I should have stayed away....

[FilthyBroke]

....from the paper money forum.  Way too much cool stuff over here!   My father-in-law showed me his inherited collection of large notes and silver certificates, and they really got me interested.  I decided to put it out of my mind for the time being, but it really is hard to stay away.  The artwork on some of the early U.S. notes is VERY nice! 

I will have to ask you all to cease and desist.  It's too tempting. 

[Zantetsuken]

....from the paper money forum.  Way too much cool stuff over here!   My father-in-law showed me his inherited collection of large notes and silver certificates, and they really got me interested.  I decided to put it out of my mind for the time being, but it really is hard to stay away.  The artwork on some of the early U.S. notes is VERY nice! 

I will have to ask you all to cease and desist.  It's too tempting. 

Give into your temptation. You know you want to. Resistance is futile. HAHAHAHAHA!!! Sorry, I couldn't resist. All kidding aside, collecting coins and notes can be very addictive. No one knows this better than myself. For example, I saw some beautiful Russian gold coins at a local coin store the other day, and I had a hard time keeping my drooling under control. That's the fun of the hobby though.

~Daniel

[Scottishmoney]

Nothing to see in early USA paper money, move along folks...

[FilthyBroke]

Give into your temptation. You know you want to. Resistance is futile. HAHAHAHAHA!!! Sorry, I couldn't resist. All kidding aside, collecting coins and notes can be very addictive. No one knows this better than myself. For example, I saw some beautiful Russian gold coins at a local coin store the other day, and I had a hard time keeping my drooling under control. That's the fun of the hobby though.

~Daniel

It won't take much, to tell you the truth.  I was hoping that one day my father-in-law would pass the collection my way.   I have a few pics (somewhere), he had me check the prices a while back.  I also find myself browsing through the colonial currency once in a while on Ebay, but know so little about them that I haven't picked anything up yet. 

I figure that it'll happen one day, but I'm still learning the coins/tokens that I collect now, do I have time for more studying?   (just thinking aloud)

[FilthyBroke]

Nothing to see in early USA paper money, move along folks...

You are not helping....

[Scottishmoney]

If you are interested in colonials now is the time to shop around, they are not meeting reserves in auctions and there is a lot of choice stuff out there.  If you really look and are persistent you can pick up some really neat stuff - in the past year I have bought two Ben Franklin printed notes, one a 1746 that is not priced in Newman, and some autograph notes with John Hart's signature on them(He also signed the Declaration of Independence) at a pittance price because there are so many of them in auctions that they often get overlooked.  One of my favourite finds from last year is this one:





Which wasn't cheap as colonials go, but for the issue which is incredibly rare since most of them are very heavily circulated or non existent now because they were called in and redeemed by the city.

[FilthyBroke]

Scottishmoney, that one looks much nicer than the ones I've seen so far.  The prices I've seen also seemed lower than I would have expected, which often makes me suspicious.  Many of the colonials had holes punched in them, which I was told was done to cancel the note.  Is this accurate? Also, are there copies or counterfeits to the extent of what seems to be entering the U.S. coin market?

[coinsarefun]

That's why I try to stay away and never open these threads

But, that's what I said about Conders, HTT's, CWT's and various other numismatic items

[Scottishmoney]

Scottishmoney, that one looks much nicer than the ones I've seen so far.  The prices I've seen also seemed lower than I would have expected, which often makes me suspicious.  Many of the colonials had holes punched in them, which I was told was done to cancel the note.  Is this accurate? Also, are there copies or counterfeits to the extent of what seems to be entering the U.S. coin market?

Counterfeits do exist, but fortunately they are usually the tourist trap "parchment" type paper that stands out like a sore thumb to everybody but those bidding on eBay.  Contemporary counterfeits exist of many of the Continental Congress issues, they were made by the British - and because they were identified - the counterfeits were quickly found and destroyed.  So if you can find one of the British counterfeits from that time they are worth a lot more than the real "Continentals".  Since the John J. Ford sale, and subsequent releases from the state archives in North Carolina a lot of notes that were previously rare are very common now.  There is just not enough collector interest in them, even with the history etc.  Not a lot of people are even familiar with them, they really are plainly designed etc. 

As such they are really only a historical interest to me, it is rather exciting to behold a note that Ben Franklin ran through his paws 250+ years ago - but they do not have attractive designs usually.

[Scottishmoney]

That's why I try to stay away and never open these threads

But, that's what I said about Conders, HTT's, CWT's and various other numismatic items

My whole accumulation of numismatic materiel polluting up numerous safe deposit boxes is a testament to a completely directionless pursuit - or many thereof.