HONG KONG COMMEMORATIVE BANKNOTES

8th Oct 2015 REVISED in bold red.


It has been a while since i have blogged as i was too pre-occupied with my daily work.

This topic i would like to write about Hong Kong commemorative replacement banknotes that i have just received from PMG after 3 months of waiting.

2015 HSBC "AB" prefix & 2012 BOC "AB" prefix

Hong Kong dealers claimed the recent issue of  150th anniversary of HSBC $150 2015 with "AB" prefix was a replacement banknotes as similar as the past issues. But after my notes came back from PMG without "replacement/star" and without the "Pick numbers" too as it was still new and have yet to be recorded in Krausse papermoney catalogue hence it was listed as "UNL150a4" (Unlisted).

I was told by a friend of mine Mr.Gilbert of Alpha Numismatics ( Alpha Numis website ) that the replacement banknote for HSBC circulation banknote is "ZZ" prefix, however we have not ascertain the prefix for the replacement banknote for the 2015 150th HSBC anniversary $150 yet or whether do they existed ? There were no information from Hong Kong's central bank on this replacement issue.  The normal ones are "AA", "AB", "HK", "HSBC". Among these four prefixes the "HSBC" prefix has the lowest mintage of 10,000 pcs issued.

Whereas the replacement banknote for the 2012 $100 100th anniversary Bank of China commemorative banknotes are "AB" prefix (as above photo).

2009 $150 150th anniversary of Standard Chartered Bank & 2015 $150 150th anniversary HSBC

These are some of my banknotes just came back from PMG.

Happy reading.

Andrew

MALAYSIA 1972 RM100 "Z/1" ISMAIL ALI "ERROR" REPLACEMENT BANKNOTE

Happy New Year 2015 to all the readers of my blog and i hope you have enjoyed your well deserved holidays with your loved ones.

Well this is my first article for year 2015 and i will feature an extra ordinary piece of extremely rare bank note to kick start the year.

A replacement banknote are meant for replacing a banknote that are printed in error at the stage of printing. But have you seen an obvious printing error occurred on replacement banknote itself ?

Therefore in this week article i shall feature an extra ordinary rare replacement error banknote from the Malaysia second series 1972 Ismail Ali RM100 "Z/1". The note itself are considered rare and coupled with printing error on it's back thus making it extremely scarce with only one piece in existent ever known.

However the condition of the note is in "EF" condition with few folds but original splendour - non wash, non press/iron, no pin hole, no tear and NO BULLSHIT !.

Happy reading.

Andrew

FLOODS HIT MALAYSIA CAUSE NUMISMATICS TO SLOW DOWN

Flood disaster had hit 8 states out of 13 states in Malaysia with flood water reached the roof tops, those states affected are - Kelantan, Trengganu, Perlis, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Johor and Pahang the worst disaster in 30 years. Hundreds of thousand of people had been evacuated and unfortunately some lives were lost.

The local numismatics economy had slow down for at least in the immediate to medium term. People needs time and resources (money) to get back into their normal lives again.

In dire times food stuffs are more important than numismatics and it matter no more if you have a piece of RM1 "CR" Ali Abul Hassan graded as PMG 67EPQ and you won't be able to trade for food stuffs worth RM8000. 

Next year 2015 will be a challenging year especially for speculators without much holding power. I believe the the modern replacement notes such as ZA, ZB, ZC, ZD for all denominations will drop in value when the bubble burst. If the price of crude oil could crash from USD110 to USD60 (at time of writing) the same fate could be apply for numismatics as well, since our economy and numismatics are tied together. 

Why the modern replacement notes are the ones that affected the most ? Because you can't find any young "collectors" that are genuine collectors in Malaysia because and they are mere speculators ! When they buy from you today and they intend to sell tomorrow to make quick bucks.

Modern replacement notes are like "warrants" in the stock exchange, you can only speculate in them during bullish times and you wouldn't want to buy them during challenging times because the price will fall very close to their face value respectively.

INFLOWS OF THE SMART MONEY

There are abound of opportunity where you can find good items emerge during times of crisis. I will put my money into rare Straits Settlements and Malaya banknotes but that does not necessary mean they are cheap but availability to purchase.

I will also buy those modern replacement banknotes when they are close to their face value. I just need to wait for the bubble to burst and i ain't in a hurry to buy and time is on my side. I want to see who can wait longer - the dealer or the buyer ? "Patience is a virtue"

Happy hunting !
Andrew

MALAYA 1942 KGVI AND MALAYSIA 2001 RM5 ZETI "ZA" REPLACEMENT NOTE

Buying opportunity arises during the recent stock exchange crash due to the international oil price plunge to USD58 per barrel (as at time of writing). Numismatics are tied to the share market and once the share market crashed everyone lose confident on the economy and are scared to spend money coupled with some losses in the stock market.

Speculators are selling to make ends meet so the same goes to some weak collectors are disposing and there is where good items comes out. Then the "smart money" emerge to grab them.

I managed to purchase some good items recently.

Malaya 1942 $50 KGVI in original VF condition, unwash, unpress and uncrop.

This piece of banknote Malaya 1942 $50 KGVI in its original condition was a good find. There are plenty of "washed and pressed" of these notes in the market where i often came across. And i rejected them because once washed the blue color ink were smeared on the side of the note and make the note look bluish instead of the original beige color.

2001 RM5 Zeti Aziz "ZA" replacement papermoney banknotes

I bought a stack of 100pcs run of 2001 RM5 Zeti Aziz 11th series "ZA" replacement notes. The reason i bought this stack as it was the last RM5 papermoney before it was replaced by RM5 polymer notes.  This series "ZA" is very hot item and you couldn't buy in stack during the peak.

I also found and bought half a stack 50pcs run of Malaysia 1981 RM1 Aziz Taha "Blindman" 5th series of "BA" replacement notes. This series are very popular among the collectors. I apologize i have forgotten to snap some pictures before i've sent all of them to PMG for grading as i was overwhelm by excitement.

Happy reading.

Andrew

1976 RM100 ISMAIL ALI SECOND SERIES "Z/1" REPLACEMENT BANKNOTE PMG 64

Just sharing with all of you my new "Z/1" replacement banknote from 1976 second series with the grade PMG 64 to be added into my collection.

MALAYSIA 2000 RM1 11TH SERIES ZETI AZIZ SINGLE LADDER NUMBERS COMPLETE SETS OF 24 PIECES

I'm pleased to be able to share with all of you this amazing complete ladder sets of 24 pieces ever assembled and display here for your viewing pleasure.

This amazing sets belong to a good friend of mine Mr.Xavier Tan from Singapore.

1)AAA 1234567

2)AAB 1234567

3)AAC 1234567

4)AAD 1234567

5)AAE 1234567

6)AAF 1234567

7)AAG 1234567

8)AAH 1234567

(AAI NON EXIST)

9)AAJ 1234567

10)AAK 1234567

11)AAL 1234567

12)AAM 1234567

13)AAN 1234567

(AAO NON EXIST)

14)AAP 12345678

15)AAQ 1234567

16)AAR 1234567

17)AAS 1234567

18)AAT 1234567

19)AAU 2222222 (AAU 1234567 was destroyed at the stage of printing)

20)AAV 1234567

21)AAW 1234567

22)AAX 1234567

23)AAY 1234567

24)AAZ 1234567

What is the value of this set ? If i use the most recent Bank Negara inaugural auction on the 27th September 2014 realized price as a benchmark that mean each single ladder piece is RM2300 (include buyer's premium) X 23 sets = RM52,900.00 + 1piece solid #2 = RM3105.00 (include buyer's premium for AAU 2222222) Grand total = RM56,005.00 for this sets of 24 pieces.

I would like to thank Mr.Xavier Tan for sharing with us one of his many great collections.

Happy reading.

Andrew

RM1 ZB AND RM5 ZB REPLACEMENT NOTES REVISIT

Amazingly the current price of 2012 RM1 Zeti "ZB" replacement note surged to RM700.00 each thus prompting me to review this banknote that i have blogged before please click on the link here ( RM1 ZB ).

Serial no. ZB 0134990

The reason for its rise attributed to scarcity despite the huge mintage of 134,990 pieces issued last year 2013 before Hari Raya Adilfitri. Many claimed it did not came out in a stack of 100pcs but only few pieces was slotted in between stack if you're lucky to find it.

However while i was browsing the web last night and i came across a photo of RM1 ZB in a stack of 100pcs from another blog (as picture shown below).

Does that mean stacks of 100pcs do exist from BNM (Bank Negara Malaysia) that not many people was aware off but only very few people knew about it and was being hoarded or cornered by them since it has low face value of only RM1.00 thus making it very easy to hoard ? And once the price is high it will come out slowly to the market with gradual controlled release only on low serial numbers (of course). This will artificially manipulate you to believe that the mintage was low with "2 zeroes" on the front but in reality it was not ? Well this is only my hunch and I let YOU be the judge.

However the currently price of 2012 RM5 Zeti "ZB" replacement note was consolidating at RM68.00 as at today but before it shot up to RM80.00 two months ago despite having low mintage of 60,000 pieces compare to RM1 ZB. 

The RM5 ZB came out in stacks unlike the RM1 ZB. Could it be because it was not being targeted to hoard because of its higher face value and it takes five times more capital to be hoarded ?

Please tell me your thoughts.

Happy reading.

Andrew 

MALAYSIAN NUMISMATIC COLLECTORS ARE SPECULATORS

Latest update : 13th Aug 2014

Two pieces of RM5 "ZC" was on auction on Ebay Malaysia and just ended with realized price of RM10.25 each and RM10.75 each with 5bids and 6bids respectively.

So by now you should know where you stand in the speculation chain don't you ?




Date : 11th Aug 2014

Generally speaking Malaysian numismatics collectors are pure speculators and they are not collectors at all. Majority of them like to speculate on replacement notes akin to buying penny stocks in the stock exchange and hoping to make quick bucks.

The most recent replacement note which came out to the market was the RM5 prefix "ZC" replacement just days before the Hari Raya Adilfitri on 28th July 2014. The price was sold at RM80.00 per piece (with ordinary serial numbers nothing special) and today at the time of writing the price fell to RM18.00 per piece just barely 2 weeks.  Modern replacement notes carry no numismatics value and the prices are solely base on "demand and supply" and once the demand vanishes so as to the price.

Many collectors like to speculate on replacement notes because they hope to make fast money but not everyone are so lucky. Obviously the last person in the speculation chain will lose out and first person on top of the chain will gain the most. Not everyone could be on top of the chain one must have good relationship with the bankers to receive the supplies with the lowest cost possible close to the face value of the banknotes. Usually these bankers work on "buddy-buddy" system with the dealers and both parties need each other.

Most dealers don't have much numismatics banknotes/coins (eg :- Straits Settlements, Malaya, Sarawak, British borneo and etc.) stocks left in their inventory and it is not easy to replenish your stocks once you have sold them and this dilemma are faced by every full time dealer. But then they still have their monthly commitments and cost to cover and they need to sell something to make profit, therefore to trade replacement notes is a best way to make fast money as there are frequently new replacement notes were issued in a year.

Whereas for collectors the approach are different like myself and time is not against us but time is on our side in contrast, if i don't sell anything in a year i still live happily and my life style still maintain. However i do have an ebay store to sell my excess stocks and to make some profit and so that i could use the money to expand and upgrade my personal collections.

I consider myself to be 70% collector and 30% seller. How about you ?

Happy reading.
Andrew

1986 RM20 JAFFAR HUSSEIN "UZ" REPLACEMENT NOTE AND 1981 RM10 X1 AZIZ TAHA REPLACEMENT NOTE GEM UNC

The next banknotes i'm going to send to PMG are the replacement notes. One of the highly sought after by collectors are 1986 RM20 Jaffar Hussein "UZ" and 1981 RM10 X1 Aziz Taha both are ORIGINAL replacement notes in GEM UNC condition and have never been washed nor pressed.

1981 RM10 X1 Aziz Taha Gem UNC very highly sought after by collectors.

1986 RM20 Jaffar Hussein "UZ" Gem UNC, very rare in 3 pieces consecutive numbers and highly sought after by collectors.

I only choose some of the banknotes to feature in this blog that i want to highlight. There are too many banknotes and coins i send and received from PMG / NGC on bi-weekly basis and i can't scan all the pictures and publish it on this blog as it is too much time consuming.

Enjoy !

MALAYSIA REPLACEMENT BANKNOTES

Today i have received my another lot from PMG after grading and this time they are the replacement banknotes of various series. I felt a little disappointed as there are no super grade like PMG 67EPQ as i was hoping for.

2000 ZETI AZIZ 11TH SERIES RM1 "ZAA" REPLACEMENT

1981 AZIZ TAHA 5TH SERIES RM1 "BA" REPLACEMENT

1983 AZIZ TAHA 5TH SERIES RM10 "QA" REPLACEMENT 

1995 AHMAD DON 7TH SERIES RM10 "QA" REPLACEMENT

1989 JAFFAR HUSSEIN 6TH SERIES RM10 "QA" REPLACEMENT

1999 ALI ABUL HASSAN 10TH SERIES (CENTER SIGNATURE) "ZA" REPLACEMENT

2007 ZETI AZIZ 11TH SERIES (MERDEKA LOGO) "ZA" REPLACEMENT

1999 ALI ABUL HASSAN 9TH SERIES (SIDE SIGNATURE) "ZA" REPLACEMENT

Very scare and rare in high grade and highly sought after by collectors.

Very scare and rare in high grade and highly sought after by collectors.

Gong Xi Fa Cai !