November Postings 2013

1 November 2013 - Australia 1993 Portfolio Folder issue -Paper and Polymer Notes with Matching Red Serial Numbers. This is the first of the limited issued edition of the 1993 Portfolio set to commemorate the release of Australia first $10 polymer note. The hard cover folder comprises of 2 notes, one paper from the last print (1991) and the first issue of the polymer $10 note. The different between this issue and all other issues is that both notes have matching red serial numbers and also this is the only $10 paper note ever printed with 2-letter prefix and is in red colour. All previous paper notes were printed with 3-letter prefix. The polymer note for this issue is also printed with the first day of release of the $10 note - "1 November 1993". As this is a very limited issue, with 1000 sets printed but only 900 folders were offered to the public at $295 per set. Despite low mintage, this issue is neither rare or scarce and still plenty around. You will find of them selling, you might even get them below issue price in most cases.

2 November 2013 - Denmark 2009 Bridge series. This is the latest issue of the 2009 Bridges series bearing the new Governor signature of Lars Rohde (and Lars Sorensen), and it appears that this is the first denomination issued bearing his signature. Going forward we would expect to see other denominations with his signature. Apart from this, I have also updated two other Bridge series notes, being the  DKK100 and DKK200 signed by Hugo Frey Jensen (full set) and Per Callesen respectively. To date I am still missing the 1000 DKK note signed by Jens Thomsen (1995-2010) and 100DKK signed by Per Callesen. I am just wondering if these two notes were also printed. If you are a keen Danish banknotes collector, listed below is a simple table that I have put together showing all the Bridge series notes released (or sighted) since 2009 with respective signature varieties.

Bridge Series Signatures since 2009 NB 50 100 200 500 1000 TN 50 100 200 500 1000 JT 50 100 200 500 X PC 50 X 200 500 1000 HFJ 50 100 200 500 1000 LR X 100 X X X X = Missing/Not Issued (yet) NB = Nils Bernstein 2005-2013 (full set) TN = Torben Nielsen 1996-2011 (full set) JT = Jens Thomsen 1995-2010 (missing 1000 DKK) PC = Per Callesen 2011- (missing 100 DKK) HFJ = Hugo Frey Jensen 2011- (full set) LR = Lars Rohde 2013-

Never ending story

5th November 2013 - Philippines 50 Piso Commemorative 2013 Trinity University of Asia 50th Anniversary. The Trinity University of Asia (aka TUA) was established in 1963 as an elementary, high school and collegiate educational institution. TUA was formerly known as Trinity College of Quezon City and on the 18 of July 2006, the institution was then granted the University status. TUA currently has more than 6000 students and it is located at 275 E. Rodriguez Sr. Avenue Quenzon City Philippines. Commemorative banknotes of the Philippines is like a never ending story!

First Hybrid note

8 November 2013 - Iceland 10,000 Kronur Hybrid note. Iceland entered the hybrid banknotes market with the release of a new denomination of 10,000 Kronur on 24.10.2013. According to the central bank, the purpose of releasing this denomination is to facilitate and streamline payment intermediation in the country. The new banknote is dedicated to poet Jónas Hallgrímsson and features a number of references to Jónas and his work. The new notes were printed by De La Rue plc in the UK. DLR and its predecessors have been printing banknotes for Iceland for 83 years. Four million of this denomination were printed at a cost of 29 Kronur per note. Whilst the cost for printing two 5,000 Kronur paper notes would cost the bank 36 Kronur (18 Kr each), it should be noted that the printing of Optiks hybrid notes are generally more expensive due to better security features and in general you will only find them printed on high value notes with such features.  The new note is signed by the bank's governor Már Guðmundsson.

9 November 2013 - Australia Commemorative Folder with $50 paper note Celebrating Howard Florey's 50th Years of Winning The Nobel Prize. Premium Red Serial Number Note, Issued 7.9.1995. This is a $50 Banknote and stamps joint venture with NPA and Australia Post to commemorate 50 years of since Howard Florey was awarded the Nobel Price for his contributions to medical science. Lord Howard Florey (1898-1968) was one of Australia’s most eminent medical scientists. He gained prominence when he became interested in Alexander Fleming’s initial work on developing the life saving drug, penicillin. In 1939, Florey and his colleague, Ernst Chain, worked on Fleming’s discovery and purified the drug. In 1942 a small amount of the penicillin was tested on badly burned airmen with good results. Their discovery helped save thousands of lives during the Second World War. Florey was knighted in 1944 and appointed a life Peer in 1965. In 1945 he was awarded the Nobel Prize, together with Fleming and Chain. The $50 paper banknote is printed with special letter prefix of “HF” (Howard Florey) in red and issued with a pane of 10 x $2.50 Howard Florey stamps. Both the note and pane of stamp are printed with matching serial numbers. Two versions were issued with premium red serial number as above and also with deluxe folder (black serial number). A total of 3,500 folders (including 1,000 with Red Serial Number) were issued, and this is portfolio number 322 of 3,500 produced. The initial issue price for the premium set was $145 per set and this note was released on 7.9.1995.

W/KP 000 888

15 November 2013 - Scotland Clydesdale Bank plc, 10 and 20 pounds notes dated 25.01.2013 and 11.07.2013 respectively. These are the first two reprints of the UNESCO World Heritage Site series which was first introduced in 2009. Both notes are signed by David Thorburn. As these are reprints, it is also interesting to note that the title of David Thorburn has also changed from Chief Operating Office to Chief Executive.The notes posted are from the first prefix with nice half solid number of 000 888.

No symbols of circles

17 November 2013 - Indonesia 2011 annual reprints. Posted here are the notes printed with the year date of 2011. As you can see from the posting, I have a full set except the 50,000 Rupiah value and I am not sure if the 50,000 Rupiah 2011 note was issued, apart from the 2011 Commemorative Youth Pledge Day set (issued together with the 20,000 and 100,000 Rupiah). The Youth Pledge Day notes were all printed with extra pair of symbols on the left hand side of the notes such as rectangles, triangles and circles for the 20,000, 50,000 and 100,000 Rupiah respectively whilst the above 20,000 and 100,000 Rupiah posted do not have these symbols. It is also interesting to note that the signatures for the deputy governors for this set are not all the same too. I may  never find out the answer here but it would be interesting to know if the notes that I have posted here are indeed a full set, or am I still missing the 50,000 Rupiah piece! Please note that issues for 2012 and 2013 are all printed with the pair symbols for the 20,000, 50,000 and 100,000 denominations.

First Hybrid note

21 November 2013 - Solomon Islands new $50 ND2013 new hybrid note. On 26.09.2013, Solomon Islands announced the release of new series of banknotes. The $50 is the first denomination released, with the rest of the new banknotes to be issued over the course of the next few years. The imprinter of the new note is De La Rue which incorporates the company famous Optiks™ super wide security thread with a transparent window. The new note was launched by the Governor Denton Rarawa and was attended by a number of VIPs including the Finance Minister Rick Hou. This is exciting time for collectors especially those who like Hybrid notes. With this $50 hybrid note released, it is expected that the rest of the series will also be printed by DLR and with that, we would expect the new $100 to be another hybrid note as well. Solomon Islands is the forth nation (after Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Fiji) to have issued banknotes in Paper, Polymer and now Hybrid. And it is interesting to note that all these nations are located in the Oceania/Pacific region too.

Full polymer series

23 November 2013 - Canada 2011 - 2013 complete new Frontier series. Posted here are all five denominations new Canadian Frontier series from C$5 to C$100 polymer notes issued since 2011. The Frontier series themes comprises of Canadian innovation in space technology, constructions, contributions and sacrifices of Canadian men and women in military conflicts throughout their history and research & developments. Like the previous paper banknotes series, the Canadian notes are printed by two companies, namely BABN and CBN. Unfortunately, neither of the companies have printed a full set yet, but I am sure in no time they will be.

26 November 2013 - Indonesia 2012 annual reprint full set from 1000 rupiah to 100,000 rupiah. All note uploaded here are in uncirculated condition.

30 November 2013 - Costa Rica Two Thousand Colones, Dated 2.9.2009 (20.6.2011) PNL. A very nice note with a Bull shark design on the back. The 1000 Colones posted here is a polymer note.