Straits Settlements 10 Dollars - A Contemporary Forgery

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We're back!  From a long absence because we were working on a book project with Mr. Saran Singh. Now that the book has been published and launched, we can do go back to our usual "business".

For our first blog posting of 2017, we have a interesting piece of a forgery note - a Straits Settlements $10 note, dated 1 January 1935. We believe is may be a contemporary forgery (due to the apparent ageing of the paper), which means that it as created at the time when these notes were legal tender and in active circulation.

Take a look :

Fig 1. : Straits Settlements $10 - Obverse (Counterfeit)

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Illegal to own the 1934 U.S. $100,000 Gold Certificate

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Over the past year, we have received several calls about the United States $100,000 Gold Certificate (banknote) with the portrait of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, asking us to estimate the value of the piece, hoping that it will be worth millions and they can sell it and solve all their financial problems.

Well, we've got bad news ...... if that piece is real, you can be ARRESTED for owning it!

According to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing under the U.S. Treasury, this was indeed printed in the 1930s and ONLY used for transactions between the Federal Reserve Banks and its branches, it is NOT meant for general circulation at all. The size of the note is 157 mm x 66 mm or 6 3/16 in x 2 5/8 inches. There were only 42,000 pieces of these printed and ALL of them have been accounted for, it remains the property of the Government of United States.

As such it is ILLEGAL to own any of such pieces.

If you see any of these, they are either STOLEN PROPERTY or REPLICAS/COUNTERFEITS. Both of which can get you into serious trouble.

Fig. 1 : US $100,000 Gold Certificate, 1934 Series, Obverse

Fig 2: US $100,000 Gold Certificate - Reverse

One of the piece is on display at the National Museum of American History, under the Smithsonian.

We DO NOT buy or sell any of these, therefore please stop calling us about this piece.

Thank you & Happy Collecting, just don't collect the illegal stuff like this one!

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Malaysia 1 Ringgit Ali Abul Hassan Side/Vertical Signature ??

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Fake AAH Signature on the side/vertical on 1 Ringgit note 

Almost all of Malaysian banknote collectors know that there is only one version of the 1 Ringgit Ali Abul Hassan (commonly referred to as AAH) signed notes i.e. the one with the signature is a center of the obverse and the only prefix for this is none other than the famous "CR" prefix.

Then one fine day, someone showed me the much-talked-about but never seen side/vertically signed note, which is quite interesting because my good friend LUNATICG happen to mention that in his blog article titled "Top 10 Myths in Malaysian Numismatics". This "phantom" piece is listed at item #4. The most astonishing part is that someone allegedly paid RM15,000 (about USD4,000) for that piece. However, there were no photos of that piece shown in the article.

Now I am not at all sure if this piece that appeared before me is that very same piece or if it is even produced by the same "counterfeiter"* (a special heartfelt thanks to Eryclunk Numismatic (FB name) for showing me this); but it is far too interesting to let it go without taking a closer look at it!

* Technically speaking this is not a counterfeit because the banknote itself it genuine. It is an "alteration" made to it so that it will fetch a higher market value. 

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The Malaysia 12th Series 10 Ringgit Black Rafflesia : The Controversy & The Facts

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The past 2 days has seen a lot of sudden buzz around the Malaysia 12th series 10 Ringgit banknote that has a different color Rafflesia on the reverse. This interesting event was triggered by Dickson Niew's blog article. Dickson, the prolific numismatist cum blogger (Did I get that right Dickson?) provides an interesting insight into the origins of the mysterious "Black Rafflesia", commonly referred to as the "BR" note in social media circles. The article can be found here.

The note in question ....

This note has been a subject of much discussion on local social media groups on numismatics since the second half of 2014.  Much of the controversy revolves around the issue on whether it is a genuine piece or a "post-mint-job".

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World War II JIM - Malaya Japanese Propaganda Note

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Some people call it a "note", perhaps in reference to the short form for the term "banknote". If it is, then it is technically incorrect.

Before we get into the technical details, let's go back 70 years, Malaya was then under Japanese occupation since late 1941 / early 1942. By 1944/45 the tide was turning against the Japanese and toward the end of the war, sometime between 1944 and 1945, the Royal Air Force (British) started airdropping these pieces of paper as part of the psychological warfare initiative.

Fig 1 : Suspicious looking propaganda leaflet (Obverse)

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