Scottishmoney

A very pretty and somewhat scarce example, particularly in this state of preservation.

My own, and the best in awhile: Check out that sweet 1921 Lincoln. That is the oldest CoinStar find I have ever made.

Those are pretty close to pure nickel too, and worth more than a nickel still even with the lower metal prices lately. They were worth as much as 14 cents last year. The RCM was actively pulling and melting all older coins coming in from banks.

Isn't that Bokassa? The guy started out as president, then became president for life, then let his ego really take off and became Emperor Bokassa - then got overthrown in a coup d' etat.

Very interesting and provocative write up, especially since I work with child welfare in E. Europe currently.

After a very long drought something worth waiting for.... A 1943 Steelie, dark, but NOT corroded. It is the fourth steelie I have gotten in the past couple of months, the other three were purchased out of the school lunch money receipts before they were deposited.

So basically this child labourer was encouraged to pay back his fare expenses from England to Canada, then back, solely for the purpose of being un-reimbursed labour for some Canadian family. Wow, how times have changed. If you were an orphan back then, you were viewed with not much more respect than you would have viewed some former slave.

PM Sent - Ukrainians

Yes, I have an AU 1934 Cleveland. The Atlanta's are scarcer than the Chicagos or New Yorks, the Cleveland is downright rare.

There are several more like it I would like to be relieved of, including a rare Cincinnati Series 1934 $1000 that I will sell of sometime soon.

Great deal for a not insignificant sale, thank you very much.

Hmm, vaguely familiar. I think I have seen that one in the past.

I like to think that after Bulgaria had this note printed, they decided no more lovely Bulgarians on notes. Because aside from the 1920 1 and 2 Leva notes no more Bulgarian lovelies appeared on notes again for a very long time. Oh yes, during the socialist era women, rather stocky and somewhat mannish appeared on Bulgarian notes, but no more lovelies. It was as though Bulgaria didn't want the secret to get out. It is one of my very favourite notes from Bulgaria, one I have never found a decent example of for my own collection unfortunately.

Nice note, large denomination, and printed by Bradbury Wilkinson. I really like some of those early Bulgarian notes, they have so many influences from all over. The 100 Leva zolota from 1917 is my favourite though.

Nothing to be sorry about, I am not having to sell my collections, I want to. Just a change for me, philanthropy is going to be my new thing. I get much more rewarding experiences from it. I am working on a child welfare project in E. Europe and just returned from there this weekend. I might be going back in about three weeks or so too. I think I will always like looking at banknotes, coins and studying them but I will rather use my resources for what for me are more rewarding pursuits.

I would have bought those for my ladies on banknotes collection, but I stopped collecting in that venue back in October. Actually that collection will hit the auction block at some point in the near future along with everything else.

I haven't found anything in the reject tray in months, the machines are getting more use with the lousy economy, and people seem to be a little more inclined to checking them.

This is a most fascinating colonial: Can you have imagined the furor this would have created in this day, what with bare chested Africans and a fully clothed French colonial saviour? But indeed, the design is lovely, emblematic of the "Empire Francaise" 5000FR note of 1945.

A purchase from the FUN auction this weekend: Standard Bank - $5 1891 Not in pretty condition, but five pretty girls on this note. The vignette on the right is classic ABNCo, and was used on Peruvian notes until the 1940's, the centre vignette is very unique to this note, and unique in design with her head tilted whilst she smells some flowers. Canadian Charter Banks have some of the most colourful and lovely paper money around, and thankfully Canadian Bank of Commerce didn't have the monopoly on pretty notes. This note was issued in the same date with three different colour varieties, one being grey, this orangish red, and then one in deep blue.

A gift from your part of the world, for someone from your part of the world, but alas, not you

Bulgaria had joined the Latin Monetary Union in 1889, in effect unifying it's currency with Romania, France, Italy, Switzerland etc. Unfortunately the devestating effects of WWI rendered the monetary union obsolete, and currencies once again floated, and lost value quickly. The Bulgarian Leva currency depreciated rapidly, and what had been a silver coin was now reduced to being a small change note that was printed by Waterlow and Sons in London in 1921. This particular note possesses several fascinating aspects, it is printed in old Cyrillic, and the spelling conventions of several of the words on this note have changed since that time. Many of the silent characters have since been eliminated from the Cyrillic alphabet. The reverse of the note displays the printers imprint, but curiously instead of London, uses the French rendering of the name, Londres. This is a reflection of the usage of French in Bulgaria as the international language, even notes printed into the early Communist era in Bulgaria bore French language reverses.

African notes are so fascinating, interesting themes, colourful, and yes, often have women on them.