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.
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.
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 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.
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".
We have received quite a number of calls and emails recently on how to submit banknotes to alphaNumis to grade and encapsulate. We think it will be better if we explain the process in a bit more detail, in the form of a Q&A in our blog so that you can get a better picture how it's done.
definition : literally "already seen", is the phenomenon of having the strong sensation that an event or experience currently being experienced has been experienced in the past, whether it has actually happened or not. (Source : Wikipedia.org)
Grading is part and parcel of collecting as much as exams are part of studying; and yet there many collectors feel that grading is something best left to the experts or numismatists. Let me assure you that nothing can be further from the truth.
We grade things in our daily lives – from picking the right fruit at the grocery store, to checking out that used car, right up to our life partners! Grading is the process of determining the condition and therefore value of something and subsequently deciding on how much of resource e.g. time and money that you want to invest in it.
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.
This is a quick run down on the statistics and a brief analysis of the BNM auction yesterday. The are base on the UNOFFICIAL results of the auction. I do hope MNP will publish the realized prices soon so that further analysis can be done.
The much anticipated numismatic event of the year has finally arrived. As I made my way to Sasana Kijang in downtown Kuala Lumpur, there are many thoughts about how the event will turn out and how it will affect the local numismatic market. There has been much buzz on social media sites and many will turn up at the event - either to bid for the items or to just sit on the sidelines and enjoy the show. Which ever way it goes, I think it is going to be a very crowded.
From what I know, and do correct me if I am wrong, such an event is unprecedented; as in our central bank is, for the very first time, running such an auction. The event is conducted by MNP Auctioneers (based in Penang, with office in downtown KL) at the auditorium of Sasana Kijang. The buyers' premium is quite reasonable - at 15% of the hammer price and there are 231 lots up for grabs.
As I arrived just after 9:00am and made my way down the escalator to the foyer of the auditorium, you can already hear the noise. People are already queuing up to register.
Fig 1: Escalator going down to the auditorium
Fig 2. Crowd building up....
Fig 3. Registration counters were packed.
Fig 4. Waiting for their number cards.
As I reached the foyer, I could immediately see all the familiar faces, just about every personality and dealer in the numismatic scene are there; from Steven Tan to Raymond Chang to KN Boon. Folks from the Malaysian Numismatic Society like Dickson Niew were there too. We even have collectors coming from down south, as in from Johor and Singapore, some from the north of the peninsular as well. I did not, however, encounter anyone from Hong Kong or China, which according to some will be here as well.
There was a lot of catching up to do, after all, no where in this country you can find all the dealers and collectors all in the same place at the same time ! I said many hellos to people whom I know and chatted with for hours on Facebook Messenger but have NEVER met them in person.
Fig 5. Guess who's here?
Fig 6. Can't touch this!
According to the itinerary, registration will be from 9:00am onwards and bidding is expected to begin at 10:00am. Due to the overwhelming crowd, the registration took a bit longer and bidding finally got underway at 11:00am. As I entered the auditorium, I took a rough calculation and my estimate that there there are about 250 to 300 people at the start of the session, this is the probably the biggest numismatic auction in this country yet.
Fig 7. The atmosphere of the grand looking hall.
Fig 8. Very spacious hall at audio was good and clear.
Fig 9. Waiting for the bidding to start.
Fig 10. And so it begins ....
Fig 11. Bidding went on for hours.
Fig 12. Good turnout.
The first lot up for grabs was RM1 AB Prefix with numbers AB0000001-10 with an indicative price of only RM200. Now this first lot was a BIG shocker, it came in at RM5,700 ! Subsequent similar lots settled at about RM3,500 to RM4,800 range. This took everyone in the room by surprise, there were gasps and claps at the same time. Amazing.
The next big thing was Lot 61 RM5 AA6666666, that piece comes with a frame and it got bidded up to RM16,000. Unbelievable. Considering that the rest of RM5 pieces were doing RM2000 to RM3000+.
Fast forward to 2:00pm, we are still at Lot 77, only one third of the way thru. At this rate, my calculations show that this should finish at about 8:00pm.I couldn't stay any longer and had to leave for my next appointment, after all according to the itinerary, it was suppose to finish at 2:00pm.
The prices are just incredible - for low serials, at least 10 times the catalog prices.
As I made my way out, I could see that some people have already left, perhaps disappointed that they could not get any of the lots at their target prices. I left the place thinking about what will be the subsequent impact of these new high prices of special serial number banknotes ....
I'll be back with my thoughts and some analysis of this momentous event. I will try to get the realized prices tonight and run thru them.
Stay tuned!
P.S. In the meantime, get ready to answer a barrage of questions from your brothers, sisters, wife or wives, aunties, uncles, grandmas, grandpas, colleagues, friends, your insurance agent, car mechanic, right up to your hairdresser about what is their nice number banknote is worth and whether you want to buy or not. Expect this to be inflicted upon you for a minimum of 6 months.
