Rare China Ming Dynasty Notes Sold at Lyn Knight Auctions

Lyn Knight Auctions
Memphis
June 25, 2008

This Ming Dynasty 50 Cash note was sold at Lyn Knight Auction for $33,000, much more than the estimated value of $5000-$7500. The 50 Cash note is much more rare than the relatively common 1 Kuan note, which was also sold at the auctions for $4500. Lyn Knight estimated the latter note at $1000-$1500.

Description of the 50 Cash note on Lyn Knight site:

Fifty cash, noted by 50 small circles in rectangle near center. While the actual date is not filled in, printed during the reign of Emperor Hung Woo (1368-1399). The best information available indicates that this item was found in ruins of an old Chinese idol and likely placed there hundreds of years ago. As it is extremely difficult to verify for authenticity. The piece was taken to Maastricht to show to two experts; both believe it is likely genuine. One stated it is the best example he has ever seen. Margin roughness. Excessively rare.

Description of the 1 Kuan note on Lyn Knight Site:

Famed large size Ming Dynasty note on mulberry bark paper; the earliest collectible paper money. Two vermilion seals on face and one on back. Ten strings of coins, each representing 100 Cash, at center. The best information available regarding this particular example indicates that it is one of 50 found underneath a statue of Buddha during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. Forty were held by the Chinese government, one was secured by a Chinese banker, and five were taken to America. There are certainly more than five in America, but they are not available with any degree of regularity. This piece was secured from an individual who spent many years involved with YMCA and Red Cross work in China. Long tear at right center. Overall strong quality.

Comment by Nutmegcollector
June 26, 2008

As a side story, about two years ago, the original owner of these two notes contacted me. She wanted to sell the notes and was anxious to know how much they are worth. She sent me the pictures shown on the left side of the pairs. While the colors look different, you can tell from the markings and edge roughness that they are the same notes. At that time I was not ready to buy them because I did not know the person and not sure of the authenticity of the notes. I directed her to Lyn Knight for advice. I was pretty sure I could have bought them directly from her for much less.

$20 Bills from DB Cooper Skyjacking sell for $37,000

By Google News on Monday, June 16, 2008

Fifteen tattered $20 bills recovered from the 1971 D.B. Cooper skyjacking sold Friday for more than 120 times their face value at a Dallas auction.

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.

“I was 10 years old when it happened and I remember it like it was yesterday, sitting at the family Thanksgiving table in West Seattle hearing the news. I’ve always wondered if Cooper lived the high life for a while or became bear food,” Rohan said.

Brian Ingram of Mena, Ark., consigned the notes to Heritage. He was 8 years old when he found three bundles of deteriorating $20 bills on the shore of the Columbia River near Portland, Ore.

The FBI matched the serial numbers and kept 13 bills in case it ever prosecutes the Cooper case.

Macao to issue new banknotes for Beijing Olympic Games

The Bank of China, Macao Branch, plans to issue 4 million 20 Patacas notes in commemoration of the 29th Olympic Games that will be held in Beijing this August.

Front: Bank of China Building, the architecture representing the location of the torch relay of the ancient Olympic Games, as well as the emblem of the Beijing Olympic Games and a vertical line that reads “In Commemoration of the 29th Olympic Games” in both Chinese and Portuguese.

Back: Beijing Olympic Stadium (also known as the “Bird’s Nest”), Macau’s Golden Lotus symbol, and the same bi-lingual print as on the right hand side.

Photo courtesy of Macao Government Information Bureau

U. S. Presidents Series Banknotes

By Nutmegcollector

In this presidential election year, much speculation has been on who will be the next president of the United States. Now the choice is narrowed down to Barack Obama or John McCain.

My latest novelty banknote project was this Presidents of the United States series.

This series of 42 $1 notes features all the Presidents of the United States from George Washington to George W. Bush.

The portraits were adapted from the original paintings by Chas Fagan for
C-SPAN's 20th Anniversary Television Series, American Presidents: Life
Portraits March-December 1999.

The seal of the President of the Unites States is shown on the left side of
the portrait.

The serial number is composed of the president's initials, the year of
birth followed by the year of death.

The name of the president and the numerical sequence in office are shown at
bottom left.

The name of the Secretary of the Treasury serving under the president is
shown at bottom right.



George Washington (1732-1799)
1st President, 1789-1797


John Adams (1735-1826)
2nd President, 1797-1801


Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
3rd President, 1801-1809


James Madison (1751-1836)
4th President, 1809-1817


James Monroe (1758-1831)
5th President, 1817-1825


John Quincy Adams (1767-1848)
6th President, 1825-1829


Andrew Jackson (1767-1845)
7th President, 1829-1837


Martin Van Buren (1782-1862)
8th President, 1837-1841


William Henry Harrison (1773-1841)
9th President, 1841-1841


John Tyler (1790-1862)
10th President, 1841-1845


James Polk (1795-1849)
11th President, 1845-1849


Zachary Taylor (1784-1850)
12th President, 1849-1850


Millard Fillmore (1800-1874)
13th President, 1850-1853


Franklin Pierce (1804-1869)
14th President, 1853-1857


James Buchanan (1791-1868)
15th President, 1857-1861


Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
16th President, 1861-1865


Andrew Johnson (1808-1875)
17th President, 1865-1869


Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885)
18th President, 1869-1877


Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893)
19th President, 1877-1881


James Garfield (1831-1881)
20th President, 1881-1881


Chester A. Arthur (1829-1886)
21st President, 1881-1885


Grover Cleveland (1837-1908)
22nd and 24th President, 1885-1889, 1893-1897


Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901)
23rd President, 1889-1893


William McKinley (1843-1901)
25th President, 1897-1901


Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)
26th President, 1901-1909


William Howard Taft (1857-1930)
27th President, 1909-1913


Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924)
28th President, 1913-1921


Warren G. Harding (1865-1923)
29th President, 1921-1923


Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933)
30th President, 1923-1929


Herbert Hoover (1874-1964)
31th President, 1929-1933


Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945)
32nd President, 1933-1945


Harry S. Truman (1884-1972)
33rd President, 1945-1953


Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969)
34th President, 1953-1961


John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)
35th President, 1961-1963


Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1974)
36th President, 1963-1969


Richard M. Nixon (1913-1994)
37th President, 1969-1974


Gerald Ford (1913-2006)
38th President, 1974-1977


Jimmy Carter (1924-)
39th President, 1977-1981


Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)
40th President, 1981-1989


George H. W. Bush (1924-)
41th President, 1989-1993


William J. Clinton (1946-)
42nd President, 1993-2001


George W. Bush (1946-)
43rd President, 2001-

Rare Early Australian Banknote

Sydney Morning Herald
James Cockington
May 28, 2008

John Pettit, of John Pettit Rare Banknotes in Sydney, recently bought an example of Australia's first banknotes. Governor Macquarie opened Australia's first bank, the Bank of New South Wales, in 1817 and the 10-shilling note in John Pettit's possession is the only surviving note from the first day's trading. Pettit values it at about $1 million.

Pettit, a former architect who now specialises in buying and selling rare banknotes, says there is great interest in collecting early Australian banknotes, especially those from before Federation and the establishment of the Commonwealth Treasury. The first distinctive Australian notes were issued in 1913.

Fifty-seven banks issued notes in Australia from 1817 to 1910. Many went broke, some were swallowed up by competitors (bank amalgamations, like the proposed merger of St George and Westpac, are nothing new). The Bank of Newcastle, the Bank of North Queensland and the Derwent Bank (Hobart) have all disappeared but the notes they issued, professionally printed and sometimes beautifully designed, are now considered excellent investments.

Indonesian Drops Cash From Plane

CNN
June 1, 2008

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- An Indonesian businessman known for publicity stunts dropped 100 million rupiah, or about $10,700, from an aircraft Sunday to promote his new book.

Bank notes are dropped from a small airplane Sunday to promote Tung Desem Waringin's new book.

Tung Desem Waringin circled eight times over a soccer field in the city of Serang, about 40 miles west of Jakarta, emptying bag after black bag of cash.

Below, men snatched bills from the hands of young ones. Giddy schoolchildren jumped up and down in excitement, holding up notes they picked up.

One man held a blue cap that he had stuffed with money. Another sat in a corner of the field, massaging his feet after a madcap dash for cash.

The stunt was to promote Tung's book "Marketing Revolution," said Fajar Ramdani, the media coordinator for the event.

Tung initially wanted to pull the stunt over the capital of Jakarta, but police, fearing large crowds and potential chaos, did not grant him permission, local media reported.

Three years ago, the 42-year-old motivational speaker rode a horse along Jakarta's main streets dressed as one of the country's most celebrated war heroes to launch his first book.

The book went on to become a best-seller.

Millions of people in Indonesia live on fewer than $2 a day. The publicity stunt was expected to generate a tremendous response because the country is grappling with rising food and fuel prices.