Sale 8014 Lot 0A: The $1000 “Government of the Straits Settlements” of 17 March 1911 has serial number A/1 000001. It is grey & black with crowned arms top centre flanked by a lion and a unicorn. The $1000 value in located in a black tablet at center of the note. The signatures of currency commissioners Brockman, Michell and David are visable and the notes value is also translated into  four languages, English, Chinese, Malay and Arabic around the edges of the note.

The Straits Settlements were a collection of territories of the British East India Company in Southeast Asia, which were given collective administration in 1826 as a crown colony,They were distinct from the native princely states, some of which later formed the Federated Malay States.

Initially, the Straits Settlements consisted of Penang, sometimes officially named Prince of Wales Island, Singapore with about a score of islets of insignificant size lying in its immediate vicinity, the islands and territory of the Dinding, Province Wellesley, the town and territory of Malacca and the islands of Labuan.

The colony was dissolved in 1946, when Singapore became a separate crown colony (ultimately independent), while Penang and Malacca joined the Malayan Union, which eventually became Malaysia.

The note was discovered by the consignor with an envelope titled SPECIMEN/ON HIS MAJESTY’S SERVICE and listing the serial number of the note in ink. (more…)

They are the official DVDs of 2009 U.S. Coin Digest, 7th Edition, $9.95; 2009 Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 36th Edition, $44.95; and Standard Catalog of World Paper Money, Modern Issues, 1961-Present, 14th Edition, $44.95.

Each disc contains the exact pages from the same-named print publication in PDF form. They can be read with Adobe Acrobat Reader, which allows for a full search function and the ability to enlarge images and text 400 percent.

2009 U.S. Coin Digest, 7th Edition features 1,800 color photos and complete listings for U.S. Mint issues, commemoratives, bullion coins, sets and rolls, Colonial and early coinage, Territorial gold and coins of Hawaii, Philippines and Puerto Rico.

2009 Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 36th Edition features 50,000 actual-size illustrations and 1 million updated price listings. All of the information contained in the 2,208-page book is on the DVD.

Standard Catalog of World Paper Money, Modern Issues, 1961-Present, 14th Edition contains 40,000 updated price listings and 12,000 images. Three grades of condition are listed. All of the information in the 1,088 book is on the DVD.

“We have received tremendous response from collectors who like the convenience of having all of the information contained in the books in a small, portable and searchable disk,” said Krause Publications Numismatics Publisher Dean Listle. “It’s easy to access at the office or on the road.”

The DVDs may be ordered at www.fwmagazines.com.

Koble will work directly with customers, assisting them with their collecting needs, and will represent Lyn Knight Currency Auctions at paper money shows and major coin events.

Koble has been involved in the paper money business for more than 28 years. His expertise centers on U.S. large-size and small-size type notes and National Bank Notes. His grading knowledge is also highly regarded.

The fixed-price list Koble published from 1980 to 1998 was highly detailed and informative and helped establish his expertise in the field of small-size type. He has handled many small-size rarities, including the Series 1933 $10 Silver Certificate star note and the Series 1934 $10 North Africa star note. Notes from the collections of famous collectors Amon Carter, Tom Bain, Jim Thompson and others have been owned by him at one time or another.

In the last 10 years, Koble has concentrated on special services to private clients.

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Heritage Auction Galleries said the bills sold for a total of more than $37,000 - two to three times higher than expected.

Winning bidders paid about $6,500 each for two of the $20 bills. The money has the handwritten initials of investigators who examined the bills, which were found buried in sand in 1980.

Another recovered note, a tiny fragment showing only a portion of the printed San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank seal in the design, sold for $358.

Cooper skyjacked a flight from Portland, Ore., to Seattle, claiming he had a bomb. He released the passengers at a Seattle airport for $200,000, four parachutes and a flight to Mexico.

On that flight, he jumped out with a parachute near the Oregon-Washington line. He was never found.

“There’s obviously still tremendous interest in the legendary case,” Heritage President Greg Rohan said in a statement. The gallery declined to identify the winning bidders. (more…)

Bowers and Merena Auctions‘ June 4-7 auction at the Baltimore Coin and Currency Convention includes more than 500 lots of U.S. paper money, featured among them a high-grade “Porthole” $5 Silver Certificate star note and a serial No. 1 $10 “Bison” Legal Tender Note.

The No. 1 Bison note is Friedberg 114, the first of the nine Friedberg varieties of the type. PCGS Currency graded it Very Fine-30 PPQ.

Sale catalogers wrote that “this example is absolutely free of any problems and its light circulation actually gives the note a bit more character behind its historical significance. The colors are bright, the paper is fully original and the eye appeal is extremely pleasing. Because the top and bottom margins are incredibly uneven but remain full, we feel this note might have been hand cut and presented possibly to dignitaries.” B&M has assigned a pre-sale estimate of $75,000-$125,000.

The “Porthole” Series 1923 $5 Silver Certificate star note, Fr. 282, is graded PCGS Currency Superb Gem New-67 PPQ. “With huge boardwalk margins, superb inks and paper quality and enough embossing to please even the pickiest of collectors, we actually question whether or not this note would qualify for a slightly higher grade,” catalogers wrote, estimating it to bring $30,000-$50,000.

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In a June online auction and a July 11 public auction, Downies will be conducting sales of current Australian 2007-dated bank notes, the latest to be issued by the Reserve Bank of Australia. The auction follows the success of last year’s sale of 2006-dated bank notes.

In 2007, the Reserve Bank ceased its sales arrangement with the Royal Australian Mint in favor of selling first and last prefix bank notes via an annual auction. Consequently, Downies public auction of July 11 and Internet auction from June 18-25 July now provide the only opportunities for collectors and dealers to obtain uncirculated 2007 bank notes direct from the RBA.

The notes will consist of the first and last prefix bank notes dated 2007, e.g., $10 AA07 and GL07, respectively. A major attraction for collectors is that these will bear the new signature combination, Stevens/Henry.

At the July 11 sale these first and last prefixes will include special serial number combinations and complete sets of four notes - $5, $10, $20, $50 - in which the last four serial digits match. The special serials include radar and solid numbers. The bank note sets come as singles, consecutive pairs, trios, quartets, quintets and decades.

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in a 2-1 ruling today, rejected Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s contention that changing the bills to differentiate the denominations would be too expensive.

“A large majority of other currency systems have accommodated the visually impaired, and the secretary does not explain why U.S. currency should be any different,” Judge Judith Rogers wrote for the majority. “The financial costs identified by the secretary are not out of line with the costs of other currency changes the secretary has made”, she said.

U.S. District Judge James Robertson in Washington ruled in 2006 that the same-size paper currency violates the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination based on disability. An inability to identify the value of paper money without help from others leaves blind and sight-impaired people at risk of being cheated, he said.

Of 180 countries that issue paper money, only the U.S. prints bills that are identical in size and, until recently, color for all denominations.

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North Korea, it is often said, is a criminal state. One of the more persistent stories supporting that allegation is that the North Koreans are counterfeiting U.S. currency. Through repetition, the claim has taken on an aura of proven fact. This in turn has been cited as justification for everything from imposing punitive measures against North Korea to suggesting that the nation cannot be trusted as a partner in nuclear negotiations.

The evidence against North Korea is widely regarded as convincing. “The North Koreans have denied that they are engaged in the distribution and manufacture of counterfeits,” says Daniel Glaser of the U.S. Treasury Department, “but the evidence is overwhelming that they are. There’s no question of North Korea’s involvement.”1 There is no denying that North Korean citizens have been caught passing counterfeit currency in Europe and Asia, and some defectors from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK — the formal name for North Korea) claim to have first-hand knowledge of state-run counterfeiting operations. In Western media reports the case is treated as proven. Yet the closer one examines the matter, the murkier the picture becomes.

Counterfeit currency attributed to North Korea raises deep concern due to its extremely high quality. Dubbed supernotes, their production process closely matches that of the genuine article, and the engraving is so fine it rivals that of the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing.2

Unlike most of the world’s counterfeit currency, which is printed on offset presses or through digital processes, supernotes are printed on an intaglio press. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing uses Giori intaglio presses for the engraved portions of its bank notes, and an offset press for the background colors. Supernotes use the same technology. An intaglio press operates by applying ink on its plates and then wiping them clean, leaving ink only in the engraved lines. The plate is then pressed against the paper, depositing the ink in ridges. The result is raised printing that ordinary counterfeits can’t duplicate. Supernotes have the same look and feel as U.S. currency. (more…)

In case anyone was unaware of the world famous Bushmills, the Bank of Ireland’s Governor came to Belfast to honour his favourite whiskey.

From yesterday a new Bank of Ireland £5 note bears a picture of the famous distillery with new £10 and £20 notes to follow next month.

Yesterday — in scenes reminiscent of Hollywood — the Bank of Ireland unveiled its series of new notes with a blaze of publicity.

Huge outdoor screens beamed the launch onto the bank’s HQ stopping hundreds of shoppers in their tracks.

The Bank of Ireland’s governor Richard Burrows said it was a special moment for him as back in 1972 he spent four years as the managing director of Bushmills Distillery.

He said: “I spent some very happy years on the North coast of Antrim and today we are celebrating the 400th anniversary of Bushmills Distillery.”

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The sheet consists of three $1 notes and a single $2 note with the very popular “Lazy Deuce” design. This sheet surfaced in 2004, the first time it left the hands of the family that acquired it around 1870.

Knight said only three uncut sheets of any type are known from Territorial national banks, excluding the District of Alaska. One is the in the American Numismatic Association museum, leaving two available for collectors.

He graded this sheet very fine, and it sold for $299,000 dollars, including 15 percent buyer’s fee.

Other highlights of Knight’s 2,700-lot auction were an 1864 $50 Interest Bearing Note dated April 20, referenced as Friedberg 203 and graded fine by catalogers. It brought $54,625 dollars.

Another Interest Bearing Note, a $20 dated March 18, 1864, Fr. 197, graded Apparent VF-25 Net by PCGS Currency, crossed the block for $33,350.

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