:: Numismatica :: Banknote & Coin Collecting

A numismatist or a collector - is there a difference?

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The word "numismatics" is not often heard outside the banknote and coin collecting community. Mention the word "numismatics" to anyone you meet on the street, you will almost certainly to get the "excuse me?" kind of reaction, as if it was some foreign language! In fact that kind of reaction is quite "normal" for a "numismatist". Worse if you tell people that you are a numismatist, they'll go "what?".

Like any other field of study or job specialization, such terminologies or "buzzwords" as they are commonly referred to, often sound unfamiliar. Take the medical profession for example, I am sure all of you know what a doctors are and what they do. But have you heard of cardiologist, gastroenterologist, oncologist, pathologist and radiologist ? No? I am not surprised. All of these are specialists professions for the heart, gut, cancer, lab tests and X-ray/imaging, They are your garden variety medical practitioners which are commonly found in your local hospital.

Banknote Grading Guide

This is a summarized banknote grading guide in a tabular form. Makes it easier to used because the factors that affect grade is clearly spelled out. The contents are summarized base on the International Banknote Society's (www.theibns.org) adjectival grading description. This was presented at the recent the "Introduction to Numismatic Grading" course conducted in Kuala Kangsar.

If you have any questions about the course or numismatic grading, do email us at help@alphanumis.com or Whatsapp +60 12 318 3042.

If you would like to get a FREE large version of this table (A3 size) in PDF, please email us.

Numismatic Grading Course at ProCINS Kuala Kangsar

Back in November 2014, I received a call from Dato' Sha, who is the founder "Kelab Warisan Numismatik Malaysia" (loosely translated : Malaysian Numismatic Heritage Club). After a polite introduction, he inquired about my background and my qualifications in numismatics. I briefed him about my numismatic interests and having just completed the Diploma in Numismatics with the American Numismatic Association (ANA) in July. To which he said that he is in the process of putting together a course in numismatics with University Malaysia Pahang (UMP) [Update 10 Dec 2015 : Please note that the certificate is issued by Koperasi Universiti Malaysia Pahang] and he is looking for a professionally trained numismatist to be one of the lecturers as well as develop the course content from scratch and I seem to fit the bill.

As for myself, I have always enjoyed sharing my knowledge and help people whenever I can. I have volunteered as a coach for MBA students, conducted systems engineering classes, spoke at industry conferences and also served on an Industry Advisory Panel for a local university for the past 3 years.

So there is no need to guess what my answer was going to be.

Spink Book Launch : Commemorating The Frank Goon Collection of Banknotes of British Malaya

For someone staying in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, it is a 5 hour road trip from here to the southern tip of the peninsular, Singapore. But is was well worth it, when one's goal is to get a much anticipated and perhaps this years' most important and significant book on numismatics - the 2nd edition of "Frank Goon Collection of Banknotes of British Malaya" published by Spink & Sons.

Spink Book - Frank Goon Collection of Banknotes of British Malaya

Image courtesy of Spink & Sons

This large format volume is no ordinary book. The book itself weighs in at close to 3kgs, contains 485 pages in full color, 28cm wide x 28cm high and 3.5cm thick. Most importantly, it contains high resolution photos of Mr. Frank Goon's personal collection of rare banknotes of the British Malaya, meticulously accumulated over the last 30 years. Incidentally, Mr. Frank Goon is the CEO/Managing Director of one the companies under the Kuok Group, which is owned by Mr. Robert Kuok, the richest man in South East Asia since 2002, with a net worth of more than US$10.5 billion.

The collection covers a wide time period of the colonial rule of the peninsular and its surrounding territories; from the era of the Straits Settlements to pre-war King George VI to the post-war Queen Elizabeth prints. That's from 1826 onwards.

The Banknote Book by Owen Linzmayer

The value of having a good catalog as a guide in building your banknote or coin collection cannot be underestimated. Not having one is akin to driving blind folded. For the past few decades Krause Publication's "Standard Catalog of World Paper Money" or SCWPM series of banknote catalogs has been the "go to" book for every world banknote enthusiast. So much so that one cannot be considered a serious banknote collector if he/she does not posses at least one copy of the SCWPM on his/her bookshelf! After all, SCWPM has been around since 1961, it boasts a whopping 21,000 items in their listing with 13,750 banknotes illustrated. Given its long history, the dominance of SCWPM as the leading authority in banknote catalogs has been undisputed, until now.

Fake error note : Malaya British Borneo 1961 10 Dollars

One thing about collecting error notes is that it is fraud with many dangers. We had one such case recently. A collector who recently acquired a piece of famous "kerbau" 10 Dollar error note ("kerbau" is Malay for buffalo) and he asked me to take a closer look at it and let him know what I think. Here's the high resolution scan :

Malaya British Borneo 10 Dollars 1961 Obverse - Fake Error

Figure 1 : Malaya British Borneo 10 Dollars 1 March 1961, Pick #9

The bottom right serial number appears to have been over printed i.e. the "9" has been over printed with a "0".

Re-grading aN Graded Notes at PMG

It's bound to happen. It is only a matter of time.

Late last year, a collector acquired 2 pieces of banknotes graded by alphaNumis decided to cut them out from the plastic slab and send it to PMG for grading, just to compare our grading skills/competency, which in our honest opinion, is a good thing. As consumers, people have every right to compare products and services. As a service provider, it's good feedback and opportunity to learn and improve.

Malaya 1 Dollar 1941 Graded by alphaNumis & PMG

Fig 1. PMG graded this piece at 55, same as aN grading. (Photos from Straits Settlements Shop)

The notes in question are Malaya 1 dollar from 1941, with King George VI. They were graded AU55 and EF40 respectively by alphaNumis. The result of the grading came back earlier this year and below are the photos posted by the collector, Andrew Chan, at his blogsite. You can read this piece on the grading here.

BNM Second Auction of Malaysian Banknotes with Special Serial Numbers 29 Mar 2015

Fig .1 Catalog cover of the second auction.

Almost exactly 6 months after its inaugural auction of banknotes with special serial numbers, the much anticipated auction was held today at the same venue, Sasana Kijang in Kuala Lumpur.

This time there was 178 lots up for grabs, compared to 231 for the first auction (53 lots or 23% difference). The buyer's premium is at 15%. The official schedule :

8:30 am Registration Starts

10:30 am Session 1 - RM1, RM10 and RM50

1:30 pm Session 2 - RM5, RM20, RM100

The auction did start at 10:30am this time around, registration was comparatively smoother than last time, mainly because the crowd was not as big as the first time and also perhaps people know what to expect already.

A Malaysia 11th Series 1 Ringgit Misaligned Cutting Error (MisCut), or is it?

A collector from up north sent me an interesting banknote to grade. It is an 11th series Malaysia 1 Ringgit note, signed by BNM Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz. A first glance it does look like a very uncirculated piece with very good eye appeal.

alphaNumis - Obverse Malaysia 11th Series 1 Ringgit Misalignment Error note

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

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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