Question: What types of
banknotes should I collect?
Answer:
Many
collectors choose to collect one note from as many countries as
possible, while others may choose to specialize
in a particular country or region.
You could even collect a particular theme or
topic, such as banknotes with ships,
trains, birds fishes, boats or even nudes
depicted. More advanced collectors start
collecting error notes, misprints, notes with
funny serial numbers such as: 111111
or 000001.
 |
|
Question: I have a banknote
(or a paper money collection) that I can
not identify, because it is
printed in a language that I don't
understand
and the letters on the note(s) seem to be
different from latin or some kind of
strange
characters or hyeroglyphs. How can I find
out
it's(their) value and possibly to sell
them?
Answer: You have to
describe the banknote(s) in DETAIL, every
detail is important and you
have to scan it's/their image in JPEG (.jpg)
format in order to show the banknote(s)
to us
(or send a xerox copy or an original by
mail to
us). To do that the following page will
help you:
Banknote Appraisals (Evaluation). Also:
Offers. |
Question: I have a Five Dollar/Mark/Franc
(etc.) banknote dated 1900 (example),
what's the value of it? Are you
interested
in buying it?
Answer: That is the kind of
inquiry that I will not respond. It is clearly to
little info in
this kind of inquiry. Please read the above
previous answer and go to: Appraisals
and/or Offers.
Question:
I'm at this
page now: http://www.banknotes.com/fr.htm (example) and
I'm interested in buying some of these banknotes,
but I do not see any price listed
on there. Are these items for sale?
Answer: You are actually at our Photo Gallery (Currency
Museum).
Any items
displayed on our Gallery/Museum pages are not for
sale. To view what we have for
sale please go to our Text Pricelist or to our Store (shopping cart). Simple
rule: if
there is no price displayed - the item is not for
sale or it has been sold.
 |
|
Question:
Are
these real money or
reproductions
that you're selling?
Answer: All the banknotes
(paper
and plastic
currency) on this web
site are
genuine real currency and
genuine real
collectible banknotes
(not reproductions) unless noted
otherwise. |
Question: What is my banknote worth?
Answer: Go to: Banknote Appraisals. I do not give answers via
email. You have to
pay and get your bank note appraised. That way I
make sure I don't get flooded by
free requests since I have a lot of other work to
do.
Question: What books could
you suggest for a beginning and/or advanced
collector?
Answer: Please click on the
following link to buy most popular books for a
beginning or advanced collector: Bookstore.
Question: How do I grade
paper money?
Answer: Grading info is located at:
Grading.
 |
|
Question: What
are Replacement Notes?
Answer: They are notes
issued to replace damaged
notes. The usually have a
star, asterisk or special
prefix in the serial number
to indicate that they are
replacements. Due to their scarcity, they
can
command a significant
premium over the regular
issued note. |
Question: What's a Specimen
Note?
Answer: It is a sample note,
usually with a special serial number (usually all-zero
serial number such as 000000) and an overprint or
perforation with the word
"Specimen" in the language of the
country of origin. They are usually distributed
to
banks, treasuries and law enforcement agencies to
familiarize them with newly
issued currency. They are not intended to be used
as actual currency.
Question: What are known
reproductions of US colonial, confederate,
obsolete and
other paper currency?
Answer: Paper money reproductions
are also known as BOGUS, FAKE,
COUNTERFEIT banknotes. Here are two internet
pages listing some of most well
known repros (USA only). These links will lead
you away from my site so don't
forget to bookmark this page or to remember
"BANKNOTES.COM":
Known Reproductions: http://www.ronscurrency.com/rcbogus.htm
Replicas of Obsolete Notes: http://www.money.org/replicas.html
 |
|
Question: I have discovered
a lot of paper money
on my grandmother's attic. They seem
valuable to
me, but I know nothing about them. Where
can I
get them appraised?
Answer: To appraise your
paper money please go
to the following page: Banknote Appraisals. |
Question: What are the names of the
famous people depicted on various
denominations of U.S. paper currency?
Answer: 1 dollar note depicts George Washington;
2 dollar note depicts Thomas Jefferson;
5 dollar note depicts Abraham Lincoln;
10 dollar note depicts Alexander Hamilton;
20 dollar note depicts Andrew Jackson;
50 dollar note depicts Ulysses S. Grant;
100 dollar note depicts Benjamin Franklin;
500 dollar note depicts William McKinley;
1000 dollar note depicts Grover Cleveland;
5000 dollar note depicts James Madison;
10000 dollar note depicts Salmon P. Chase;
100000 dollar note depicts Woodrow Wilson.
Question: Is there an international
banknote collector's club or society
that I could join?
Answer: Yes, please visit the
following page: IBNS.
 |
|
Question:
What is intaglio printing?
Answer: Printing plates
are covered with ink
and then the surface of each
plate is wiped
clean which allows the ink
to remain in the
design and letter grooves of
the plates. Each
sheet is then forced, under
extremely heavy
pressure (estimated at 20
tons), into the
finely recessed lines of the
printing plate to
pick up the ink. The
printing impression is
three dimensional in effect
and requires the
combined handwork of highly
skilled artists,
steel engravers, and plate
printers. The
surface feels slightly
raised. This process
is called intaglio printing. |
Question: How can I start my own
collection of world banknotes from a scratch
and at a low cost without spending many days and
weeks collecting one banknote
at a time?
Answer: Please consider purchasing
a "beginner set" on the following page:
Beginning Collector
Sets.
Question: What are the guidelines
for sending you a banknote offer?
Answer: Please click here to view detailed info on
how to offer bank notes to us.
Question: What are the dates of the
end of redemption periods for majour European
currencies?
Answer: End of
redemption periods *
* last day
of redemption at national central banks (DD-MM-YYYY)
Question:
How do I clean a bank note?
Answer: Cleaning, washing or
pressing paper money is generally harmful and
reduces both
the grade and the value of a note. At the very
least, a washed or
pressed note
may lose its original sheen and its surface may
become lifeless and
dull. The
defects a note had, such as folds and creases,
may not necessarily be
completely
eliminated and their telltale marks can be
detected under a good light.
Carelessly
washed notes may have white streaks where the
folds or creases were
(or still are).
Processing of a note which started out as
Extremely Fine will reduce it
at least one
full grade. Glue, tape, or pencil marks may
sometimes be successfully
removed. While
such removal will have a cleaned surface, it will
improve the overall
appearance of
the note without concealing any of its defects.
Under such circum-
stances, the
grade of the note may also be improved. One
should not iron a bank
note
to remove creases and folds. The heat can cause
the colour of the note to
change
or flow and thereby destroy patterns. Folds and
creases are part of life of
a
bank note and should therefore be accepted as
such. Any kind of tape should not
be
used in repairing a banknote. Chemicals that are
used on the tape can damage
the
banknote and its grade will be severely reduced
or even make it worthless. Ink
and
stains can sometimes be removed by using soap,
water or alcohol. The treated
banknote
has to be be washed with clean water after any
treatment. Afterwards it
should
be dried, which can be done by pressing it
between paper sheets (in a book).
Now
when it comes to professional bank note cleaning
and improving techniques we
are not a good advisor to you since we do not clean,
wash, press or improve any
banknotes
in any way other than straightening bent corners
and folds with a finger
and
naturally "pressing" the notes in
plastic holders while they are stored in a stock
box.
Although we do sell some banknotes that have been
already improved (washed,
cleaned,
pressed, glued, restored etc.) by someone else. Only experts, called paper
conservators,
should repair paper money.
Question: We need certain banknote
scans at a high resolution (300 dpi) for our
upcoming publication. What's the
procedure?
Answer: Please email us a list of codes (example:
AF-70) of the
banknotes from
our A-to-Z pricelist (not from
gallery!) and we will get back to you. Please
note that
we charge you for our time and labour spent
scanning the images. We do not sell
the images, we charge for our time and the
intangible service you receive. Total
cost of scanning and providing the images on a
server depends on many factors.
Alternatively, in exchange to our time/labour you
are welcome to give us a credit
by providing a credit to "Audrius Tomonis -
www.banknotes.com" in your book,
publication or as a link on your website. Please
note that our digital images/scans
are our property, but the physical banknotes
depicted on Banknotes.com are not
necessarily our property (especially some of the
images in our Gallery that have
been sold or donated).
Question: Where can I buy currency
albums and other supplies for my collection?
Answer: We recommend the following sites for
banknote albums and supplies:
http://www.safepub.com
http://www.tradewindssupplies.com
http://www.coins4me.com/coin_supplies/supersafe_currency_holders.htm
http://www.jakesmp.net/CSD_Z_supplies/CSD_supplies_012_C.html
http://www.jpscorner.com/Currency_Supplies_Price_Guides.htm
 |
|
Question: What is your
telephone or fax (facsimile) number?
Answer: Please go to
"Contact Us" page
to find our phone and fax number. Please
note that our telephone and fax is on the
same line (number) and in order to send
us a fax (facsimile) you will have to
phone
(call) us first or simply send your fax
after
the autoresponder (voice mail) message
is finished. Please note that our
telephone
line is only for order-related
questions.
Please do not call to early or to late.
Best
time to phone us is between 10:00 AM
and 9:00 PM EST (New York). |
Question: Can you appraise (evaluate;
tell me the value) of a single banknote or
coin or a collection of mine over the telephone?
Answer: Simple answer is No.
Please go to "Banknote Appraisals" (we do not
appraise coins) page to get your item(s)
appraised.
Question: Do you buy world banknotes?
Can I sell to you?
Answer: Yes, we do buy all kinds
of world banknotes (paper and plastic currency).
Please click here to view detailed info on
how to offer bank notes to us.
Question: Is this business
profitable? Can I become a banknote dealer as
well?
Answer: Yes and No.
Selling banknotes (paper and polymer currency) is
not a
very profitable business, although
collecting is. In fact, it is very hard to make a
(decent) living in this kind of
business. Banknote business is extremely time-,
money- and knowledge-
intensive and brings very little profit to the
best of the best
only. Then why am I
doing this? Because I'm a collector and I enjoy
doing it, plus
I have several other free services
that I need to support somehow. If you are after
a
better income or especially after
lots of money, I suggest that banknote sales is
not for you. Although collecting
banknotes is very pleasurable hobby and is great
long term investment- wise. Dealing
in banknotes and trying to become slightly rich
is like growing a rare tropical palm
tree from a seed in a temperate climate and
expecting to sell it for a lot of
money after 20-50 years. Takes a lot of care and
time
to ripe the best fruit, if ever. I've
seen many new and old dealers give up on this
business. If I just had some good
idea I would do that as well. Perhaps a nursery?
Question: I did not find an answer
to my question in the Q&A above and my
question is not order-related. What should I do?
Answer: Please email us (no phonecalls, please)
and I will try to do my best to
answer your question(s). I reserve the right not
to respond to questions the answer
to which can easily be found by browsing my web
site. Also due to lack of time I
might not reply within a reasonable period of
time. The fastest way to get a reply
to your question is to include it in your order's
"Customer Notes" section.
|
