Revenant

I'm sure! It probably still confused the locals based on how much confusion the US had with the golden dollars and the SBAs vs the quarter. I need to do research to see of this is actually the case but the P-100 feels and looks very much tacked-on as an afterthought. You have 2, distinct six-note sub-sets that repeat the same portraits and designs and then you get Simon Bolivar again with a "100" note that is almost a dead ringer for the old P-93 100 Bolivar note. I suspect the P-100 was introduced as a throw-away, short-term stop-gap solution when they already knew the 2nd redenomination and the new Soberano series would be coming.

In terms of color and overall look the P-100 is much better than the P-99, but the decision to not put "100,000" and print all five zeros comes off as pure, grade-A, laziness in basically re-printing the P-93 while adding "Mil" in a couple places. They should have printed the zeros. They had to add "Mil," adding the zeros wouldn't have been much more. Not putting them on is just inconsistent and confusing. It drove me nuts when trying to shop for P-100s.

Leading up to my birthday a couple of weeks back I became aware of a 100,000 Bolivar Fuerte (VEN-100) note coming up for sale and ending on my birthday. On the big day the note hadn’t got any bids. I showed it to my wife, and she told me to just bid on it and call it an extra birthday present if I won. I bid. I won unopposed and took it for $24.99 after shipping. Normally I don’t know if I would have popped on a 66 EPQ at that price but the VEN-100 is one of the more desirable notes in the set it seems – much like the 100 Trillion of the Zimbabwe notes - and I wanted to fill a hole in my set. As it is, this is one of the highest point-getting notes in my Venezuela set now. While I was waiting on that to come in the mail I saw a VEN-93 100 Bolivares Fuerte note come up for sale, this time in 68 EPQ. This note had a starting bid of $28.99 on it but I thought it could still be very worth it if I didn’t have many opposing bids and I got to get a great note to fill the last hole in my Fuertes set. I did end up winning it – on November 3rd, election day. The auction ended at 6 AM. I don’t know why the seller does this but they do, so I woke up to find out I’d won. Having won that, I say that there was a P-102a* (66 EPQ) and a P-106 (67 EPQ) up for bid ending within a few hours to a few days. They were from the same seller and the seller combines shipping, so I decided to wait and see what I could get. I snagged both for $19 each. They were paid for all together, but I won the auction for the P-93 first, so I think this counts as keeping my promise to finish the Fuertes set before starting on a Soberano set. The also gives me something to put into the Soberano set so now I can stop feeling guilty about bugging Ali and PMG to make a category so I could have an empty set. Somehow I managed to load up on all the "100" notes in rapid succession with this, which is a little funny. I really like the Soberanos. The Fuertes notes look nice but the Soberanos are very bright and colorful and even my wife commented on it with the VEN-106. Maybe more on this but the VEN-93 and the VEN-100 drive me nuts. The VEN-100 was the only one where they didn't put all the zeros on it and, with the coloring added in, the VEN-100 looks a LOT like the VEN-93. See the VEN-99 below for how the VEN-100 should have been handled: My Fuertes set is now complete but I don't get a 100% complete registry set out of it because PMG wants to include the old Bolivares notes that were issued after the change in government / constitution in 1998 but before the redenomination to the Bolivares Fuertes. So they're in this registry set but these notes have a different ISO currency code, they're part of a different series and look completely different. And I have no near-term interest in picking them up.

Wow....

Yeah... But then I do periodically kick myself for not fighting a little harder for that P-77 and that P-3... Not really... but also kinda yes. It is so annoying when you are 1 note away from finishing a major block... No matter how expensive it is. Too bad that one got away from you - but buyers' remorse only gets worse over time. ALWAYS.

Hmmm... Interesting. No I hadn't seem that, thank you! But the accuracy of their assertion depends in some respects on how you define hyperinflation. Some consider the debasement of the Denarius in 3rd century Rome and the effects it had on the value of the Denarius in trade to have been a hyperinflation. Some others might also include the devaluation of the Continental Currency and the expression "Not worth a continental," to have been an example. The continental currency didn't beat the French event by much chronologically but its there. Funny note but, while, so far, it hasn't met certain technical definitions of hyperinflation, I think the new ZWD from 2019 is currently experiencing a new, 2nd Zimbabwean hyperinflation and that it's all but officially dead.

Seems fairly accurate to me. Yeah. You still have more sets, but the 4 to one would only hold if you two were the only ones with multiple sets and you aren't. Akadata has 8 LSNBN sets for example. I'm not really trying to make any point other than, if you look at user base as a gauge of interest, it isn't quite as skewed as you imply. Even then, I don't actually think the expected number of participants has anything to do with what categories get created. Rather, someone asks for them, and, if PMG feels like it, thinks they can reasonably implement it, and think it fits in with some scheme or vision they have for how they want this place to run, they do it. On the NGC side, one you get asked for a lot is Civil War Tokens. Lots of interest. Lots of people ask for it and would love it. It is darn hard to implement with a competitive set, so there are none and people make signature sets instead. Very true. There are a lot of areas in the registry where you have one or two dominant users. Funny thing is, I think two of those categories are completely unnecessary - arguably 3. I only compete in them because they're there.

I think it is unfortunate that there are so many empty categories for Disney dollars, but I think you're skewing things a bit by counting sets instead of counting users. Yes, there are 176 sets for Large NBNs, but something like ~48 of those are just you - You alone own 27.3% of the LSNBN sets if I'm seeing this right. Another large chunk of that is Sheik (26 sets, 14.8%). The two of you together own 42% of the NBN Registry Sets There are 141 Small NBN sets, but 14 of those are just you and 9 are Sheik sets. Those 25 registered Disney Dollar sets represent 22-23 unique users. So, if you count users and not sets, this is less skewed than it sounds from your post. Although, now that you mention it, my wife would probably enjoy me branching out into Disney Dollars. She loves Disney World and Disney Cruises.

I mean... it was a lot of bars but they must have been small. Article says 6 kg. That's only about 13 lbs. That'll make a heavy bag but it's not enough to break most bags unless you're carrying it around in a plastic shopping bag. I would hope / think someone carrying around $300,000 in gold would be able to buy a bag with good stitching and strong material.

Maybe the President of Zimbabwe can help you out. Talk about bad headlines: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/zimbabwe-president-s-relative-arrested-at-airport-after-gold-bars-found-in-handbag-6gblw2zq8

Side note but I think there's a 65EPQ P-1D going for $40 on eBay. It's *only* a Gem Uncirc note but it's a P-1D - still one of the highest point getting 1st dollar notes - for $40 if you want to start down that road to a 1st series set.

The P-1d was the note that single handedly knocked me out of the #1 spot in the 1st dollar category when someone else added a 66 EPQ to a set a while back. So it has been on my radar for a while as it is hard to compete in that category without having these scarcer varieties and I increasingly take pride in the overall strength of that variety set. I already have several replacement notes and there are a few cases where I have a replacement and a normal note. I could easily see that expanding with time. I've often thought a full replacement set of 3rd dollar notes could be fun but it would be expensive. Replacement notes for the 100 Trillion tend to have moon-money asking prices. I have seen Specimens but I don't see that happening as when they come up people like to slap $2,000-3,000 price tags on them and I nope out on that.

I'd say you'll be looking at $300-500 before someone pops on it. I think the first one only got $1100 because two people thought it was the only one. I've seen plenty of scarcer 1st series notes go for $110-130 in eBay auctions so dropping that for the P-1d seemed reasonable enough - especially in a very high grade. But these P-70s are crazy to me.

Did you see that the $5 70 EPQ is on sale as a BIN for $1000, but on sale this last week for just $950????

I still don’t have a P-3 at the moment and I still have that nagging hole in the set, but I recently won an auction for a P-1d – one of the highest grade examples you can ask for – a 68 EPQ Star. This thing popped up on my radar about three months ago when it and a 68 EPQ (no star) were put up for sale with price tags of $190 (with the star) and $100 (no star). They were up for auction and those were the starting bids. Buying a P-1d was a dream and a goal of mine for over a year now but getting one of these notes at those prices would have easily made the note the most expensive note in my set. I could not make myself pull the trigger on a bid even though I knew I’d hate missing out on such great examples of the note. Apparently, I was not alone though in that no one else bid and they went unsold, so the seller posted them as a BIN at the same prices as the old starting bids. They sat on inventory for a while after that. I kept expecting them to sell but they didn’t. My problem wasn’t that I thought the asking price was unreasonable. I have seen rarer varieties of the 1st dollar notes go in auctions for ~$125 before and these were 68s. I was just having a hard time convincing myself to pay that for one. As time went on the thought of adding one of these to my set grew one me and I was close to ordering the 68 EPQ (no star). I couldn’t convince myself to go for the start for $190 but I did like the idea of getting this scarcer variety for my set in a really nice grade. I was just waiting a few more days to pull the trigger – lucky me as it turned out. The Star note got pulled from the BIN listing and a few days later popped up in an auction with a starting bid price of $100 – same price as the BIN on the non-star. At that point I decided to go ahead and wait a week for the auction to end and see what it would go for. I knew the 68 EPQ was unlikely to sell in the interim with this one up for auction. So that made me feel safe enough to wait longer. I waited and no one bid. So, Friday night, with the auction ending at 2:30 AM Saturday, I put in a bid of $114 and went to bed hoping for the best. I woke up the next morning and found out I’d won it without other bidders. I was going to be out of town for a few days soon after the note ended so I casually bid on some of the seller’s other auctions and waited a few days to pay, knowing that would help make sure it was delayed shipping out and that it would not arrive when I wasn’t home to receive it. I’m glad I did because it still came just a couple of days after we got back home. Its really exciting to have this and to have a complete variety set for at least 1 of the 4 first series notes.

Forgot to say this earlier but, while I don't have it yet, I think the new $20 falls short of the P-4 design its copying, particularly with how the elephant on the back is done.

So today is my bday and my wife gave me my birthday gift last night. This journal is going to come in two parts: 1) Why it is freaking hilarious and kind of perfect that she got me this. 2) Why I'm actually happy with it this time. So in the long ago days of January 2019 my wife was pregnant with our 2nd child and looking for a way to surprise me with something I'd love for our anniversary. It was a stressful time for us. She was in a high risk pregnancy. There was a very real risk that she'd die and that this could be the 4th and final anniversary together. So she goes on a website and sees my wishlist and buys me a 20T note. Thing is... I didn't have a 20T note on my list. I had a 20 BILLION note on my list, but who can blame her with all fhe freakin zeros, right? That note was also ungraded and it just didn't do anything for me with my already graded 65 EPQ. I felt bad at the time because she tried so hard and she was so pleased with herself but I couldn't hide my confusion when I got it. But we laughed it off, we got to return it, I bought a (much cheaper) graded 67 EPQ 20 Billion note for my set and even one or two other notes with the difference. Her getting me that note reignited my interest in this set after it had lain dormant for years after I was laid off in 2016 and that present became the launching point for what has been a 1.5 year obsession with building out this set. I've said before that building this set was a big part of how I dealt with the stress and anxiety of Sam's birth... And here it is again. She didn't even remember it / that it was the same note. That fact was lost in the fog of the craziness of that. It was just too funny. So here's why I'm happy with it this time (in addition to it just being hilarious). 1) This note actually was on my wishlist because that old 65 EPQ was kind of an under-performer in my 3rd dollar set and I'd been thinking that the 20 Trillion would be a priority for upgrade if I ever started upgrading. This 3-point move up is pretty fantastic for what is one of the more important notes in the 3rd dollar series. Since it was a present and since I don't see myself wanting to drop big cash for a 69 EPQ I see this one staying in the set long term now. 2) This note is in a new-gen holder and doesn't have the darker tinted plastic that the old one is in. The new note, while it isn't a "low serial number," is much lower than the old one (184955 vs 298832). The low serial (and the fact that it is a 12 year old note in a new holder in pristine condition) has me thinking that this note spent the last decade in an unbroken bundle / brick and someone must have broken a brick to cherry-pick for some gradable examples.

My Zimbabwe set has definitely balanced higher grades vs getting more notes at still very good grades leading to a more complete and IMO better overall set. Part of the reason it took me so long to pull the trigger on the P-1D even though I really wanted it was even for $100 I knew I could fill more holes in my set and I though getting things like the P-15 would do FAR more for my overall set than having the 4th and final P-1 variety. So I know your pain. When the time is right to get that one I think you'll know. I waited on the P-1D and I'm happy.

Oh totally, but I think you will be waiting unless I surprise myself because upgrading that set isn't my highest priority even for note collecting right now One of my uncles once got a box with a brick. Under the brick was a new wallet with a $50 bill. I once got the box to an alarm clock. It was stuffed with paper and had a $50 gift card inside it. So we do stuff like this. I once had Ben show up on mother's day with a shirt that said, "Happy mother's day. I'm your present. Dad says you're welcome." 😆

Mkay... I'll make plans to bust your chops about this later. Lol I very very seriously thought about a 2019 $2 in 68 EPQ when I bought my P-1d but I'm still holding until I find out what I get from the wife on Monday.

Yup. That seller likes to put starting bids close to "fair value," as a way of making sure they don't lose their rear. I think the first one led them to over estimate the market value in a market where more than one exists. It's interesting that the "loser" on the first note didn't come back for the 2nd. Probably thanking their lucky stars the other person beat them. I'll talk on this more later but I "won" the 1994 $2 P-1d in 68 EPQ Star - the highest grade example so far of the rarest P-1 type. It set me back $115 all told. I'm much happier with that than a 69 EPQ of the new $5 note or a 70 EPQ of the new $2 for 4 times as much.

Yeah. My big.problem right now is my lack of a P-3. My 4th dollar $5 note is just a 64 EPQ because its the only one I've seen up for sale and for about $20 it was worth just not having to look at that hole.

Ha! You actually thought about it? I guess the bug has bit you bad with this set! The funny thing is, we're not the only ones buying these - that much is clear, because we aren't the ones dropping $400-1100 for 70EPQs. Zimbabwe notes are also among the most posted / discussed things in the Paper Money and Currency sub-reddits and there are even whole online stores dedicated to this - like "100trillion.com." It's not that I don't think there's interest in the notes. I just think the RBZ has printed enough of them to ensure that they never have any chance of being hard to find.

BTW, I'm pretty sure you bought something I was watching and considering. So this clearly means war! Later... After I'm done with other areas of focus and after I figure out what my wife bought for my birthday in 2 weeks. Lol

Sounds like you've been busy! If you pass me up when you do get around to posting them I'll look into giving you a hard time with it later. 😆