The ultimate reference for world paper money.

The Banknote Book

Country Names

In general, notes are grouped into chapters by country of origin. If a country changes it name over time (such as Burma becoming Myanmar, or Ceylon becoming Sri Lanka), its notes may be found in different chapters (cross-references are provided as necessary at the beginning and end of each chapter), and the numbering of notes is reset with the name change of the country and/or issuing authority. The grouping of notes in this fashion should not be considered an endorsement of the politics of the country undergoing the name change. Instead it is a practical matter of making it easy for collectors to locate notes in the catalog by looking in the chapter that bears the same country name as appears on the note. Some chapters are devoted to break-away “countries” that have failed to gain widespread international recognition (such as Abkhazia and Somaliland). Again, the inclusion of such entities in this catalog should not be considered an endorsement. These notes are included only in the interest of being comprehensive in the coverage of notes commonly available in the collector market.

Issuing Authorities

For most countries, only one nationally recognized official authority issues notes at a given time, although the name may change over time as the organization transitions from a currency board to a central bank, for instance. Notes are grouped by authority, and assigned numbers which are unique for the country in question, but are not intended to be unique across countries.

Presentation Order

For the most part, notes are grouped into families (series) with similar design attributes, and the families are presented in their overall chronological order of introduction, with individual notes appearing in ascending order of denomination, which does not necessarily correspond to their order of introduction. While some countries issue entire families at once, others spread out the introduction of different denominations over many years. This may result in listings presented out of numerical order in an effort to create a more pleasing presentation in denomination order without resorting to renumbering of notes. Finally, some countries issue notes that don’t fit into any family. These are typically presented as stand-alone issues in chronological order rather than shoe-horned into inappropriate families.

Numbering System

The numbering system employed in The Banknote Book is similar to the Pick system (named after editor Albert Pick) used by the SCWPM, but with several improvements. Most importantly, once a number is assigned, it will never be changed capriciously, so you needn’t worry about dealers referring to notes using outdated numbers, nor waste your time looking for changes in subsequent editions to keep your own collection or inventory up to date. As mentioned in the preceding Presentation Order section, some countries spread out the introduction of different denominations over many years, and don’t necessarily issue new notes from smallest to largest denomination. Krause’s approach to this scenario has been to renumber notes as new members of the family are issued. The approach taken in The Banknote Book is to assign the next contiguous number as new notes are introduced, but present some listings out of numerical order in an effort to create a more pleasing presentation in denomination order without resorting to renumbering of notes. For the convenience of collectors, The Banknote Book numbers are cross-referenced to the corresponding Pick numbers that were assigned at the time of publication (see the Sources section at the end of each chapter to determine the SCWPM edition), but no attempt is made to keep up with any changes Krause may make in subsequent editions. Furthermore, each variety has its own checkbox which you can use to track notes you want to buy (slash) or which you already own (check).