes I just bought. Or if these have new cert #'s, not that it would be 100% conclusive. Just the nut job conspiracy theorist coming out in me, and to much time on my hands.

I feel like they were good deals for the most part, I acquired over half of those notes for between $25 - $40. Considering the grading fees plus shipping would probably run me around $22 - 25 a note, plus the cost of purchasing several raw notes so I would be able to select the higher grades, I'm very happy with those prices. Most of the notes pictured are from one seller and it seems that this seller likes to deal in volume and likes to turn over there inventory, so they seem to keep there prices fairly low. I've purchased items from them for a few years now. Its a seller on eBay, one I'm sure you've dealt with and probably most people have dealt with if you're collecting world notes.

Recently, I've been burning up some spare funds I acquired through sales of some duplicates in my coin collections. I've been busy using some of these newly rediscovered monies to focus on gathering up several Ukrainian banknotes for my sets. I have been hitting the banknotes really hard the last two weeks due to several factors eluded to in a previous journal entry (over $1,800 an ounce on 7/8/2020). It just so happened that several notes popped up for sale that were either perfect matches for empty slots or upgrades in my sets. Funny how when you have some extra "mad" money you find the perfect thing to spend it on fairly quickly, hmmmm. Needless to say I bid on all of the notes and won most of them (not a lot of competition for Ukrainian notes). At the time I saw the notes and even more so now, I can't help but have a feeling of being spied on. That the seller looked at my registry set, looked in his inventory and sent some notes in for grading, Bing. Bang. Boom. Notes for me and a profit for them. Good for them if that's the case, that just seems like good business and paying attention to your market if true. I noticed today when looking at the population report for Ukrainian banknotes that the total graded increased by 15 which might as well be a hundred when talking Ukrainian banknotes. Another bulk submission from this seller? I guess I'll find out, let's go for broke. The latest banknotes to roll in this week, more on the way. Man, I need to get going on some descriptions for these notes!

I'd get the 8/8 graded or just keep it in a nice holder like you already have and keep it for my own collection. The only other fancy serial numbers I think you can have with the first five digits being the same (8) are Rotators. Keep researching the S#'s and the notes in general, get a good (realistic) idea of what the value is, and maybe you'll stumble on to something with the Lucky numbers and/or Fancy serial numbers as well. Depending on what you think the other notes are worth, I'd think about not grading and just going the eBay route. Good Luck.

So the question I would have is, would these notes (specifically the 6/8's and 5/8's with lucky number combinations) have a higher hammer price at an auction held in the Asian market or U.S.? Or does it really even matter in this day and age, as long as the auction is well advertised. The 8/8 gets graded the 7/8's probably get graded as well. I see 7/8's (7 of 8 numbers the same not necessarily 8's) selling on eBay (in lower denominations) both graded and raw for between $150-300 I wouldn't think they would struggle, or that any of the big auction houses would necessarily struggle. If they did I'm sure they'd figure it out, they want to optimize the hammer price as much as you. What I would be looking for is the next available major Asian auction that I could cosign to, that's assuming your notes carry a higher premium due to the serial number combinations in the Asian market. Stack's Bowers is holding an auction for the Hong Kong Coin Show later this month, probably to late to hit that one but I would be looking at the major auction houses for a similar show. . A good auction house should be able to point you in the right direction. Stack's Bowers is offering free grading to all coins and notes cosigned to them, until they hit $1 Million in grading fees. Good find and recognizing the potential by the way. I probably would have not noticed the serial numbers at the time and just stuffed the notes in my pocket and walked away. If it was me I'd save at least one for liar's poker, always a blast when someone shows a bill like that. Just be prepared to be called every name in the book after you show it and hopefully take everyone's money, at least if your circle of friends is like mine.

Nice, Nothing like striking while the iron is hot and being able to nearly complete a graded set in a days time. High grades and reasonable prices no less, can't beat that. Sounds like the Venezuelan Bolivars were a perfect choice for your next set.

Agreed, but this is just another push towards going paperless. I don't expect that the U.S. will go 100% paperless in the next 50 years (maybe not ever 100%) but by then I would think the production of paper currency will be primarily driven by the collectibles market. In under developed areas/countries it will take longer or we may see a step backwards towards barter systems, pseudo currencies, or people are automatically issued a bank account, who knows what the future will bring but it is interesting to speculate. National Banks around the world are developing digital currencies in anticipation of the future and to retain their market share in the financial system vs cryptocurrency creation by private players. Ukraine has been developing a digital currency, the E-hryvnia, since 2016 and launched a pilot project for issuing E-hryvnia into circulation in 2018. Paperless will not be immediate but it is imminent for the majority. People being born now or who have already been born, may not ever use physical money in there life. My 14 year old nephew got into my 1996 Ford F250 and asked me how to roll down the window, I pointed to the window crank/handle and the look on his face was one of disbelief. As was the look on my face, when I realized he had never seen a manually operated window before. He had no idea what to do, as far as he was concerned that truck might as well have been equivalent to Fred Flintstones footmobile. Not that he would have understood that reference anyway.

I was reading through the National Bank of Ukraine's press releases and came across their response on "Preventing the spread of coronavirus infection COVID-19 during cash transactions" dated Mar, 18 2020, link here. https://bank.gov.ua/en/news/all/pro-profilaktiku-poshirennya-koronavirusnoyi-infektsiyi-covid-19-pid-chas-operatsiy-iz-gotivkoyu On a side note, the NBU actually has a decent website with English translations and good info on all banknotes and coins produced by the Banknote Printing and Minting Works in Kyiv, along with their monetary policies (they revamped the website early last year). Anyway, reading through the press release one finds the typical precautions as to be expected when in a biological crisis and in regards to physical money. Reduce contact, minimize receipt of funds, non-cash payments, etc.The NBU is also requesting that old notes be returned for disposal, all the while assuring the public that the cash reserves are sufficient to meet the countries needs. This release is probably to some extent standard "boilerplate" that is similar to releases and precautions being taken by banks around the world. This press release has me wondering how much the coronavirus did or will speed up the elimination of cash and coin, is this pandemic another log on the pyre of physical money? In Ukraine's case they just recently shuffled their coin and banknote denominations around. Starting on Oct, 1 2019 1, 2 and 5 kopeck coins, (the penny equivalent) were were withdrawn from circulation and are no longer accepted, (the 25 kopeck is also being eliminated, just not immediately) all transactions are now rounded to the amounts nearest multiple of 10. Next was eliminating the 5 and 10 hryvnia banknotes and replacing them with coins of the same denomination. The latest adjustment was the addition of a 1,000 UAH banknote, which is double the previous highest available denomination banknote. These moves along with additional adjustments decreased the available denominations in Ukraine from 17 to 12 (6 coins and 6 banknotes currently). All this was to lower the cost of manufacturing and streamline transactions, two more logs for the pyre. Lower denomination banknotes have already gone the way of the Dodo in Ukraine is the rest of the "dirty" money next? Ukraine's newest denomination, put into circulation on Oct, 25 2019.

I'm in complete agreement that gold will begin to fall fairly soon (I hope), I tend to think it will break 1800 before a gradual decline back down to 1500 or less. My guess would be that it will take at least a year probably more like two before gold drops back to 1500. Love the charts and the thought process on banknotes, it's nice to have that kind of data available and extrapolate, not sure if I could find the same info for lesser know world notes but I'll check it out. I do have a pretty good stack of small size NBN (exclusively Michigan) which I've collected over the years along with many notes from wildcat and state banks (all Michigan) and some odd and ends. Took a break from U.S. currency for a while but maybe now is the time to ease back in, maybe a nice easy FRN series. Asian notes are still going nuts, especially if you have the right S#. Was contemplating a S. Korean set, so many choices. You're right about that, his posts are the main reason I was sniffing around the Zimbabwe first series.

With gold continuing its ascent towards $1,800 I had pumped the breaks on any new gold purchases about six months ago, and came to a dead stop in late March. Having just sent in, what will likely be my last submission of gold coins for awhile I was thinking I should take this opportunity to focus more on my banknote collection/collecting goals. Now appears to be an opportune time for me, with an influx of modern Ukrainian banknotes (my current focus) hitting the market at relatively low prices, or at least at what I would consider a low cost for already graded notes ($30-$40). I'm also going to take this moment to go through my raw notes and purchase a few more, then put together my first submission to PMG, which I have been putting off due to my inexperience in judging the quality of a banknote. I think I've read, studied and observed enough graded notes to feel somewhat confident in my own grading skills. I should have a submission of around 12 notes ready to go by August, we'll see. Need to start working on some descriptions for the notes I already have, but that seams more like a winter endeavor. PMG World banknotes in high grades just seem to be plentiful right now and at reasonable prices, especially when compared to gold, or even a graded world silver bullion coin from one of the many popular series. As I approach the mid way point of my Ukrainian sets I start to wonder what's next? I have a couple of Zimbabwe notes and I'll probably stay current on the new series that is currently being released (I have the $2 & $5 notes) and I really like the first series of Zimbabwe notes, P1 -12. As another member has already written, the first series notes have recently been readily available and in high grades. I've been keeping my eye on the first series notes but just haven't been able to pull the trigger on them, mainly because Ukrainian notes have been popping up like deer in my garden. I'm really looking for a country, state, province, etc. whose complete set of notes comprises 50 Pick #'s or less. I was considering Transnistria after a short article I read in Coin World about their latest commemorative note and was also considering Moldova, both of which lie in the former eastern bloc and border Ukraine. I think I'll just pickpocket a Zimbabwe note here or there (the new $10 & $20) while I'm trying to make up my mind over the next few months. Suggestions welcome. Some of my latest acquisitions.

PMG should have given out a door prize for # 1,000 🥳 Welcome aboard # 1,000!

Interesting, I hadn't heard of this. Is the premium for the serial number combinations only tied to Chinese notes or do people in China pay a premium for notes with those numbers no matter the country?

Ouch! If that's the price difference from a 65 to 64 your friend may want to give it a third try. Those are the risks you take when playing the resubmission game, don't think I would have risked it at those odds. What would the note be worth if it graded 66 or what would the increase in value have been?

You can request a new set or slot on the PMG Chat Boards. Go to the PMG Registry forum and reply to PMG Registry - Request a new slot or set here!, or email them at registry@pmgnotes.com. They'll review your request and make a decision. I don't think I've seen a set that has separate slots for specimens. Be interesting to see if it happens. Agree, I'd be nice to have a set or sets for each country that have all notes and variants. But man, you'd be talking 100's if not 1000's of notes for some countries/sets. To use the Zimbabwe registry as an example, it is actually set up quite nicely with sub-sets, which would be nice goals to complete on the way to a full set. If all the sub-sets included varieties a complete set would be a little redundant, it would still be nice to have complete sets with all varieties no matter how the individual registries are structured.

Why isn't there a Zimbabwe Complete 1980 - Date set in the registry, or say a P1-12 including varieties? 110 is a lot but there are many other sets with higher counts, Zimbabwe certainly has enough PMG graded notes to support larger more comprehensive sets. Nice get, by the way.