Friday 24 August 2007

The Different Aspects of Collecting Paper Money.

Paper Money Collecting is a very wide and varied hobby. Needless to say it is more varied in the US where this hobby has taken route and is growing rapidly. In actual fact the1800-1900 US notes which were very interesting are now beyond the pockets of the casual collector.
I found that there are three main areas of interest which collectors seem to choose from. For me money constraints was my deciding factor. The main areas are listed below. Enjoy.

1. World Paper Money
a. Recent and general world paper money
Quite a large number of people collect world paper money. This is sometimes the most inexpensive way to start a collection (thus my route). Especially if all you are doing is collecting notes from every country.
Other ways of building a world collection is to focus on a specific country or countries of interest.
b. Older and rare world paper money. Collectors in this field concentrate on specific periods in a countries history, or even specific portraits or serial numbers on notes.

2. US Paper Money Collection
This is a very wide varied well researched field, and you find people interested in one or more of the following aspects of collecting.
a. US Large Size Notes
b. US Small size notes
c. US Fractional currency notes
d. US Obsolete notes
e. Confederate States of America notes

3. Other types of collections include
a. Error notes: printing, paper and cutting errors
b. Souvenir Cards
c. Cheques
d. Travelers Cheques

The cost of the more interesting and rare items of paper money has sored in recent years, I actually read somewhere (even if it was jokingly) someone considering taking out a mortgage to boost their collection.

"I rarely consider taking out a mortgage on the house to finance my collecting habits. However, the Frederick Mayer Confederate Notes and Bonds sale by Smythe July 6 had me pause to seriously consider it. Mayer's collection was that good!"

For the full story please read this article on paper money collecting.

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