Saor Alba

Aircraft and ships:

Ships of all sorts, from Caravels to modern ocean liners:

Naval rowboats in the Battle of Queenstown Heights in Upper Canada - 1812:

A popular activity in Greece apparently:

More fishing vessels:

Der Deutschen Kriegsmarine:

Fishing vessel:

More horse and buggy:

Small little horse and buggy on the reverse:

More outrigger: And another:

A shark as transport, and also an outrigger canoe:

One of the intriquing and fascinating aspects of paper money in the People's Republic of China is after the communist government secured it's position in all of China in 1949 women began appearing on paper money - perhaps in the interests of equality. On this 1 Yuan note released first in 1960 and used up until 1980 a young lady drives a tractor. A recent issue of the IBNS Journal had a story about the 1 Yuan note with the lady on the tractor, in this case at least, it was based on a photo of her on a tractor. Evidently the lady (Liang Jun) was China's first female tractor driver. She was trained in 1948 at a school sanctioned by the Communist Party and wound up working most of her life with agricultural machinery. She retired in 1990 and is now 80 years old.

Yep, I know of one, but Pablo swore me to secrecy about it.

The one with the buffalo on it is the Series 692: These are fairly common notes, last that were issued to American servicemen. It is from the most beautiful series of the MPC's that were issued. The Buffalo on there also famously appeared on this note nearly 70 years before:

The vignette of the young lady on this 1926 series of banknotes issued by Caixa de Estabilizacao "Stabilisation Bank" is titled "Reverie" and her image appeared as the central portrait on all of the notes from this series. The Brazilian Reis currency had been in circulation as a unit since 1790, during the era of Portuguese rule. Brazil would subsequently become an empire independent of Portugal and thence a republic in 1889, after which the currency sharply devalued. By the time this note was issued it was worth approximately 80 US cents, and was backed by redemption in gold. Of course as with all paper money - eventually it lost value, with the adoption of the Cruzeiro currency in 1942 and the final demonetisation of the Reis currency in 1955. Since that time Brazil has gone through numerous currency re-valuations where previous currencies quickly lose all value and are called in and replaced. The currency reform in Germany was brought on by inflation of the old Reichsmark and the need to provide Germany with a stable currency. By 1948 relations betwixt the western powers and the Soviet Union had broken down to the point at which the Soviets were not even included in the planning for the introduction of the new Deutschmark denominated currency beginning in 1948. Curiously the new currency order was initiated on Sunday 20 June by Ludwig Erhard, Director of Economics in the Western Zones of Germany - he chose this day as he was sure the Western Powers(USA, Britain and France) could not countermand his order. Despite his heavy handed step towards German financial independence he succeeded. The sheer volume of currency being exchanged for the old Reichsmarks necessitated currency coming in from multiple sources, German printers, Banque de France and from America the American Banknote Company and Tudor Press. This 20DM note was printed by American Banknote Company but does not bear their imprint. The vignette is proprietary to this note and is symbolic of industry - with the ubiquitous beehive and the factory in the background. These 1948 dated notes symbolised the nascent rebirth of the German economy - the bold decision by Ludwig Erhard initiated the phenomenal growth in the German economy that would result in Germany rejoining Europe as an economic powerhouse.

The ones I had were Eiffel and Curie, the newest. I had used the Montesque and the Pascal notes, but never saved any of them. I think the only ones I kept new examples of were the 10FF and 20FF notes. The rest of the larger stuff I bought up uncirculated examples of in banks there, and brought home and parceled out on fleaBay back then.

I had a wad of the 200, and 500FF notes that I sold a few years ago.

A solitary nickel, second find in two days.

A really snarfily chewed up Zincoln, an' a right loverly image of Randy L'Teton on a Sackie buck. Never found a Sackie in the wild befores.

I really enjoy the orchid series from Singapore, and the bird series somewhat.

There were a select few of notes that could be picked up in the early '80's for a pittance compared to their present prices. I bought up a bunch of Falklands notes back in 1982, when you could buy the Pound notes for $5 or so. Now they trade in the $175-250 range. I have been slowly but surely releasing them into the wild.

It could very well be a 747 100 or 200, there is not enough detail to discern the particular variant. Back in the late 1970's they had the Concorde on the back of the bird series $20: From Ron Wise's site. Singapore Airlines had options on purchasing the Concorde - but then with the noise concerns, and the revenue concerns - they cancelled any prospect of buying the bird - a very wise decision as it would turn out - for the entire time that the Concordes flew they were a money loser for British Airways and Air France. But the $20 remains as testament to their then desire to buy it.

Oh yeah, Reunion

"Singapore girl, you are a great way to fly"