Singapore 2nd Series of Banknotes - Bird Series

Many of you who are around my age, born in the 1980s, would have still seen these notes circulated when we were in primary school, mostly the 1 dollar due to the large amount printed. I shall provide a short intro and upload some scans of these notes.

The Bird Series of currency notes is the second set of notes to be issued for circulation in Singapore. Issued in the years 1976 to 1984, it has nine denominations, the same number as in the Orchid Series, except that the $25 note was replaced by the $20 note.

Each note features a bird on the right side of the note's front, a theme selected to represent a young Singapore "ever ready to take flight to greater heights". Standard on each note, is the Coat of Arms, a lion head watermark, and the signature of the Minister for Finance and Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Singapore, on the front of the note. As an added security feature, all notes have a vertically embedded security thread, while the $1,000 and $10,000 notes have 2.

Bird 1 Dollar

(Note that the print on this note is shifted left, comparing it to the other note underneath. This is an example of a small error note, and sought after by some collectors.)

Bird 5 Dollars

Singapore Millennium 2 Dollar Presidential Note

Singapore had released a paper portrait note in 2000, commemorating the millennium. This specific series of Yusof Ishak notes have the millennium logo at the top right and bottom left hand corner of the note, before the serial number. This is the only note in Singapore that has 7 serial numbers, in which actually the first number is also part of the prefix, e.g. millennium 1, when 1 is being used as the first number of the serial no.

United Overseas Bank had packaged these notes in 3s, with the same serial numbers.

Bahamas 50 Cents and 1 Dollar

I am also a collector of world banknotes, including the Queen Eizabeth II series.

Queen Elizabeth's portrait appeared more often on the banknotes of Great Britain's colonies, prior to the colonies gaining independence and the use of her portrait is still present in some countries today, like Australia. The Queen has been depicted on the banknotes of thirty-three issuing authorities, as well as on an essay prepared for Zambia.

In this post, I will share you with the Bahamas 50 cent and 1 dollar banknote. You may find the layout and the printing style familiar, as Bahamas also employs the same printer, Thomas De La Rue to print her banknotes in the early days.

The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an English-speaking country consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets (rocks). It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba, Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti) and the Caribbean Sea, northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States of America (nearest to the state of Florida). Its total land area is almost 14 000 km², with an estimated population of 330,000. Its capital is Nassau. (Wikipedia, 2010)

Interestingly, the currency of Bahamas is being pegged to the US Dollar, similar to how we peg our currency with Brunei.

1988 Singapore Proof Coin Set

Singapore released her second series of coin in the years of 1985 - 1986, with the first proof coin set released in the year of 1986. A proof set consists of all the circulatory coins, minted in silver and encapsulated, and sold with a certificate of authenticity.

When buying a proof set, firstly ensure there is a certificate. Secondly, please check whether the dates correspond to the certificate. Thirdly, check whether the capsules were opened. The same applies to the uncirculated coin sets. Do check whether the plastic casing has been cut open.

This is because even in a country as safe as Singapore, there are also black sheeps in the numismatic community. I have ever chanced upon "doctored" commemorative note sets (where the 50 dollar plastic commemorative note was swapped with a circulated one, and selling for the original price), and uncirculated coin sets filled up with circulated coins of different years. The shop still has the cheek to sell the sets at the price of the real thing. This shop in particular is located around Furama hotel, and operated by a foreign talent, coincidentally from a country known best for copying. I wonder whether if the checks on the integrity of newly migrated foreign talents are stringent enough. Please beware.

Anyway, enjoy the scans. This is a 1988 Silver Proof Set. It is one of my favourites as the coins are housed in a nice velvet red folder with our coat of arms in gold on the front.

Silver Tiger Coins

Chinese zodiac has been a big influence on many silver mints across the world, where they mint silver coins with Chinese zodiac animals every year. Some mints may sell these coins as purely an investment option where it is only priced slightly higher above silver spot price, but some of the mints sell the coins way above the silver price. Coins purchased from the Singapore mint have retail prices way higher than its face value and silver content. But of course, we have to factor in the high overhead costs they might have for producing the coins as well.

I have collected 2 of Singapore's Tiger Coins, 1986 and 1998, and a 2010 Australian Tiger coin, which is actually my Chinese zodiac.

1st Series of Singapore 10 Dollar Coins

After independence, Singapore had minted its first 10 dollar silver coin in 1972 - 1974 (Eagle), 1975 - 1977 (Ship), 1977 (Asean), 1978 - 1980 Satellite). These coins comes in 2 versions, the uncirculated coins in pouches and proof coins in boxes. Uncirculated coins are minted with a larger quantity, while the proof coins supply is much lesser. The issue price for proof coins are also significantly higher as it comes encapsulated, has a shinier and nicer finishing, and of course a certificate of authenticity by the Singapore Mint.

Silver was initially used as a component for all coins, for both uncirculated coins and proof coins. However, it was changed in 1980 where the satellite uncirculated coin was minted in Copper-Nickel. So do take note when you purchase an uncirculated satellite coin minted in 1980, please do not take the silver content into consideration as there is none.

The below picture shows a coin from each series, namely the ship, eagle and satellite. You can see that the finishing of the ship and satellite coins are more mirror like and shinier than the finishing of the eagle coins as these coins are proof coins. The eagle coin is an uncirculated coin. However, the proof coins does not appear as silvery as the eagle coin, this is due to toning, which is the ageing of the coin, and this does not affect its value.

1st Set of Singapore Coins

Many of you who are born after the 80s may have only seen the 1 cent, 10 cents and 20 cents but not the full set of these coins. The older coins had more elaborate designs and in my opinion, looks nicer than the current set of coins. Something interesting to note, the 1 dollar coin was changed from a silver round coin to a golden coin which looks like an octagon. Urban legend has it that it was the idea of a certain prominent political figure who had made the change after consulting a fengshui master. GIYBF, google is your best friend.

I have attached a scan of the 1982 proof set. The older coins were slightly bigger in size, especially the 1 dollar coin.