Serial Number - Begginers Guide (5)

By Liliana E. González

@LilianaElena

This post is part of the book Beginner’s Guide To Collect Paper Money, check it out at Banknote Heaven.


Set of numbers and or letters on a note. The serial number is perhaps one of the oldest security devices on a banknote. Using unique serial numbers on each bill, governments are able to closely track legitimate bills.

Sometimes serial numbers get “unusual” like one number repeated several times or filling series as “12345678” or the notes called “radar” whose serial numbers are the same backward and forward.

Collectors also buy sets of banknotes in consecutive serial numbers.

The notes below show a “radar” serial number 663366 and 6226

Denomination (face value) - Begginers Guide (6)

By Liliana E. González

@LilianaElena

This post is part of the book Beginner’s Guide To Collect Paper Money, check it out at Banknote Heaven.

The denomination or “face value” shows the type of currency and how much the banknote is worth.

There are some inflationary notes issued by countries with hyperinflation times. Those notes have abnormally high denominations.

The bill below is from Yugoslavia and it has a face value of 500 million Dinara.

Watermark - Begginers Guide (7)

By Liliana E. González

@LilianaElena

This post is part of the book Beginner’s Guide To Collect Paper Money, check it out at Banknote Heaven.

A watermark is put onto a banknote's paper prior to the printing process as a security device. Watermarks look as a blank spot on a bill. You can see a watermark holding up the banknote to the light.

The note below has the Tutankhamen’s mask as a watermark at right.

Printer's Name - Begginers Guide (8)

By Liliana E. González

@LilianaElena

This post is part of the book Beginner’s Guide To Collect Paper Money, check it out at Banknote Heaven.

Oftentimes the printing company's name will appear on a banknote in very small letters (sometimes abbreviated also) usually in the white frame area at the bottom of the bill.

Some collectors look for notes printed by American Banknote Company or Thomas de la Rue.

The banknote below was printed by American Banknote Company

Overprints - Begginers Guide (9)

By Liliana E. González

@LilianaElena

This post is part of the book Beginner’s Guide To Collect Paper Money, check it out at Banknote Heaven.

Official printing added to a note for purpose of giving it a new value. It is usually done for an issuing authority to 'revalue' a country's money in order to overcome extreme inflation. As a temporary measure while new notes are being printed and distributed, the existing notes are sometimes overprinted or stamped with a new value.

The banknote below has a face value of 10 Centavos overprinted on 100 Cruzeiros banknote:

Specimen - Begginers Guide (10)

By Liliana E. González

@LilianaElena

This post is part of the book Beginner’s Guide To Collect Paper Money, check it out at Banknote Heaven.

Invalid note overprinted or perforated with the word specimen. It is Made for reference files, or currency recognition by other countries. It has usually all zero serial numbers.

Below is a beautiful specimen note from Swaziland.

Notgeld - Begginers Guide (11)

By Liliana E. González

@LilianaElena

This post is part of the book Beginner’s Guide To Collect Paper Money, check it out at Banknote Heaven.

From the German roots “not” (necessity) and “geld” (money). Notgeld were produced by almost 3500 German and Austria towns and cities from 1914 to 1922. Colorful little notes printed surface (rather than engraved). Most notgeld were issued in small denominations of 1 mark or less 50 Pfennig, 25 pfennig, etc.

Below is a set of 4 notgeld from 1920 issued by City of Steinfield  

Polymer Currency - Begginers Guide (12)

By Liliana E. González

@LilianaElena

This post is part of the book Beginner’s Guide To Collect Paper Money, check it out at Banknote Heaven.

Polymer (plastic) banknotes last longer and are recyclable. They last around four times as long, are cleaner and more hygienic, and can be recycled at the end of their useful life into a range of plastic products.

Polymer currency note technology was developed in Australia. Australia was the first country in the world to replace all its paper notes with polymer notes. The Bank made the move to polymer to make Australia's notes more secure against counterfeiting, which had been on the increase as modern reprographic equipment became more readily available.

The banknote below is year 2000 from Romania:

Pick Number - Begginers Guide (13)

By Liliana E. González

@LilianaElena

The pick number is the number assigned to every single banknote in the catalog. It was named “pick” in honor to Albert Pick who authored earlier issues of Europe and America paper money. The first Standard Catalog of World Paper Money was published for Krause publications in 1975.

Nowadays the Standard Catalogs of World Paper Money published by Krause are the guide for collectors and dealers. These catalogs group the banknotes by country, number them, show a picture usually front and back, give a description, and a value according to condition.

The banknote below is from Zaire and is pick number 40