March Postings 2013

Ulster Bank Ltd GBP50

1 March 2013 - Northern Ireland Ulster Bank Limited £50 (P338) dated 1.1.1997. The is the largest Ulster Bank banknote I have in my collection. The largest denomination issued was the £100, but I am not sure if they are still issuing. The bank has more or less retained the main features for this note and all other denominations since it's was first introduced in 1966. By today standard, this note looks very primitive and simple in design (reverse) but you won't find many banknotes nowadays with design like this. I am not sure if this was the last £50 note issued by the bank, as I do not have any catalogues to confirm that. Todate the bank has about £150 million worth of bank notes in circulation in Northern Ireland. This note was signed by Ronnie Kells OBE who retired in 1998 as Group Chief Executive. Between 1968 to 2005 the bank logo was the three chevrons, identical to its owner, the National Westminster Bank (NatWest).

Morocco MAD25

2 March 2013 - Morocco 25 Dirhams 2012 Commemorative note. This is a Hybrid note printed by the company called Fortress Paper Ltd using the Durasafe substrate material, an innovative paper-polymer-paper composite produced at it's Landqart mill in Switzerland. Needless to say, the central bank of Morocco (Bank al Maghrib) is their first customer using the Durasafe substrate technology. With a new competitor entering the Polymer/Hybrid market, I am just wondering if we will see more of these notes in the very near future. This note commemorates the 25th year of banknote printing at the Moroccan State Printing Works, Dar As-Sikkah. Strange to have a commemorating note celebrating the country printing works and this note was printed in Switzerland. The note I have posted here has an Arabic character and "00" prefix and followed by 6 digits. As I do not read Arabic characters, I can't be sure but is this note that I have loaded a first prefix note? If you have any information, please let me know. Thanks.

Cayman Islands KYD100

3 March 2013 - Cayman Islands 2005 to 2006. This series comprises of $1, $5, $10 and $100 (P33 to P37). The $50 piece was not issued for this series. The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory and is located in the western Caribbean sea. The Cayman Islands has a small population of just under 56,000. Most notes issued would last at least few years. The country has the highest standard of living in the Caribbean. It's currency is pegged with the US dollar at KYD 1 = USD 1.25.

South Africa ZAR200

8 March 2013 - South Africa 2012 Full Set. This is a set of 6 notes released in 2012 featuring the happy smiling face of South Africa first democratically elected President "Nelson" Rolihlahla Mandela (b 1918). It should be noted that the name 'Nelson' was not his legally given birth name, but was given to him by a teacher when he first attended school. He was elected as President of the Republic of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. The designs on the back of the notes depicting wild animals that appeared on the previous issues ie rhinoceros (10 Rand), elephants (20), lions (50), buffaloes (100) and leopards (200). The 200 Rand is still the largest denomination circulating in the country.

 

Fiji Islands FJD5-100

10 March 2013 - Fiji 2013 Fijian Flora and Fauna new series. On the 12.12.2012, the country's central bank announced the new series of banknotes to be put into circulation on 2.1.2013. The design of the notes feature Fijian flora and fauna theme which replaced the portrait of British Monarch Queen Elizabeth ll. The designs on the reverse of the notes remain unchanged as per previous 2007 issues. For the first time, the F$5 note is printed on polymer material (39th nation) and the F$2 is been replaced by a coin. The new series comprises of F$5 (parrot kulawai), F$10 (beli - fresh water fish), F$20 (kacau ni gau bird), F$50 (tagimoucia) and F$100 (cicada or nanai). Unlike the 2007 series, the F$100 is no longer a Hybrid note either. Like Papua New Guinea, Fiji is the second country in the Oceania region to have issued banknotes printed on paper, hybrid and polymer notes. The first prefix of this series is FFA. All notes are printed with 7 digits serial number as compared to 6 for the previous series. The bank also released collector folder sets in individual note as well as full sets with matching serial numbers. In addition to these, uncut sheets are also available for all denominations at a premium. It should be noted that all notes are printed by De La Rue. DLR has been printing banknotes for Fiji since 1914 and Fiji is also the first country in the world using De La Rue's polymer substrate on the $5 denomination. The colour on this denomination has also changed from brown to green commemorating biodiversity. All notes are signed by the Bank Governor Barry Whiteside. The set I have uploaded here came from a folder collector set of 5 notes with all matching serial numbers of FFA0001008. These collector sets commenced with serial number FFA0001001. The first 2 sets (#1001 and #1002) were reserved and presented to the President and Prime Minister of Fiji for being the special guests of honor at the Currency Launch back in December 2012.

Philippines PHP100

15 March 2013 - The Philippines 100 Piso 2011 Commemorative. This is an overprinted commemorative, celebrating 100th Years of Lasallian presence in the Philippines. It seems that there is no end to issuing commemorative notes from the central bank. This is, of course, good for the collectors, after all, the central bank is making our collection more interesting. Free interest loan to them too and many happy collectors. This is a win-win situation. Just keep churning them, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, salamat!

Bank of China MOP10

Banco Nacional Ultramarion MOP10

16 March 2013 - Macau Year of the Snake 2013 Lunar New Year Commemorative joint issues. These are the second series of the Chinese Zodiac notes issued by Bank of China (BoC) and Banco Nacional Ultramarino (BNU). If you look carefully, these 2 notes are printed with 8 digits serial number. The previous Dragon notes were issued with both 7 and 8 digits. Those Dragon 8 digits notes were issued in the second half of 2012 to cater for high demand. Like the previous notes, 20 million pieces were printed by each bank for this Snake series. The designs are also very similar to the previous issues too with the exception that the colour of the snake on the reverse. It appears to be in purple-ish colour. Both notes are dated 1.1.2013 but I am not sure the exact date of release, but I believe it was last February 2013. If you were born in the year of the snake, you would be either 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, 96 or even 108 years young. Happy sssssSsssss.... sssssSsssss..... to you all!

Belize BZD20

22 March 2013 - Belize $20 Commemorative note. This note was issued to celebrate the country's Central Bank's 30th Anniversary. This is also the country first ever commemorative banknote issued to celebrate this very special occasion. The Central Bank of Belize was established on 1.1.1982. Prior to that, the country central bank was known as Board of Commissioners of Currency (1894-1976) and Belize Monetary Authority (1976-1981) before changing to the current name in 1982.

Hong Kong Govt HKD10

23.3.2013 - Hong Kong Government SAR $10. I have added this 2012 reprint to my previous posting. This is a reprint of the original polymer issue, which was first released in 2007. This is the third print since then and is dated 1.1.2012. This is the only denomination of banknote currently issued by the government of Hong Kong

Macedonia MKD100

28 March 2013 - Macedonia F.Y.R.O. Three note all dated 2007, with domoninations of 10, 50 and 100 Denars. These are just reprint notes. Unfortunately I do not have a full set of notes from this count yet. It would be great if I can get them. To many collectors, these are low value notes and quite affordable as well. The 50 Denars note looks very religious to me.

Philippines PHP50

29 March 2013 - Philippines 50 Piso dated 1999, 50th Anniversary of Central Bank 1949-1999 Commemorative. It is interesting to note that for this commemorative note, it comes in two varieties. The difference between the two is that a year date (1999) is added to the second issue, located on the front left hand side just below the value denomination of 50. The first issue (Prefix LH) was signed by the 12th President, Fidel Valdez Ramos (1992-1998), and the second note (Prefix SD) was signed by the 13th President, Joseph Ejercito Estrada (1998-2001). President Estrada was forced out of office in 2001 following corruption charges filed against him. Both notes are counter signed by the Governor of Bangko Sentral ng Phillinas, Gabriel C Singson (1993-1999). It should also be noted that the names of the two signatures were also added to the second note, whilst the first has none. Here I have added the second note to my posting.