So, to start off with, I've obtained quite a few provisional banknotes:
Plymouth Dock Bank
Retford Bank
Dartmouth Bank, which has a lovely Congrieve reverse
Derby Bank
Gainsborough Bank
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And some specimen pieces
Union Bank of Scotland (Plate Proof)
Deal Bank - so far as I can tell, this particular piece was not made for Deal Bank so looks to be a printer's promotional/experimental piece. But isn't it gorgeous?
A full set of the Provisional Bank of Ireland's set for The Franklin Mint in 1978 - recognisable by their Maltese cross serial
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A couple of early Bank of England notes
A genuine £5:
And a Bernhard £50
Oddly enough this now means I have a £10/£20/£50 Bernhard but no £5. And only a genuine white fiver, no other denominations!
A nice selection of “Skit” notes, of which you may remember I showed one for April 1st…
They are extremely fragile, even by old paper standards. But a nice bit of fun.
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An unused “sight” note of Huddersfield bank. IIRC its from about 1825 or so. Certainly around that era
However, what really drew me to the one was the vignette. I was certain I had seen an almost identical piece amongst my collection. And I had on a 1975 note. So almost 150 years later, the design was recycled for a Guernsey note…
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My first foray into Welsh money. Haven't yet read up on this bank, but I have a book on order. 🙂
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A couple of Hong Kong notes for fun
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An early Canadian provincial
My first graded note, although I didn't buy it for that reason.
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A couple of other exonumia pieces
A US certificate of deposit:
A Belgian mine share
And this early book frontspiece which I've used as the front bookmark to my English notes.
And fresh from the bank after my trip to the Highlands last week. 2x £50s and 1x £100 polymers.
Unbelievably, I forgot to get the Bank of Scotland's current £20, so not finished that set. But I'm back up in about 3 months so I'll hopefully grab it then. Might get a fresh £5/£10 as my current examples are very circulated anyway.
The last one completes the current “Fabric of Nature” series for the Royal Bank. Shame it's slightly circulated but only one the cashier had. 🤷♂️
And fresh from the bank after my trip to the Highlands last week. 2x £50s and 1x £100 polymers.
Some awesome old notes!
But how did you manage to get current notes in unc?! I was in Scotland for 2 weeks 2 years ago and I don't know how many bank branches I walked into, but never any unc notes. One AU 100 and some decent 20s from ATMs but the rest is just beat up …
Great group of notes! A Collector - wow an amazing mix, the 19th century joke ones made me laugh “When our dafhing ladies have gathered more delicacy and our Fops more brains” Even funnier with the long s in it (1810 still in common use yet Misses is sans the long s). I also love the one saying “FIVE” in elaborate scroll letters and then “Halfpence” meaning its basically near worthless.
I remember one book showing an image of the “Hanging Pound” from 1819 which was some artist's (Cruikshank?) criticism for the penalty of hanging for forging a one pound note. Obviously the arrival of gold sovereigns and the reform act of 1832 got rid of such primitive punishments for trivial offences. The white fiver is a real triumph too and Operation Bernhard forgeries, much more successful that German attempts at faking stamps like the ½d of 1935 changed to “This war is Jewsh war” and showing Stalin with a hooked nose.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
Bruno - A lovely Chinese coin there, I like that one with the Great Wall on it. Hope others see it amongst my wall of paper!
53th0s - Afraid it was just luck of the draw 🤷♂️ I just wandered into the Fort William branches of Bank of Scotland & Royal Bank of Scotland. As I bank with both, both served me at branch. ATMs are much more hit & miss with quality.
Mr Midnight - The merriment one is interesting. Was the only one backed on card at some point in the distant past. It should have more text on the reverse but thats covered. 😔
Gorgeous Spanish coin BTW. Stunner!
Oh,Look! - A nice contemporary piece there.
Moneytane - thank you, pleased they brought a smile. The clothing one is my favourite too. The five half-pence is interesting in that the place really exists as a private residence in Knaresborough. Not a million miles from me.
Apparently they were designed as a laugh for the owner, but quickly began circulating as the real deal. So the owner had as many destroyed as he could.
I know the note you mean. The bank restriction note. Been trying to get one for a couple of years. Last two came 2nd in the auction. 😕
Do have a cheap replica though. 😁
And the Bernhard stamps too. Don't have any but read an excellent book showing some.
And when held up to the light (reversed). You can see some of the original reverse text giving days (every Tuesday & Saturday). Something about children under 12…
2nd EDIT: Found another Merriment note. This is what the reverse looks like:
EDIT: Updated photo taken in brighter sunlight
Original posted image:
Also, I've found out that the pantomime is almost certainly a performance of the nursery rhyme:
The lion and the unicorn Were fighting for the crown The lion beat the unicorn All around the town.
Some gave them white bread, And some gave them brown; Some gave them plum cake and drummed them out of town.
Must say, I rather hope the performance was a bit more than just two verses!
This was later adapted by Lewis Carroll in the 1871 Through the Looking Glass, the sequel to Alice's adventures in Wonderland.
In a weird personal twist, the graves of Lewis Carroll's parents is in a town called Croft, less than 20 miles from me. What a small world it is.
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And here's the Cruikshank note. Sadly not as brilliantly detailed & clear as an original but it does enough.
Some finer details have been lost, such as the long pennant flags should read “Transportation”.
I remember reading that the Bank of England itself was largely against the death penalty, excepting in extremis.
But as it was unable to influence the laws, being set by Parliament, it had to follow the law as it was. Which included proper reporting of fraudulent notes. And usage of them, even if you were unaware yourself it was a fraud, could result in death.
Transportation was a common punishment for small sums such as a pound, but a bad mooded judge or egregious criminal may get the death penalty. Other forgers had slightly better outcomes. One forger called Francis Greenaway ended up in Sydney town during the rule of Governor MacQuarie and became a gifted architect designing a lighthouse, the old immigration barracks and Sydney mint and a large church in Hyde Park Sydney.
Francis Greenaway
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
Oooh, thanks for that. Might have a nosey for a copy. This is my book on it, written by an actual survivor of the operation.
Think the original is in German.
About 250 pages, plus appendices & photographs. A rather harrowing book as it details his life before, during concentration camps, and then The Fates intervening and getting him onto the counterfeiting side.
A very human story; it more focuses on the people and the life rather than the objects forged. But a fascinating, if grim & sometimes emotionally difficult, read.
A very human story; it more focuses on the people and the life rather than the objects forged. But a fascinating, if grim & sometimes emotionally difficult, read.
Makes sense: I watched the 2007 Counterfeiters movie & it was much like that to watch as well. Great sad story but really well done (I felt) considering the subject matter.
Among the most prolific countermarkers ever, Devins & Bolton were pharmacists in Montreal. They countermarked only copper coins, especially US large cents and Canadian bank tokens.
Qatabanian Kingdom, even I haven't heard of it, very interesting though, some amazing buy ins, but I start with a fun collection.
This is British round pounds. I am trying to get a standard circulation set rather than nice coins. The pages are set out for missing coins (I have since learned there were 4 City coins, not 2 (2 each year) and 4 Emblem coins, not 2. I am only missing 1986, 1998/99 and 2009 shield. I do have the 1986 in a set though. They are interesting coins and do able.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
Finally done the photos for my latest Aussie buy in. Most of these are upgrades and this is a private seller I have seen only 3 times in just over a year. His collection is Museum quality. Imagine 5 examples of every George V Florin in super high grades.
This is by far the best coin I bought off him, it was not cheap.
Its a half penny, I know - but look at that date, just 15,000 made and the rarest halfpenny and 2nd rarest date of coin (Excluding overdates and errors) of the Australian series before 1966. Barely fine but natural darkened state. This baby is worth $1500 and similar coins are selling for $2,300 to $3,500. I am still getting it authenticated (The seller will refund if its fake), but it has pedigree (Noble auctions 2008 or 2009).
The rest are nice, but not rare.
A 1911 First date Penny, this is a very high VF, near EF example, 90% of 1911 Pennies are Fine or worse.
An almost VF 1916 shilling, another coin scarce above G/VG - so a welcome addition
A badly cleaned 1933 penny in VF, but note the last 3, you can small ligatures at the right of the last three and a tiny tail pokes through under the arch of the last 3. This is a 2 underneath the 3 and the 1933/32 overdate.
A 1936 Florin, this is AU/high EF and I consider a nice coin, its actually upgrading an already nice coin.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
Turi - like the others, I've never even heard of that kingdom. I have a feeling that'll be a Wikipedia rabbit hole over the weekend. 😅
A fantastic addition, and looks to be in beautiful condition.
Camerinvs - an interesting little piece there. I have seen their counterstamp before, but didn't realise the proflificness of them. 😬
Moneytane - On your Australian pieces, absolute stunners. Very sharp.
On your UK £1s - we followed an alternating pattern until 2008 of UK - Scotland - Wales - NI - England, then cycled back to UK. Although no circulation coins were issued in 1998-99, the proof set £1s still followed the series.
In 2008, we issued 2x UK ones, the old Coat of Arms style and the new Shield one.
From 2010 to 2014, the “specials” were issued in pairs, except for 2012 which was shield only. 2015 - 2022 has been UK only, 2023/25 was the bees.
Here's my complete set of specials. For the 2008/2016/2023 “Standard” design, only the first year of issue is there. I do actually have all the other years, except 2022 so far.
As you correctly say, your placeholders from 2008/9 look out. It should be:
2008 - Coat of Arms - Shield
2009 - Shield
2010 - Shield - England - NI
2011 - Shield - Scotland - Wales
2012 - Shield
2013 - Shield - England - Wales
2014 - Shield - Scotland - NI
2015 - Shield - “stylised” Coat of Arms
2016 → 2022 - “Nations of the Crown”
2023 & 2025 - Bees
The 2010-11 Series are the Capital cities of London, Belfast, Edinburgh, and Cardiff.
The 2013-14 series are the floral emblems of Rose & Oak, Daffodil & Leek, Thistle & Bluebell, and Flax & Shamrock.
The 2011 Edinburgh one is usually regarded as the hardest to find out of the whole modern £1 coin series. Though still fairly obtainable.
The 2004-07 bridge series was exceptionally heavily forged. At least, in my personal experience.
I'm not quite sure what we call these, but I have this limited edition piece from the artist of the Scotland bridges series (It is if course, the iconic Forth Rail Bridge).
Some sort of freestanding card framed print.
IIRC they were sold for charity, but might be mistaken.
Recently I've been trying to fill a few holes in my US Mint Proof Set collection. Just got the last one I needed (most were bought directly from the mint but I missed a few years). 2017 Proof set:
I now have a complete set from 1961 to 2025 minus, of course, 1965, 1966, 1967.
Picked these up on our local version of Ebay (trademe). Common but not a lot of Mexican coins here in New Zealand. A bit cheeky but I managed to bid $1.50 total (90c US) right at the last minute and won, auction ended at an odd time mid-week. I felt bad so sent the seller $8.50 extra.
I collect and deal in ancient Roman coin. In case you're looking for affordable ancient coins or need any help with the coins you already have send me a message.
Moneytane - On your Australian pieces, absolute stunners. Very sharp.
On your UK £1s - we followed an alternating pattern until 2008 of UK - Scotland - Wales - NI - England, then cycled back to UK. Although no circulation coins were issued in 1998-99, the proof set £1s still followed the series.
In 2008, we issued 2x UK ones, the old Coat of Arms style and the new Shield one.
From 2010 to 2014, the “specials” were issued in pairs, except for 2012 which was shield only. 2015 - 2022 has been UK only, 2023/25 was the bees.
Here's my complete set of specials. For the 2008/2016/2023 “Standard” design, only the first year of issue is there. I do actually have all the other years, except 2022 so far.
As you correctly say, your placeholders from 2008/9 look out. It should be:
2008 - Coat of Arms - Shield
2009 - Shield
2010 - Shield - England - NI
2011 - Shield - Scotland - Wales
2012 - Shield
2013 - Shield - England - Wales
2014 - Shield - Scotland - NI
2015 - Shield - “stylised” Coat of Arms
2016 → 2022 - “Nations of the Crown”
2023 & 2025 - Bees
The 2010-11 Series are the Capital cities of London, Belfast, Edinburgh, and Cardiff.
The 2013-14 series are the floral emblems of Rose & Oak, Daffodil & Leek, Thistle & Bluebell, and Flax & Shamrock.
The 2011 Edinburgh one is usually regarded as the hardest to find out of the whole modern £1 coin series. Though still fairly obtainable.
The 2004-07 bridge series was exceptionally heavily forged. At least, in my personal experience.
That makes a whole lot of sense then, as originally a seller wanted to selle me 330 old pounds and I was going to buy them, but thought that was silly as they are basically demonitised now and I have been saving for some big buys (A massive coin is coming, probably an anchor coin for my British collection!). I asked him to make up a set of as many different types and he got 26. So in reality my only missing change coin is the 1986. I did not know 1998 and 1999 were set only pieces (Annoying as I have the 1997 and 2000 UK sets but not those two). Also it seems the Cities and emblem sets had very low mintages (Bare 7 figures) whereas all the others were 8 figures and 9 figures for common dates like 1983 and shield coins.
The ones I have are all the standard ones to 1997, then 2000 Wales, 01 NI, 02 England and 2003 Standard, a complete set of bridges, 2008 Standard (Old one) and Shields for 2009/10 and 12/15 the last with IRB portrait and then the 2015 last round pound with the Jodi Clark portrait. I only have 2016 of the new pounds. So finding the City and Emblem coins will be hard, but a 2011 Shield and 1986 Northern Ireland should be easy. I will no doubt have to buy sets to get 1998/99, but that arrangement is good as the circulation set will fit on 2 pages - I really don't like breaking up sets unless damaged or old (I broke up my 1982 and my 1986 is flawed, so I may add the round pound to that).
More coins - all Australian silver
1925 Sixpence, actually an upgrade, this is fine but replaces a misty disc.
1924 Florin in aFine/Fine and probably cleaned in the past. This is actually an upgrade, those of us who collect early Australian silver coins, will know they always shown up extremely worn. Average grade of a 1910s or 1920s Florin is Good or worse and even Fine is a hard grade to get, if you want UNC you have to get a second mortgage for any dates other than 1931, 1934 or 1936 and the Canberra florin!
And one grade further up in aVF, we have a coin I have coveted off the seller for a couple of years. he finally relented. Its VF but the king has a very weak strike and its quite flat in the area we grade for VF/EF coins. As you can just make out the band and it just fails full very fine as the central diamond is visible but misty. It passes as you can see 6 of the 8 pearls. Still its replacing a coin in about Good. A 1920s British Florin in Fine of VF is meh! as its easy to find them in those grades and the worst ones are VG, but Australia is different, that hot sticky climate meant these sterling silver pieces wore quicker (Remember British 1920s florins were only half silver).
When you look at really old (1932 or earlier) Aussie florins, you are so used to seeing flat misty discs with outlines and inevitable cleaning, anything half decent like these coins, stands out as a “better one”.
This is 1935 and we have the full VF here, as you can see we have a full diamond and only that second set of pearls to the left is misty, the crown band which was weak in the 1926, is sharp here. True VF and a better date (1933 and 1935 stand out as the better 1930s dates, 1932 is the great rarity). Apart from possible old cleaning, this is a nice coin. Its actually my 3rd 1935 Florin and I may do a post on them in the Upgraded coins page.
Finally not every coin is a rarity, heres a 1931 Penny, the common one as I had the “dropped 1” variety. Unlike the coin from 1930, a 1931 penny is only kind of scarce and this VF coin cost me a grand total of $3.
You even have some pre verdigris staining and darkening, even bronze suffered in that relentless climate and the coin is old enough to be featured in 2 up games!
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
