Do not laminate your notes!

Recently I have met up with several people wanting to sell their old banknotes to me, but their banknotes were all laminated. It is a pity as the banknotes were of very good condition before they were laminated and sent to their tomb. Laminated notes lose all of their numismatic value and the banknote would be considered mutilated. Trying to even spend the face value of the note would also be hard as no one would accept such a note. This laminated note may also be considered a mutilated note. According to the Currency Act,

"The circumstances in which, and the conditions and limitations subject to which the value of mutilated currency notes or coins, or notes or coins which have been illegally dealt with, may be refunded as an act of grace shall be in the absolute discretion of the Authority. "

Therefore, do not laminate your notes or buy any laminated notes.

However, lamination is different from sealing a note in a plastic pouch. Some collectors prefer to seal their notes in a plastic pouch, and the note can still be freed from the pouch. This is ok, but lamination is not as the note can never revert back to its paper form without risking damage to it.

American Silver Certificates

The United States one-dollar bill ($1) is the most common denomination of US currency. The first president, George Washington, painted by Gilbert Stuart, is currently featured on the obverse, while the Great Seal of the United States is featured on the reverse. Everyone is very familiar with the current 1 dollar bill.

But there is actually a very similar note in silver colour called the silver certificate. It looks classier than the current note.

Another place called Singapore (in USA)

I was researching on Singapore Banknotes when I found this interesting website. This website shows me a very foreign looking Singapore banknote, and on further inspection, the banknote is not from our Singapore, it is actually from a small town in USA, Michigan. It is very interesting that 2 entirely different places, with different culture and people, had once shared the same name.

Quoted from Wikipedia.org,

"Singapore, perhaps Michigan's most famous ghost town, is one of the casualties of the four great fires (Chicago, Holland, Peshtigo, and Manistee) that ravaged the northern midwest on 8 October 1871.[1] Its ruins now lie buried beneath the sand dunes of the Lake Michigan shoreline at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River near the cities of Saugatuck and Douglas."

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore,_Michigan
http://singaporemichigan.com/

Singapore Orchid 5 Dollars Variety - Part 2

In this post, I will attach the images of the Dr. Goh Keng Swee and Mr. Lim Kim San variety.

Singapore Orchid 5 Dollars Variety

As mentioned in the orchid notes section, there are mainly 4 kind of varieties for Orchid notes, namely signed by Mr. Lim Kim San, Dr. Goh Keng Swee, Dr. Hon Sui Sen (with and without seal). In this post I will show you the difference between a Dr. Hon Sui Sen with seal note and the one without seal. The one without a seal is not an error note, do not believe anyone who tries to peddle it as an error note to you. It is released as the 3rd variety, but its amount released is fairly little, thus the value of the note is the 2nd highest out of the 4 varieties. This HSS without seal note is slightly shifted up, which makes it unique. For more more pictures of the orchid notes, please click on the Orchid notes link in the navigation toolbar.

Singapore Bird Series 500 Dollars Banknote

The Singapore Bird series $500 banknotes measures 181 mm x 84 mm. Its colour theme is green, with a Black-naped Oriole on the front, and Jurong Island on the reverse. This note is a first prefix (A/1) note.

Singapore Bird 100 Dollars Banknotes

The Singapore Bird $100 measures 165 mm x 78 mm. The front of the note has a drawing of a Blue Blue-throated Bee-eater and on the reverse are dancers of various ethnic groups. By chance, I collected this 4 pieces 100 dollars in uncirculated running numbers. Even though the bird 100 is still fairly common, its not easy to find them in such pristine condition with running numbers.