Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2025 i Banknote Reporter

As we wrap up 2025, we at NumisMaster are excited to announce that all countries on the database now feature up-to-date bank note information! We’ve completed updates for all 314 countries and added nearly 2,350 new notes, including many of the most recently released issues. A heartfelt thank-you goes out to our dedicated contributors, whose time and expertise ensured that our data remains accurate and comprehensive. Your support has been invaluable in helping us reach this milestone.…

Welcome to the final article in the coolest paper money error notes series. In earlier articles, I showcased some of the most impressive errors. Part 1 tackled double third printing, Hawaii overprint errors, radical offset errors, and a couple of unique errors you had to see to believe. For Part 2, I covered mismatched charter numbers on National Bank notes, double printing errors, wild mismatched serial number errors, over-inkerrors, and some unusual obstruction error notes. Check out the October and November 2025 issues of Bank Note Reporter to read those articles. For Part 3, the overview of bank note errors continues. Thanks to Stack’s Bowers and Heritage Auctions for the photographs contained, and to paper money error expert Richard Merlau for his input. RETAINED OBSTRUCTION ERRORS Essentially an error note…

The results of the October 23 Feldman International Auctions’ Silk Road Collection Part III + World Coins, Banknotes & Medals auction crafted a timeline of objects that spanned centuries. Included was currency once used on the Silk Road and later housed in the famed Vikramm Chand’s collection, such as a circa 300–200 B.C. issue that dates as one of the earliest Buddhist gold coins ofAncient India, which was bought for CHF 5,000. But not all objects at the sale were from antiquity. For its bank note section, Feldman also ventured to 19th-century Egypt and sold some impressive pieces sourced from a Swiss private collection. A prominent example from the sale was a June 25, 1898, Egyptian 1-pound remainder note (Pick 2r, Hanafy M1, 1 L.E.) issued by the National Bank…

I recently asked my oftentimes collaborator, Lee Lofthus, if he had a suitable note for the Reader’s Showcase. He immediately sent a pair of 1929 notes, consisting of a type 1 and a type 2, from The National Bank of Manassas, Virginia, along with a photograph of the bank, but without explanation. Of course, this was the site of the first battle of the Civil War, often referred to as the first Battle of Bull Run. I then recalled that he also flashed a Gettysburg note around in one of his presentations a few years ago. That notorious battle represented the turning of the tide of the war firmly in the favor of the Union, so I requested a photograph of it as well. The Manassas and Gettysburg photographs were…

Arthus Smith brought to my attention a very early $5 brown back from Brownsville, Pennsylvania, in the Stack’s Bowers November 25, 2025, sale (lot 6246). Notice that it has a low Treasury sheet number, A5166. The $5 “Series of 1882” plate was the first national bank note plate designed at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). The layout on these plates evolved over time as the BEP engravers perfected it. At first, the Treasury signatures were stacked to the upper left of the title block instead of being placed in-line, straddling the top of the bank title. But on this Brownsville note, there is an even more significant placement variety that occurs only on the very first of the stacked signature plates. This involves the centering of the title…

In order to take some pressure off Detroit businesses to make small change, a series of four notes was issued on November 1, 1861. They were smaller than $1 and were issued in 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, and 50¢ denominations. At the time, the Civil War had just begun, and coinage—especially silver and copper—was being hoarded by the public, disrupting the normal currency flow. People then began to trust local bank notes and merchant scrip as temporary substitutes. During this time, State Bank of Michigan notes circulated widely in shops, taverns, and markets throughout Detroit. These small-denomination paper notes provided a practical solution to keep local trade moving smoothly. At the time these notes were issued, Detroit was the largest city in Michigan and the center of most of the state’s…

As the holiday season approaches, it seems to many of us like the pace of an already hectic life speeds up even more, if that were possible. There can be all sorts of get-togethers, friends and relatives stopping in, and sometimes even folks we haven’t seen for the whole year making an appearance. There’s often some home cooking to be done, and a variety of other tasks that appear to come about only at the end-of-the-year holidays. In the midst of all this, there is also some gift buying going on. To ease up on the gas, as it were, we’ll propose several numismatic gifts that might appease a wide variety of people, be they close friends or that surprise visitor. Proof Sets, Silver, and Base Metal Proof sets remain…

DECEMBER 2025 U.S. Paper Money Price Guide Private companies continue to be crucial for producing bank notes. Based on the Federal Reserve Board’s recently published 2026 print order, Crane NXT recently announced it is projecting 2026 bank note printing orders to range between 3.8 and 5.1 billion pieces. This will include an anticipated increase in higher denomination notes. Crane NXT President and Chief Executive Officer Aaron W. Saak explained, “We are pleased with the significant increase in expected demand in 2026 for higher denomination bank notes containing advanced security features. Additionally, we look forward to continuing to support the U.S. Currency Program’s strategic priorities, including the currency redesign starting with the introduction of the new $10 bank note scheduled for release next year.” Crane anticipates that fewer new $1, $2,…

This $100 silver certificate of deposit was authorized by the Bland-Allison Act of February 28, 1878. It represented 100 silver dollars deposited in the U.S. Treasury that had been made from silver purchased by the Treasury in accordance with the act, which were available to the bearer on demand. Like all the notes in the series, its face and back features lettering from George Casilear’s patented lettering process that streamlined the addition of engraved lettering to form words for intaglio printing plates. The essence of his approach was that complete character sets of a given style and size were engraved once on a steel die. The characters were then individually taken up on a transfer roll so they could be transferred, one at a time, to construct text on a…