Paper Money Collectors
Fascinating is a great adjective for paper money collectors. This word describes all the aspects inherent in the lucrative hobby for anyone interested. Collecting paper money will take the collector down the road of history, world travel, significant time periods, and the particulars of collecting logistics. This pastime will yield many years of interesting study as well as provide a tangible investment decades from now.
The reasons people begin collecting rare paper money are many, but most start out discovering the many printing errors on the bills. The mint tries to catch all of these errors prior to the currency being sent out into circulation, but thousands get past the inspectors. For example, money collectors may note that the front of the bill is printed correctly, but the back of the bill has portions of two bills printed on the back. There may have been folds in the paper when the money was printed, and therefore cause a break in the ink when taking the fold out of the bill. Printing may be ghosted from the printing plate onto an already printed bill, causing a double print. There are many variations of this to watch for, and these types of bill could become quite valuable in the coming years. For the most part, these types of bills are noticed quickly and taken out of circulation by collectors.
Some who enjoy collecting rare paper money focus on certain periods of time, such as the civil war, or bills printed before that time. The artwork may fascinate the collector, and therefore effort may be made to discover who did the artwork for the bill. Old bills are testaments of who held high offices in the country of interest, and show the many designs that have occurred throughout the decades. Treasury symbols have been placed at many positions on the American dollars over the years, serial numbers sometimes are printed upside down or backwards, and sometimes not at all! A very obvious error is when the ink becomes smeared on the bills, obscuring the design on parts of the bill. These types of errors can be found on bills of any age.
Many young collectors have started collecting rare paper money by gathering bills from each country in the world. Others are more interested in the sequences of serial numbers and so focus on that aspect of collecting. There are paper money collectors who find currency with denominations less than one dollar, which are called fractional currency. Still other people enjoy collecting paper currency of various sizes. Readers may be interested to know that today's modern dollars are the smallest they have ever been. What ever the reason for collecting, each reason yields an array of interesting specimens worthy of any collection. Currency collecting takes a great deal of study, which is a worthy undertaking. "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth"(2 Timothy 2:15 KJV).
So how does a collector rate or grade the money in the collection? All one need do is refer to a good reference manual which describes how to go about the grading process. There are several grades running from poor, which is the worst, up to what is referred to as crisp or uncirculated. The very best rating of crisp, means there is absolutely nothing wrong with the bill, no signs of wear, tear, folds, etc. There is no discoloration at all and the features are clear. The specimen doesn't get any better than that. Grading a bill improperly, even slightly could cause the value to be reduced by a great deal. So it is worth it to the collection investor to ensure the grading is done correctly.
The manner in which currency is stored is very important. Since the currency is paper, the bills are subject to the oils and moisture from the hands of those who touch them. These substances can destroy the article and ruin its value. Therefore, special plastic holders or envelopes should be obtained to seal it away from harm. There is also special paper that should be used for the same reason. These items will be especially important for collecting rare paper money. Coin or currency hobby stores should be able to supply the collector with these types of supplies for a small amount of money.
Most paper money collectors will need to have on hand some good reference books on currency collecting. These books are very important because they provide the current values of paper money in the market today. Also, these books have detailed photographs of almost every type of bill being collected, so that the collector can compare specimens against the pictures, to be sure of its authenticity. Therefore, it is critical that these reference books are accurate and reliable, otherwise there would be no sure way to tell what value the currency has or even if the bill is not forged. Unless the person has been collecting for many years and can rely on experience, these books are invaluable as reference tools for most collectors. There are many books available out there for collectors, but only about 11 are very reliable. Check around in collectors shops for advice on which references would be the best to purchase.
There are collector magazines for paper money collectors available in book stores that are very informative for the novice as well as the experienced collector to stay abreast of all the updates in the field of numismatics. Also available in these publications are lists of dealers whom the collector can get in touch with to make sales to get some advice. This hobby is extremely interesting and educational for people of all ages, and is not difficult to begin. Collecting rare paper money may be the last hobby a person will ever start, because it is so fascinating!
The reasons people begin collecting rare paper money are many, but most start out discovering the many printing errors on the bills. The mint tries to catch all of these errors prior to the currency being sent out into circulation, but thousands get past the inspectors. For example, money collectors may note that the front of the bill is printed correctly, but the back of the bill has portions of two bills printed on the back. There may have been folds in the paper when the money was printed, and therefore cause a break in the ink when taking the fold out of the bill. Printing may be ghosted from the printing plate onto an already printed bill, causing a double print. There are many variations of this to watch for, and these types of bill could become quite valuable in the coming years. For the most part, these types of bills are noticed quickly and taken out of circulation by collectors.
Some who enjoy collecting rare paper money focus on certain periods of time, such as the civil war, or bills printed before that time. The artwork may fascinate the collector, and therefore effort may be made to discover who did the artwork for the bill. Old bills are testaments of who held high offices in the country of interest, and show the many designs that have occurred throughout the decades. Treasury symbols have been placed at many positions on the American dollars over the years, serial numbers sometimes are printed upside down or backwards, and sometimes not at all! A very obvious error is when the ink becomes smeared on the bills, obscuring the design on parts of the bill. These types of errors can be found on bills of any age.
Many young collectors have started collecting rare paper money by gathering bills from each country in the world. Others are more interested in the sequences of serial numbers and so focus on that aspect of collecting. There are paper money collectors who find currency with denominations less than one dollar, which are called fractional currency. Still other people enjoy collecting paper currency of various sizes. Readers may be interested to know that today's modern dollars are the smallest they have ever been. What ever the reason for collecting, each reason yields an array of interesting specimens worthy of any collection. Currency collecting takes a great deal of study, which is a worthy undertaking. "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth"(2 Timothy 2:15 KJV).
So how does a collector rate or grade the money in the collection? All one need do is refer to a good reference manual which describes how to go about the grading process. There are several grades running from poor, which is the worst, up to what is referred to as crisp or uncirculated. The very best rating of crisp, means there is absolutely nothing wrong with the bill, no signs of wear, tear, folds, etc. There is no discoloration at all and the features are clear. The specimen doesn't get any better than that. Grading a bill improperly, even slightly could cause the value to be reduced by a great deal. So it is worth it to the collection investor to ensure the grading is done correctly.
The manner in which currency is stored is very important. Since the currency is paper, the bills are subject to the oils and moisture from the hands of those who touch them. These substances can destroy the article and ruin its value. Therefore, special plastic holders or envelopes should be obtained to seal it away from harm. There is also special paper that should be used for the same reason. These items will be especially important for collecting rare paper money. Coin or currency hobby stores should be able to supply the collector with these types of supplies for a small amount of money.
Most paper money collectors will need to have on hand some good reference books on currency collecting. These books are very important because they provide the current values of paper money in the market today. Also, these books have detailed photographs of almost every type of bill being collected, so that the collector can compare specimens against the pictures, to be sure of its authenticity. Therefore, it is critical that these reference books are accurate and reliable, otherwise there would be no sure way to tell what value the currency has or even if the bill is not forged. Unless the person has been collecting for many years and can rely on experience, these books are invaluable as reference tools for most collectors. There are many books available out there for collectors, but only about 11 are very reliable. Check around in collectors shops for advice on which references would be the best to purchase.
There are collector magazines for paper money collectors available in book stores that are very informative for the novice as well as the experienced collector to stay abreast of all the updates in the field of numismatics. Also available in these publications are lists of dealers whom the collector can get in touch with to make sales to get some advice. This hobby is extremely interesting and educational for people of all ages, and is not difficult to begin. Collecting rare paper money may be the last hobby a person will ever start, because it is so fascinating!
Paper Money Collectors
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