December Postings 2015

1st December 2015
Sweden - A very nice set of new series of notes even though it is not a full set yet. This is the first of the two stages for the release of the new series. These four notes were released to the public on 1.10.2015. All notes depict a well known Swedish person on the front with common features such as yellowish omron rings on the left, the three Swedish crowns on the bottom right and all notes have a design of the map of Sweden on the back. It seems that letter B is the first prefix for this newly release. The height of each notes are all measured at 66mm and the length of each note is extended by approx. 6.9mm from 119.5mm (20 Kroner) to 154mm (1000 Kroner). The remaining two notes (100 and 500 Kroner) will be made available sometime in October 2016. There are not many countries left in western Europe that are still having it's own currency, and despite Sweden is a member of the EU community since 1.1.1995, they have yet to adopt the Euro currency system. In all only 3 western countries still having it's own currency identity. The other two are the United Kingdom (including the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Gibraltar) and Denmark. Out of the current 28 EU members, only 19 member States are using the Euro.
Tags: Sweden;

5th December 2015
Oman – This is a 1 Rial error note issued on 18.11.2015 celebrating the nation’s 45th National Day. Oman’s national’s days is celebrated on the 18th of November. Unfortunately this issue was short lived as it was withdrawn on the same day it was released to the public due to error(s) printed on the note. The most obvious error was the wrong Hijri Year date printed. The year printed on the note on the front is 1427 (١٤٢٧) but it should be 1437 (١٤٣٧ - ie Georgian year 2015). The difference is the character ٢ instead of ٣. And you think they would have done their homework to ensure simple mistake like this would not had happened. How can such a simple mistake be overlooked? This error was not spelling of names or places related, but just a simple year. Surely this note had been vetted by authority of the Central Bank, perhaps not one but few staffs and don't tell me that these people have no idea what the Hijri year should be? I doubt this error can be blamed on the printer as final design of the note has to be approved by the Bank before going into production. Even if this was the printer's faults, the authority of the Central Bank should have picked up this error before distributing them for circulations. This is a huge embarrassment to the authority in Oman. In addition to this, it was also reported that the national flag on the mast over the AL-Alam Palace was missing too. I do not believe this would matter for a recall if the Hijri Year was printed correctly. Others also claimed that the portrait of the Sultan should be positioned on the right side of the note. As for the note itself, unlike the 2010 40th National Day celebration, this was the only note issued for this special occasion. On the front of the note, it depicts the portrait of Sultan Qaboos bin Said and his facsimile signature, the National Emblem, the Arabic words of 45th National day, Al-Alam Palace. On the back, it has the 45th National Day logo, the Sultan Qaboos University, desert white butterfly (a native of Oman) and wild flower. Unlike the last issues, this is just a paper note and not a hybrid. No doubt that come 2020 year, we will see more commemorative notes celebrating the nation’s 50th National Day Jubilee celebration. The last time a one Rial note was issued was in 2005 celebrating the 35th National Day. Given that this note has now been withdrew from the public, will we be seeing a new one with the correct Hijri Year date later? It should be noted that despite this was a very short issue, there are plenty to offer in the market. I am sure many of these notes were retained by many bank employees for obviously reason. Asking price at the moment is still quite high for a nominal face value, and this is expected. As this is a low denomination, I do not expect the price to come down significantly later either as the holding cost to many is very nominal.
Tags: Oman; Commemorative:

10th December 2015
Canada - This is a Queen Elizabeth ll Commemorative note released on 9.9.2015 celebrating the Queen's reign since 1952 as Queen of United Kingdom, and Queen of Canada. Apart from United Kingdom and Canada, Queen Elizabeth ll is also the Queen for few other Commonwealth nations including Australia and New Zealand. The design for this commemorative note is the same as the current $20 Polymer note except that a portrait of the Queen with tiara taken in 1951 by Yousuf Karsh is added to large window. This is the first time that the Queen portrait appears on a Canadian banknotes with her tiara on. This is also the same portrait (without the tiara) first appears on the Canada 1954 Landscapes series of banknotes. Forty millions pieces printed for this special occasion. This is the third commemorative note issued by Canada. The first was the $25 dated 6.5.1935 celebrating the Silver Jubilee of King George V and then in 1967, a $1 note commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Confederation of Canada. Bank of Canada has also announced that it will also issue another commemorative banknote in 2017 celebrating the nation 150th Year of Federation.
Tags: Canada; Polymer; Commemorative;

12th December 2015
Jamaica -  The is the second print of the new version of the $100 Hybrid note. The design for this denomination is the same as the previous issued but it's dated 01.01.2014. Like the previous $50 Hybrid note, the serial on the top right corner is printed with the wave shape effect and the last 3 digits of the serial number is printed in greenish colour. Like the current $50 Hybrid note, this note is manufactured with a combination of protective polyester film layered around a cotton fiber core. The polyester film on the note makes it more durable. This note was printed by Giesecke & Devrient (G&D).
Tags; Jamaica; Hybrid;

16th December 2015
New Zealand -  These are the first of the two "Brighter Monies" series that issued recently, replacing those first polymer notes issued since 1999. Whilst the design are not the same, the main features still are ie Sir Edmund Hillary, Mt Everest and yellow-eyed penguin for the $5 and Kate Sheppard and blue ducks for the $10. Additional Maori words are also added to the notes with "Te Putea Matua" on the front and "Aotearoa" on the back. I believe the words Te Putea Matua mean Reserve Bank. The word Aotearoa was originally used by the Maori when referring to the North Island of New Zealand. However this word is now commonly used when referring New Zealand as a whole nation in Maori language. This is not the first time that the RBNZ used Maori words on it's banknotes. Previous issues also have Maori words imprinted on the notes, such as "Hoiho" ($5 yellow-eyed penguin) and "Whio" ($10 blue ducks). As you can see from the scans, the transparent window for these notes are also larger than previous issues, and it also contains more features rather than just the denomination value. These are the only two notes released in 2015. Come next year, the RBNZ will release the remaining of the Brighter Monies series with the denominations of $20, $50 and $100. I understand that the new series of notes are not printed by NPA. You can tell that by just looking at the font and size of the serial numbers printed. I believe these are Canadian prints.
Tags: New Zealand; Polymer Notes:

20th December 2015
Central African States (Cameroon) - These are the three notes issued in 2015 (all dated 2002) that were reported as Hybrid notes. However I am not convinced that they are. It does not feel like it and it's not the same feeling as those issued by Madagascar or other Hybrids notes known to me so far. The only way we can confirm this is from the original security printing company, which I doubt they would do that.
Tags; Central African States; Hybrid;

25th Christmas 2015
Tonga - This is a Tonga T$20 printed and issued recently. This is a reprint of the original 2009 issue. The signatures on the note are not the same as those already issued and I believe this is the only denomination bearing these signatures combination, as three other reprint notes of T$1, T$2 and T$5 all have difference signatures too. No reprints have been sighted for the remaining denominations for the 2009 issues yet, ie TS$10, T$50 and T$100. It is not sure if any of these have been issued too. Obviously we believe this T$20 note was printed and released between 2010 and 2014. Whether this note was released before or after the death of previous King Taufa'ahau Topou IV, is not sure either. In all, we have sighted 3 varieties of signatures since this series was first issued in 2009. This series has since been replaced by a new series (full set) with the portrait of the new King in 2015, which I will be posting on my site early next year. Merry Christmas to all my friends and visitors.
Tag: Tonga;

26th December 2015
Papua New Guinea - Papua New Guinea was granted independence by Australia on 16.09.1975. This note was issued to celebrate the country's 40th Anniversary. This is the fourth time that Papua New Guinea had released banknotes to celebrate it's independence day. The first time was in 1995 with a single 20 Kina note for the 20th Anniversary. In 2000, it released a full set for the 25th Anniversary with 5 notes from 2 to 50 Kina and in 2010, another full set of 6 notes from 2 to 100 Kina to celebrate it's 35th Anniversary. For this year, only the 20 Kina was issued. Like all previous Independence celebrations, the note used is the same as current issue except that it has the Independence logo added to the design.
Tags: Papua New Guinea; Polymer; Commemorative;