Microstates : 21 Republic of Transnistria / Pridnestrovia

I'm sure, each collector has a Transnistrian note in her/his collection, and the name 'Transnistria' is probably known too.
But what is Transnistria or Pridnestrovia, where is it and is it even a country?

First of all, Transnistria exists, it is a region in eastern Europe, a small, narrow strip of land, in Moldavia, close to the Ukrainian border.

Transnistria in Moldavia

Although the region declared itself independent from Moldovia, it is only recognised by three - also not recognised 'countries', as Abkhazia (Georgia), Artsakh or Nagorno-Karabach (Azerbaijan) and South-Ossetia (Georgia). The region is located beyond the Dnietster river : "trans - Dniester".
The area covers about 500,000 people.
Although it has a certain independency from the Moldavian gouvernment, it remains a strange bird in the region.

The Transnistrian notes look more like monopoly currency, and there is a wide range of notes and face values.
Due to high inflation, notes went from 1 ruble to 500,000 rubles between 1994 and 1997.
Nearly all notes show the image of count Alexander Suvorov, a highly decorated field marshal and 4th generalissimo of the Russian empire. (let's say, the highest possible military rank)
In 2000, the money was replaced to a new type of ruble, replacing 1,000,000 of the old rubles.
At first, metal coins were used. And in 2014 a new - world shocking -  coinset was introduced .... plastic coins.

composite coins from Transnistria

The 'coins' are made of composite material and nearly unbreakable, although only 1.2 mm thick and only 1 gram of weight.
The lowes denomination is one ruble, a round coin. On the front is Alexander Suvorov, and on the back, the Transnistrian republican bank, and the year of issue (here 2014).
The 3 ruble coin is square, with rounded edges. Here we see the belgian François Sainte de Wollant, a Flemish nobleman and engineer, who is known for some fortifications in Russia. A park in Transnistria is named after him. On the back we see the same symbols as on the 1 ruble coin.

1 and 3 Transnistrian ruble 'coins'

The third coin is a 5 ruble coin, a pentagonal shaped coin, with an image of Pjotr Alexandrovich Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky, a Russian general from the 18th century. The back side is similar to the other coins.
Finally a 10 ruble coin, hexagonally shaped, with the Russian Empress Catharina II on the front side.

5 and 10 Transnistrian ruble 'coins'

These coins are a unicum in coin world, but maybe a cheaper way to produce coins.
Although more plastic in the environment is probablly also not a good idea.
I read that the local people are not really keen on their plastic coins. Meanwhile there are also new paper notes in circulation too.
Oh, the Transnistrian rubles are not accepted outside Transnistria, except for a couple of buscompanies who travel across the 'border' with Moldavia.

Odd Banknotes - 08 Thailand

In 2016, King Bumibhol (Rama IX), celebrated 70th years on the throne of his country.
For this occasion, a special 70 baht note was issued. Shortly later, the beloved king died, being the longest reigning monarch of the world. (1946-2016).

folder with commemorative note - 2016

On the front we see the image of King Rama IX at the end of his reign, a picture made after an official portrait of the king. Under the image, "70" written in thai numerals.
The note is issued in a protective case, on a cardboard document.

commemorative 70 baht note 2016

The reverse side of the note, shows the king at the beginning of his reign in 1946.
The note is yellow/orange, as yellow is the colour of the royals in Thailand.
In 2017 the note was redrawn as circulation note, but I guess few notes were actually in circulation.
It became a symbolic note as King Rama IX died in October 2016.

Odd stamps : 01h Perfumed stamps

Two new sheetlets were added to my collection recently. Both are issued in 2019, in India, and are sheets with a typical fragrance of the country.

2019 Indian Perfumes - Orange blossom

The first sheetlet depics oranges and orange blossoms, as well as a vase which contains the fruity fragrance.

Frequently used in perfumes, this flower has long been believed to bring good fortune and as such is often seen in bouquets and wreaths at weddings.

Blossoms, fallen of a tree, can be dried and used for tea. Orange blossom water, is also used in cooking, and in cakes. The orange blossom even has it's own day. June 27 is Orange Blossom Day!

Oranges and orange blossoms

The second sheetlet is also issued with a lovely fragrance, agar wood. This agar wood or eagle wood, comes from the aquilaria trees, is a typical product from the North Eastern part of India, and further on towards Thailand and even Viet Nam.

2019 Indian Perfumes - Agar wood

The natural wood of this tree is white and rather odourless. When the tree gets infected by a specific type of mold, the tree 'defends' itself by producing a type of resin, called agar or aloes. This results in a dark strong wood in the heart of the tree, and the very appreceated fragrance.

The fragrance is described in the bible, and used for religious and medical ceremonies by Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims for over two thousand years.

Nowadays, the trees are infected on purpose, to create it's unique fragrance.

infected agar wood in the centre of the tree

Odd stamps : 02g Silver / golden stamps

Next to the 5 'small' issues of the gold and silver foil stamps of Mongolia (1993), there are also 4 lager issues. These issues come without number on the back of the stamps.

'small and large' stamp

Each stamp comes in gold foil and silver foil, and show animals in various combinations.
(see Scott and Michel numbering in my previous post).

4 'large' stamps (twice in gold, twice in silver foil)

Because the animals and the text are 'embossed', there's a possible loss of colour on the higher parts of the stamp, due to friction.

parts of the text get lost due to friction

Some 'undamaged' details :

Michel rates each stamp at € 15 and each sheetlet at € 25, Scott rates the same, but then in USD.

Odd stamps : 02f Silver / golden stamps

Mongolia is porbably not the country that is in the top ten of collected countries, when it comes to stamps.
I was triggered by some gold / silver issues from 1993, and I was lucky to find (most) of them.

gold and silver foil stamp and matching sheet

There are 9 sets (9 in gold print, 9 in silver print) - 5 are small (63x46 mm) and 4 are large (79x54mm). 18 stamps and 18 souvenir sheets.
The Scott catalogue only mentions one number (both for silver and gold print),
The Michel catalogue mentions one number per stamp (xxxx A for stamps and xxxx B for blocks).
I could not find Scott numbers for the last 2 issues.
s = small; L = large

Scott 2124 - Michel 2437 A (gold) and 2437 B (block)

Except for the design, there is no common theme or reason for the issues. Some depict domestic animals, some are about transportation, sports, or nature in general.

Scott 2125 / 2126 - Michel 2441-2444

Scott 2127 - Michel 2439/2440

All 'small' stamps come with a number on the back of the stamps, also on the ones in the sheetlets.

reverse side of the 'small' gold and silver foil stamps

to be continued ...

Inflating your collection : 1 German Empire (Weimar Republic) n

In the first week of October, once more, a new set of additional notes is released.

some petty cash ?

The previous 10 Milliarden Mark (US : 10 billion) is replaced with a new note of the same value.

Pick 117a

This note can be found with 5 different watermark.

In the same style, but with a mirrored image (L/R), is a 20 Milliarden Mark (US : 20 billion).
This note comes also with 5 diffferent watermarks (as above).

two versions of Pick 118 (a and c)

Two different 50 Milliarden Mark-notes are part of this set too (but not yet in my collection), and the 7th issue ends with a 200 Milliarden Mark-note ! (US :  200 billion or 200,000,000,000 !)

200,000,000,000 Reichsmark in 1923

Similar to the previous notes, 5 different watermarks can be found too.
From now on, most notes become quite expensive. Especially good quality notes come close to a €100 and more.
Sadly enough, it was not the end of the hyperinflation in Germany yet...

so more to follow...

Inflating your collection : 1 German Empire (Weimar Republic) m

By September 1923 the hyperinflation peaked, prices doubled nearly every week.
Yet another set of banknotes were introduced, mid September.
First came an 'old' 1922 note that was not issued in 1922.
The 'old' face value of 1,000 RM was worthless by now, so the note was overprinted with an 'upgrade' of 100,000,000 % to 1 Millarde Mark (US: 1 billion) or 1,000,000,000 RM.

Pick 113 a

Since this is a banknote that was prepared in 1922 already, it's printed on both sides.
Also the back has an overprint:

Pick 113 a - reverse

The note also comes with the flower watermark, but this one  only has an ornament in the right border.

3 new notes are issued on September 5, 10 and 15
First one, is another 1 Milliarde Reichsmark - note (US : 1 billion).
For this note, Pick only mentions one version, however I have two different versions:

Pick 114 two versions?

The top note, is printed on brown paper, the bottom note is printed on white paper.
Also in the serial letter/number there is a difference: series in black and serial number in red, or all in red.

two different serial letters/numbers

Second new issue, is a 5 Milliarden Mark-note (US : 5 billion) or 5,000,000,000.
One week later, a 10 Milliarden Mark-note is added (US : 10 billion) or 10,000,000,000

5 and 10 Milliarden Mark (US : 5 and 10 billions)

Both notes come with an ornament in the right border as watermark, or the blossom watermark as shown above.

to be continued ...