see323

But of course there are plenty of US collectors of obsolete banks who would be interested in these notes.

 

You'd likely get more info over at forums.collectors.com on this.

You are right that they are plenty of US collectors of obsolute banks but unfortunately there is low interest from Singapore collectors ( just my opinion ). Thanks for sharing the listed sold pieces.

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

alamak !

See! I miss your super repeaters!

Nowadays, very little action on acquiring new notes unless I found a pretty rare one for my collection. I started cycling since Aug 2008 when I imported two Montague Swissbike LX ( foldable mountain bikes ) from a US ebay seller. Since then, I lost 6 kgs which I was unable to achieve for the past years. Seem like I can now wear some of my old clothings. A good healthy exercise.

After reading further information on Singapore, Michigan town in Wikipedia, I felt that the name Singapore does not seem to be a coincidence.

Here are few facts to note :

(1) The country Singapore was found in 1819 by British Empire - Sir Stamford Raffles.

(2) Singapore, Michigan town was found in 1836 by New York land speculator Oshea Wilder.

(3)Oshea Wilder (1784-1846) was an early pioneer to southwest Michigan. Born 16 July 1784 in Gardner, Massachusetts to Elijah and Azubah (Wells) Wilder, he initially made his living as a blacksmith before entering the military to fight in the War of 1812. On 4 February 1813, Wilder married Cornelia Anthony (1791-1866), daughter of John and Sarah (Shaw) Anthony. In the 1820s, they toured Europe, settling in New York upon their return to the United States

(4) The War of 1812 was fought from 1812 to 1815 between the United States of America and the British Empire

Conclusion : Somehow Oshea Wilder must have come across the name Singapore after he and his family returned to United States from their Europe tour in 1820s. He found and name his Michigan town, Singapore in 1836. This is only my opinion.

Thanks See323........for locating and transfering the info, am sure many of the 'current' Singapore collectors will be enlighten and amazed about this particular series.

What do you reckon the value of the signed notes and the uncut ones to be? From your experience, is there a demand for these notes?

Honestly, I do not really know the market value of these notes. As I mentioned earlier, a few years back , I was offered by a local Singapore dealer at S$300 per piece in Fine or VF condition. In my opinion, these notes are not popular among serious Singapore collectors. It's just a coincidence that the US town and bank bear the same name as Singapore. It would be a popular note if it originates from Singapore such as early banknotes from various banks.

Your nickname seems familiar. I must previously communicated with you in ebay.

Cheers.

Wow See323! What a wonderful reply. Thanks for such an informative post! Great banknotes, too!.

The info taken from this website at : http://singaporemichiganobsoletebanknotes.com/

I thought it is better to cut and paste this valuable information into the forum in case the website disappear.

A few years ago, I was offered these notes. It was interesting since they bear the name of my country. The offered notes were expensive. Unfortunately, I have no interest in collecting them.

Singapore Michigan Obsolete Bank Notes

"A Little Piece of History"

SINGAPORE, MICHIGAN OBSOLETE BANK NOTES

Around 175 years ago, there was a town on the eastern shores of Lake Michigan near what is now Saugatuck, Michigan called Singapore. The city was located in the southwestern part of the State of Michigan. This section of the state turned out to be one of the first areas settled. The area had promise for exploitation of the lumber located in the area and later for shipbuilding and trading with other cities located on the Great Lakes.

In 1820, Lewis Cass is believed to have traveled near there while he was exploring the Great Lakes and possibly the Mississippi River area. Also doing business was Gordon Hubbard, an employee of fur trader John Jacob Astor fame. Up to that time, it seems only fur traders were visiting the area which was inhabited by Ottawa Indians.

Around 1830, the first settling family of William Butler arrived.

The area was surveyed in 1831, noting numerous Sand Banks and a number of various trees. A large part of the property was purchased by Horace Comstock. Mr. Comstock and another early settler by the name of Stephen Nichols felt a warehouse and pier were needed to support the arrival of goods and household effects of new arrivals.

In 1836, Oshea Wilder, who had previously visited the area, and four other men agreed to invest in the states of Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin Territory and in Indiana. It was agreed that Mr. Wilder would be allowed to purchase land as appropriate for investment purposes. Mr. Wilder noted the Singapore site would be well suited for the building of a saw mill. By December of 1836, Mr. Wilder had purchased the necessary land which included the Village of Singapore and in the beginning of 1837 had contracts let to build a scow and boats, along with contracts for a saw mill and housing for the workmen.

Mr. Wilder noted that money was rather scarce, but real estate continued to advance and the general prosperity continued. During 1837, development within Singapore continued.

In 1837, the State of Michigan passed a general banking law that permitted any ten or more freeholders of any county to organize themselves into a corporation for the transaction of banking business, with a capital of not less than $50,000, nor more than $300,000. These banks were empowered to print an issue their own paper money. The act further provided that no bank should commence operation until 30% of the stock should be actually paid in, in specie or hard money, (defined in the act as gold coins, but usually gold in any form and many silver coins were considered acceptable). In the original act, the issuing Bank was required to redeem its banknotes and hard money on demand, or within 30 days thereafter. Failure to do so would result in dissolution of the bank.

As luck would have it, and before any new banks had completed the chartering process, the Financial Panic of 1837 started, and the subsequent run on banks, caused banks in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Baltimore to suspend specie payment and redemption of banknotes. Fearing that depositors, thwarted in other states, might flood the banks of Michigan with otherwise worthless paper money, the Michigan Legislature, in a special session in June of 1837 also suspended the specie redemption requirement. Surprisingly, the lawmakers left the general banking laws in force. New banks could continue to be organized and allowed to start the business of issuing bills while the requirements to redeem them were still in a state of suspension. AMAZING!!

These new banking institutions would later be called "WILDCAT" banks because these banks were as hard to find in the woods of Michigan as the alleged elusive wildcat! Thus, if the main office for the bank that was required to redeem its money was located in some far off and/or inaccessible place, the paper money that was issued by the bank could then be circulated in the far reaches of the state, and the East coast and as a result the money would be less likely to be presented to the issuing bank for redemption. One story that was passed down alleged that there was one bank found located in a saw mill, and another located in a hollowed out tree stump!

When the banking law was passed, Oshea Wilder was quick to act on behalf of the city of Singapore. First he tried to get his investors from the East involved, but they were not very keen on the idea. As a result, Mr. Wilder, turned to James Carter, a distant relative of his who lived in Leominster, Mass. The official organizers of the Singapore bank were all residents, as the new law required, and application was dated October 5, 1837. Mr. Wilder made application to the county clerk of Allegan to have the books open for the subscription of the capital stock of an institution to be located in the village of Singapore, County of Allegan, with a capital stock of $50,000.

Daniel S. Wilder, the son of Oshea, was named president of the bank, and Rob Hill, was to serve as cashier. The bank was located first in a boarding house, and then moved to a separate building. Records around that time show pressed brick was ordered and shipped from Boston for the construction of a vault.

According to Harold L. Bowen in his book of 1956 titled "State Bank Notes of Michigan", ornate bills were printed by Rawdon, Wright and Hatch, a New York engraving firm, in one, two, three and five dollar denominations on each printed sheet for a total of $11 per sheet. There were 5,000 sheets printed for a total face value of $55,000. The bills, printed on one side only, were struck on a single sheet and then cut apart and signed by the cashier and president prior to be placed in circulation. Of the $55,000, records show that banknotes valued at only $15,952 were actually put in circulation during the bank's short existence. (If you assume the $15,952 figure to be correct, and each sheet was worth $11, this would break down to roughly 1,450 of each note issued.).

There should have been $15,000 of hard money or specie reserve. All reports indicate that this was not likely.

Pictures of three of the four notes are set forth below.

Several things are worth noting regarding these notes.

1. These bills are hard to locate, especially in decent condition.

2. They should be signed in and around the end of 1837 and early 1838. Note the bank went out of business in April of 1838 due to the suspension of the State of Michigan General Banking Law.

3. The signatures likely to be found would be Rob Hill, the Cashier and D. S. Wilder, the president. Other signatures should be questioned.

4. Printing was done only on the obverse.

5. The paper upon which the notes were printed is very thin and very susceptible to wear.

6. Based on Dr. James A. Haxby's four volume book titled Standard Catalog of United States Obsolete Bank Notes 1782-1866, we note concerning the cataloging of these notes that the title of the Singapore notes is "MI-420 Bank of Singapore, 1837-39". The $1 note is numbered G2. The $2 note is numbered G4. The $3 note is numbered G6. The $5 note is numbered G8.

7. Uncut sheets can be found (likely not signed), of the four notes of Singapore which Dr. Haxby catalogues as X1.

In December of 1837, the state of Michigan Legislature sought to curb the worst abuse by appointing three bank inspectors, who would inspect every bank at least once every three months. Noted in the records of the inspectors in 1838, that "the singular spectacle was presented of the officers of the state seeking for banks in situations the most inaccessible and remote from trade, and finding at every step an increase of labor by the discovery of new and unknown organizations. Before they could be arrested the mischief was done."

SPECIE OR NO SPECIE – THAT IS THE QUESTION

A major concern at this time was whether the Singapore Bank as well as other banks in the area had adequate specie or "hard money" to back up the notes that were issued. Because of this, it was not hard to run across "business relationships" that developed between individuals around Singapore and in the town of Allegan, around 25 miles away.

Relationships between the Allegan Company, The Boston Company and the Singapore City Company are noted. Because of these relationships, the grouping together for everybody's benefit was apparent, especially as it related to banking in the area. The Bank of Allegan and the Bank of Singapore and likely others, would pool their specie to create an adequate amount to please the inspectors as they did their audits of the banks.

In a history of Allegan County in the 1880's, a visit by one of the inspectors was noted as follows: "just before the day appointed for that event the president of the Allegan Bank, knowing that two of his neighbors had a considerable sum and gold coin, designed for the entry of lands, effected a temporary loan of the gold and placed it among the banks assets. It was counted by the Commissioner and with great complacency the succeeding night, and the same gold preceded him to the Bank of Singapore, at the mouth of the Kalamazoo, where the official also counted it as part of the assets of that bank."

ANOTHER PASSED DOWN THEORY OF SPECIE VALIDATION

As noted in Kit Lane's book titled "Buried Singapore: Michigan's Imaginary Pompeii", there is one of the great legends of Allegan County (which continues to this day), and which is based on some facts, but likely embellished over time, concerns the day that the pooled bank specie was being conveyed down the Kalamazoo River. It had been viewed by the bank inspector at the Bank of Allegan and was entrusted to a local Indian (probably Maksaube, an Ottawa Indian who had saved Alexander Ely from a near frozen river in 1834). Paddling swiftly to beat the bank inspector who was traveling by horseback, the canoe was just upstream from Saugatuck when it hit an obstacle in the river and capsized. The bag of gold sank to the bottom in a particularly deep part of the river. The Indian rushed ahead to Singapore and told his story. While James Harris, the village blacksmith, devised a drag hook to get the gold from the bottom of the river, word was sent back to Richmond (a nearby village) to intercept the inspector, as he would have paused there to cross the river. There was no bridge at that location yet, but there was a ferry for foot traffic. The inspector's horse would have to wade or swim.

As to Richmond, which was onn the north bank of the Kalamazoo River, and was about opposite the present day settlement of the village of New Richmond, there was a small sawmill community under construction in 1838. It had been established by John Allen, founder of Ann Arbor, and a number of Eastern investors in late 1835 and early 1836. Two of the first men on the scene were Jonathan F. Stratton, who had contracted with Allen to grub a mill race and Ralph R. Mann, who first signed (and later backed out of) a contract to build the first mill. Stratton's contract also gave him permission "to erect and build at his own proper cost and expense at Richmond, a large two-story public house for the accommodation of travelers."

In 1837, Charles Moseley, one of the investors in the project, visited the settlement and noted that Stratton had already cut timber for his tavern house, and that Mann, who was not a great favorite of his, had been appointed Justice of the Peace "and will be a nuisance to our village. He calculated to keep a tavern, sell whiskey and do anything that a lazy unprincipled man can devise to make a sixpence…." He later reported that Mann "has already begun to keep whiskey and uses it freely himself."

It was at this settlement that word was sent from Singapore asking either Mann or Stratton to delay the inspector long enough to give the Singapore men time to recover the gold. The inspector was invited for a drink, perhaps even a meal; maybe a party and a night's lodging. Downstream using the blacksmith's hook on the end of a dragging rope, the gold was recovered and sent to the bank to dry out a bit. Word was then sent back to Richmond that the inspector could proceed. Shortly afterwards, or perhaps the next day, the inspector and the specie met again at the Singapore Bank.

The story has been told and retold over the years. In 1898, when Mr. Henry Hudson Hutchings interviewed the old-timers of the area and compiled their memories into a series of newspaper articles, the basic facts were upheld by John P. Wade who had come to Singapore in 1844 and R. Wadsworth who settled in nearby Ganges Township in 1840, and had heard it from the earliest settlers in the area. For many years a set of drag hooks, said to be the very ones that recovered the gold from the river, were on display in the nearby Saugatuck village hall.

A THIRD NARRATIVE USING QUESTIONABLE SINGAPORE CURRENCY

There is another interesting story as to use of the Singapore notes by one Levi Loomis, who was believed to be one of the first settlers in the Singapore area.

During the late 1830's, there seems to have been a shortage of footwear in the area. Mr. Loomis noted this and thought he had a solution to the problem. He wanted to order footwear from the east, and when received would try to sell them locally. When the locals tried to buy the footwear, they presented Mr. Loomis with Bank of Singapore notes, which, as it turned out, Mr. Loomis refused to accept.

Because the locals also knew the people who ran the bank, and the fact that the bank of Singapore wanted to try and please its customers, the bank worked out an arrangement whereby it agreed it would redeem the Singapore bills with bills from the east and would do so in time to enable Mr. Loomis to pay timely the invoices for the footwear. Mr. Loomis agreed to this arrangement and it is believed he sold his stock of footwear for the sum of $600.

As one could imagine, when the time for the redemption came due, the Bank of Singapore started to look for ways to delay this process. The bank first tried to make a draft on one of the Eastern banks, but it came back worthless. This continued for another month, and Mr. Loomis was getting worried. After all, Mr. Loomis had his credit and reputation at stake and as the delays continued he felt he needed to take desperate measures.

Mr. Loomis is thought to have rented a room to the Bank of Singapore's cashier, Mr. Rob Hill. Mr. Loomis suspected that Mr. Hill had with him the real specie of the bank and kept it in his room. When Mr. Loomis was sure no one else was around, he went to the room of Mr. Hill, who was sleeping at the time, and woke him up and dumped the worthless bills on top of Mr. Hill's mattress. Mr. Loomis, who had a pistol, pointed it toward Mr. Hill and demanded Mr. Hill trade him good money for the bad.

Mr. Hill it is claimed, was taken by surprise and tried to stall, but Mr. Loomis would have nothing of it. Mr. Loomis would not allow Mr. Hill to leave the room until the exchange was made. As a result, it is believed Mr. Hill, taking Mr. Loomis's threat seriously, went over to his bed, lifted up his pillow, under which there is claimed to have been a roll of $1,000 of real bank money, and traded the Singapore money with the "good" bank money.

It should be noted the during this whole time, the currency issued by the Singapore Bank was never really accepted by the people or the merchants. Its actual circulation was believed to be small and short lived. Thus, little was ever issued, and even less ever survived!!!

THE SUSPENSION OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN BANKING LAWS

The State of Michigan General Banking laws turned out to be of a short duration. The state suspended the law on April 3, 1838. With this suspension, these "wildcat" banks were put out of business.

The Bank of Singapore was no exception. In 1839, the bank did attempt to reorganize, however, after a state of Michigan bank commissioners' visit, the operations ceased.

The charter of the bank was annulled by the state legislature on February 16, 1842 along with a number of the other wildcat banks.

It is claimed that during this time, Mr. Loomis was visiting at the home of one of the former bank officers on a cold winter evening. This visit is purported to have taken place to see the burning and destruction of the Singapore bank notes that were still on hand at the time of the suspension. The claim was made that there was a table covered with the bills of the bank alleged to be in three to six inch piles. It was stated that these bills were burned in a stove at that time.

The bank building was later used as a general store and then physically moved later on to the village of Saugatuck.

The city of Singapore continued on for a number of years until the lumber ran out in the later part of the 19th century. The lumber was used to help rebuild the city of Chicago after the great Chicago fire as well as other cities also destroyed by fire in the area.

WHAT ONCE WAS, IS NO MORE

Once the lumber ran out, the people moved on to other areas. The city of Singapore ceased to exist and was abandoned and became a ghost town. Today, there is little in the way of physical evidence left due to the city being covered by the shifting sand dunes that still exist to this day. Unless you are aware of the prior history, the average citizen to the area today, would have no idea that a once bustling city existed in that north side location at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River!! The only real physical evidence existing today are those few obsolete bank notes collected by savy collectors, which continues to tell part of the story of the ghost town of Singapore.

since it is going to be a gift for someone.

Thank you.

Just receive this note free from a NZ collector friend. First Prefix Year 2003 (AA 03 005555) and it's a $5 Denomination. Although condition not very good but it is the 5555th produced in the year of 2003.

Why not sell it and see?

 

From the auction I didn't see much going to that level, even unique notes, seems like quite a premium for an AU

Not selling now especially when world economy is bad and inflation is high. It does affect the final auction price.

It's worth a look through the realised prices now the auction is over

http://www.spink.com/asp/fullCatalogue.asp...7&saletype=

 

All I can say is I am happy not to be collecting this stuff. Soooooooo expensive.

 

The 1925 $5 (as above) sold for S$4400

This Spink Auction contained the collection of two big collectors, thus it has a lot of good quality pieces. The prices seems a bit soft. It could be due to the overall world economy especially when the stock market are not doing well. I can only say that one big collector is buy most of the good stuff. The fact is that we won't we seeing them for a long time since they are lock-up in collections.

The 1925 $5 sold at S$4400 is only a good very fine. Still I do not see an AU or better in any Spink Auction so far. What would the price be for a 1925 $5 in original AU - UNC condition. S$50,000 or S$100,000.

maybe this links will be usefull http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bernhard

http://www.germannotes.com/faq_operation_bernhard.shtml

Great. Thanks for the link. Definitely it will benefit everyone here.

Yeah I do worry about this.

 

The 1948/1949 essay specimens I bought sold for $400, but at the previous auction they sold for $750, perhaps because nobody had seen them before.

 

Who knows how many more exist?

 

That said, the TDLR numbered specimens as above, are slightly more appealing because they say "SPECIMEN No. 16", and there are clearly a limited number in existence, because they are individually numbered.

I have seen and come across these "appealing" individually numbered specimen notes ( quite a few around ). As long as there is no information on their mintage provided to the general public, there is no guarantee and there is no or low demand. Moreover, they are not legal tender. They are merely representation of the circulation note. We do not want to take such risk and end up having a worthless collection. Think twice.

Yeah I do worry about this.

 

The 1948/1949 essay specimens I bought sold for $400, but at the previous auction they sold for $750, perhaps because nobody had seen them before.

 

Who knows how many more exist?

 

That said, the TDLR numbered specimens as above, are slightly more appealing because they say "SPECIMEN No. 16", and there are clearly a limited number in existence, because they are individually numbered.

I have seen and come across these "appealing" individually numbered specimen notes ( quite a few around ). As long as there are no information on their mintage provided to the general public, there is no guarantee and there is no or low demand. Moreover, they are not legal tender. They are merely representation of the circulation note. We do not want to take such risk and end up having a worthless collection. Think

The one sold at SPINK yesterday

 

http://www.spink.com/asp/fullCatalogue.asp...8&saletype=

 

had serial

5A00000

25A00000

 

which is as you'd expect, zero serial number, first letter prefix; the ones on ebay have normal serial numbers - the 100 in particular has a three-letter serial, which I believe occurred later, after they'd worked through A-Z and AA-ZZ.

 

Not one of the notes has a zero or special serial (though the 1958, 1968, 1975, 1977, 1982, 1992, notes; i.e. those other than the TDLR notes, have 'X' prefixes, i.e. replacement note).

 

Are they all just faked?

 

I can't see how they have any collector's appeal, as against those with zero serials.

From what I understood, the whole purpose of producing specimen notes were to be given to all countries in the world for references. They usually have normal serial number with a specimen word printed across the note. Printer specimen are different as in the case of TDLR oval or sometimes round shape chop. I am not too sure about the other printer such as American Banknotes printer. Printer specimen are kept by printer for their own references. There are also colour trials with printer chop which are kept by printer. I believe these printer specimen were brought by their staff to collectors. Sometimes, it could be the printer company no longer exists or bought over by another printer company.

Just look at Cuba specimen. There are so many of them. It is almost like mass production. It is hard to tell whether they are faked ones as there are insufficient information both on mintage and type for these specimen notes including printer specimen. But one thing for sure, there are not as many printer specimen available for sales as compared to those normal specimen notes.

Another group of specimen is the collector's specimen. They are specially printed for collectors. I bought four books of Singapore collectors specimen and I make losses even though I bought them at issued prices. After 18 years, when I sold them away, i still make losses. It is a lesson I learnt. I never touches specimen notes again. In any case, most collectors do not collect specimen notes. It is the circulation notes that are the prize ones. Every serial number in the circulation note is accountable and traceable. That is why I focus on circulation notes with solid number. After all, one of the criteria of collecting banknotes is rarity. Mintage is an important factor in determining rarity and scarcity.

Some love to keep specimen notes. In my opinion, my advice is to avoid them totally. One fine day, your $10,000 specimen note which you fought very hard during a reputable international auction, may only worth $10. Time is money. You probably have kept it for 20 years. So what happen ? After 20 years, someone quietly channel out 100,000 pieces of similar specimen note to various dealers, auction houses, internet auction. When you realised it, it has already flooded the market. It is now worth $10 and even then nobody want it for their collection. Avoid specimen notes.

 

Incredibly the basic elements of this classic design date to 1807! The classic White notes would march on in the £5 denomination to serve 149 years all total before being replaced with the "Helmeted Britannia" design. Aside from the ubiquitous American dollar, the White Fiver is perhaps the then most recognised currency around the world, and was even forged by the Nazi's during WWII in a bungled attempt to bring down the British economy. Because of the German forgeries, denominations above £5 were discontinued during the war and not reintroduced until the late 1960's, so the White Fiver saw more service, and some changes including the introduction of a metal security strip into the paper.

I once read from somewhere that there were forged 5 pounds spotted. In fact, these forged notes were also sold as collector's item for collector's references. Does any know how to spot a forgery piece ? What are the major differences between the real one and the forged one other then the metal security strip.

Hmm?

 

Not sure what you mean about printer chops?

That's oval shape printer chop on the specimen note below ( the red chops appear on the upper left and lower right corner ). In this note, I believe the printer is Thomas De La Rue ( TDLR ).

I noticed that the preceding Indian notes were attracting high bids (several thousands pounds) from Indian bidders, I believe that in a developing country like Indonesia, demand will only increase in the future.

 

What sort of prices were you paying in the mid 80s? I.e for something that is now $2000, what was the price then?

If you are referring to SS / Malaya notes, a rough estimate in the 80s should be around $300 or less. It all depend on scarcity. There are some scarce note which was once at a very high price such as the Malaya 1940 $10 ( purple ). A large bundle of them were found in very nice condition, the market price dropped. It will take some time to go back to it's peak price in the early days. Nice condition are sought after by collectors.

Early Singaporean collectors also collect Indonesia banknotes ( especially Dutch Indies ) and Malaysian Agung banknotes but I am not one of typical collectors. I started seriously collecting when I was 21-22 years old. Most of the collectors I met were retired old men. In those days, you will only see old men who were avid collectors. They usually collect notes around the region ( South East Asia + China). Almost every Sat, we would gather at a popular dealer shop to chit chat ( discussion ) and sharing of information on coins and banknotes. There was always nice notes and coins available for sales.

Were you the one who won the specimen notes book from HRHammer earlier. I think it went for 5k USD. It's nice to keep and invest in printer specimen ( those with the printer chop ). They are great investment. Without the printer chop, it was a miserable investment. I learnt a painful way when I bought them as early as late 1980. I sold them off in 2004 make a big loss. No more specimen notes for me even those with printer chops.

Indian notes are currently in high demand. In the last Mavin Auction, there were a lot of nice early Indian notes which fetches a lot of money. In fact, I noticed people are aware that early Indian notes are becoming very popular. The demand should be from India as they get richer. It is the same for China.

My latest addition to my Nepal 555555 collection. This is a 2006 released 500 Rupees without the King portrait. All Nepalese notes will no longer bear the King portrait.

The catalogue is available.

 

http://www.spink.com/auctions/pdf/8014pages.pdf

 

There are a lot of Straits, Sarawak, Malaya and Borneo notes.

 

Including an XF one of this note.

 

The prices are huge......

 

It makes me wonder about investment notes.

 

The Netherlands Indies notes are also highly priced, but Indonesia notes are still cheap. I am hoping improving economics will make my collection more valuable. You can still buy extremely rare (five pieces in existence) notes for around US$3,000. Merely scarce notes are only priced at $100 or so.

 

How much did you pay for your notes originally see323, and when did you buy them?

Yes, I went through the SS notes in Spink catalogue for the coming July. Steven Tan and Patrick Tan have place all their early collection for sales in Spink. I am surprised that none of their collection have a grade close to my SS 1925 $5. Mine is an uncirculated with a count mark on the top margin. We can also consider it as AU/UNC. This will be a truly good piece for those who wanted the best and the highest grade SS collection. There is one SS 1925 $10 with serial number 94988 in good EF in the Spink Auction. Originally in my collection, I sold it off in 2006 as I need money to purchase another SS 1906 $1 Pink in uncirculated condition. The SS 1925 $10 must have landed in Patrick Tan's collection. This piece is extraordinary because you can see the true patterned embozzing on the surface. The note still maintain the bright purple colour. Very striking in appearance. The note should have two pinhones on the top left corner. I don't remember seeing a description in Spink that says pinholes. It may have been filled up. The note is also famous because it first appeared in an early printed poster under Ben's collection. From what I understood, during the 1980s, Ben, a dealer, borrowed some of the best grades SS notes from collectors for the poster printing. It become famous as many collectors have purchase this poster. In fact, all of these top grade SS notes are found only in collector's hands in Singapore and Malaysia.

The super rare notes in the Spink Auction are the 1940 KGVI $1 and $5. There are not many around. If you have read the historical fact, these notes were printed for circulation but the ship that carries them sunk in the sea. This was during WWII. Most of these notes are in very poor condition as they may have been savage by fishermen. Even the poor condition are selling at record prices. The pair from Steven Tan may have been collected from other sources as they are in really nice condition and not from the sunken ship. If you have a lot of money, you can go for these SS/Malaya super rare notes. These are historical notes and SS notes are one of the top ten most expensive notes in the world.

I started collecting them in 1986 as a collection. Even the early days, the high grades ones were also not easy to come by but consider cheap in today market prices. The prices have all climb very high over the years. As I was not able to complete every note in my high grade SS collection, and they are now beyond my means, I have to take them as investment notes. In this Spink Auction, there are quite a few of those Singapore early private issued banknotes ( before Straits Settlements ). Most of them represent one and only piece rarity. In fact, some of the notes have been offered to me many years ago. A number of them comes from Malaysia Dr. Chan collection which were auctioned off in an early Spink Auction. Before these early private issued notes and SS notes were auctioned off, he published a hard-cover book containing all his impressive collection. ( Note : From my observation, he does not have a nicer condition SS 1925 - 1930 $5 than my piece, something to be happy about ..hee hee..since I am considered very much a small fly among those big time collectors ).

I find that even though early privately issued banknotes do have a stake in Singapore,Malaysia and Brunei history but compared to the Straits Settlement banknotes ( first printed in 1898 ), they lost out to SS notes. Straits Settlement banknotes are legal tender and printed by the governing Colonial British government. Collectors are more comfortable collecting them. There are not many collectors willing to lay huge amount money on these privately issued banknotes. In fact, it was quite difficult to sell them earlier. The demand was not too good. I am not sure how these privately issued banknotes do in this coming Spink Auction. We have to wait and see.

The early Indonesian notes should be a good investment if there are not too many of them around. Collect them when they are still cheap. If they are really rare or scarce, they should rise in value over the years.

Here is the famous note that once sat in my SS collection for many years.

It does depend on the country of issue. Some rare notes do not sell, but anything from Singapore, Malaya, etc., seems to sell very well.

 

 

 

Of course Singapore is probably not the best place to buy South East Asian money, if you want to buy at a low price.

 

Here's a sale in USA of Indonesian money in 2005:

 

http://www.stacksarchive.com/viewcat.php?a...;headinglevel=3

 

A set of Irian Barat 5rp, 10rp, and 100rp (all 3 notes in one lot) sold for $75, and a set of 4 * 100rp notes in condition from F+ to UNC sold for only $60.

 

The previous year in Singapore, a note in only F+ condition sold for more money - $70

 

http://mavininternational.com/auction0411/CAT0801.HTM

 

The 100rp currently fetches $500 and up on ebay in UNC condition.

 

If you can buy notes away from the home market you may find less collector interest and hopefully a lower price.

Yes, I fully agree on your logic on pricing. Once in a while, we find some good Straits Settlements stuff located in Down Under auctions and pricing is definitely very much cheaper than what is offered at home. Most of the really good Straits Settlements banknotes are found in Singapore and Malaysia since as early as 1980s, these high quality notes found their way to this part of the world from UK.

Last one sold for S$4200 (four times estimate), and only VF!

 

http://www.spink.com/asp/fullCatalogue.asp...2&saletype=

Yes, they are expensive,rare and highly collectiable especially the high grade ones. And for this series, not many are in high grade. I only know of three pieces in the highest grades. Uncirculated. Mine is one of the three pieces. There is a countmark on the top edge but the note is uncirculated and in original condition. Most pieces are in VF or VF+. You will never lose out especially when you invest in those high grades ones. The market prices increases many folds as the years goes by. Unfortunately, the truth is that such notes usually selling very much higher than the market price. Unfortunate for buyers but fortunate for sellers.

The Spink Auction below should see some high quality Straits Settlements pieces from Steven Tan for sales. That's what I was told.

8014 Banknotes of South East Asia Singapore 05 Jul 2008 10:00

A close-up on the stalking Malayan Tiger, Water Buffalo in the padi field with a farm boy and many typical coconut trees as background scene in most of tropical countries around S.E. Asia. And also the multi races with different languages printed on the banknote to cater to various cultures and races namely Chinese, Malay, Indian and European and not forgetting the Eurasians.

Very nice notes indeed Derrick. Wish I have one..!!

Madison/Mark

Mark, You should be able to get one this year in the coming Spink Auction, Singapore.

Here is a larger and clearer view of the note. I cannot imagine how they can print such detailed and beautiful note in 1925. Every banknote is an art piece in the hands of users.