Odd Banknotes - 08 Bangladesh

Another odd note today, not special because of the size, and also not because of the face value (25 is not a special number), but the following commemorative note, is more or less celebrating itself...

Bangladesh' banknotes are printed by the Security Printing Corporation of Bangladesh.
The company was founded in 1988 and celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2013.
No better way to celebrate that anniversary with an own banknote.

The colours of this banknote is not that common either.
We see different shades of pink, purple, over light blue to white.
I haven't been eating funny mushrooms, but to me this note leaves a very pshychedelic impression.

If we look at the front side of the note, in a more detailed way, we see another odd thing :

In detail on the front side of the note : the National Martyr's Monument in Savar, Bangladeshi taka banknotes and postage stamps.
This is probably also the first time that 'stamps' are depicted on a banknote.

Two other symbols that can be found, are: three spotted deer, magpie robin (doyel) bird.

On the back side of the note, the Headquarters of the Security Printing Corporation are depicted in the same colours as the front side.

Headquarters of the Security Printing Corporation

Headquarters of the Security Printing Corporation

Overall, a weird banknote, that - due to the chosen colours - depict the own countries flag (green and red) in blue and pink.

detail with flag of Bangladesh

Special thanks to my friend in Bangladesh who provided me these (and other) notes.

Odd Banknotes - 06 Thailand

Back to my beloved country, and the amazing banknotes that have been released so far.

On September 9, 2002, the Bank of Thailand celebrated it's centennial.
A good, (but for Thai not a mandatory) reason to celebrate.
Since it's the anniversary of the Bank of Thailand (BOT), the best way to celebrate is with a special banknote.

100 years earlier, the first Thai banknotes were released unders the auspices of King Rama V.
He turns up on many commemorative issues (stamps, coins and banknotes) as he was ruling 100 years ago of course.

The banknote is a copy of the first banknote:

100 tickal note 1919 (original - not in my collection)

commemorative note front side

1. face value of the original note : 100 Ticals (= 100 Baht)
In English : one hundred Ticals ; in Thai : roi Baht (100 Baht)
Thailand's 1st series of banknotes were issued in 1902. These notes, by Thomas de la Rue, were printed only on one side and are known as the Uniface series. There were 7 denominations in all - 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 1000 Ticals.
At that time : 1 Tical = 4 Salung = 16 Sik = 32 Sio = 64 Atts = 128 Solot
In 1909, 1 Baht (Tical) became 100 satang.

2. there is Siamese wrinting on the note (middle) as well as Chinese (left) and Jawi (right)

3. signature 1 (on the copy of the original note)

signature 1 (TH) - as on the original note

The back of the original banknote (1902) was left unprinted.
On the commemorative note, we find the images of their Majesties King Phumibol Adulyadej and King Chulalongkorn (King Rama V) in their regal attire, as the Thai banknotes was issued for the first time during the reign of King Rama V.

back side of the commemorative note

Catalogue (Krause) mention 2 types of signatures on this note :

signature 74 (TH)

signature 75 (TH)

However, according to my information, this is an error and there is no such banknote with signature 75.
9,999,999 copies were made from this commemorative banknote.
The note is presented in a folder with the royal intitials and the information in the folder is only in Thai language.

folder containing a 100 baht commemorative note

back side of the folder - the king talking to his people

and there's more ...

Odd Banknotes - 05 Thailand

Another 'odd' banknote, and guess, from Thailand indeed.

This time, it's not the king who's central in the picture, but the queen!

Portrait of H.R.H. Queen Sirikit

At the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Queen, the Thai banknote company issued a special and unique banknote of 80 baht. However it was sold for a higher price, as a part of the money was given to the foundation that supports the well being of the Thai people, as well as for the conservation and restoration of Thai arts and culture.

front side of the commemorative banknote of 80 baht

The front side of the banknote, shows the royal couple, the royal garuda at the left upper corner, and at the bottom we see a serial number.
As I told you in my previous post, the serial number starts with a "9", referring to the nineth king of the Chakri dynasty (King Rama IX).
This time the letter, following the nine, is not a K (King) but a Q (Queen).

serial number 9 Q

Very special is a print design in blue metallic ink.
Right of the Queen, the flower that is shown all over the banknote, is printed in a way that can not be seen when looking frontal to the note.
Only when the banknote is tilted, the design becomes visible (but hard to show on a scan).

hidden print of a flower

If you look closely, you can see :
1 : leaf of the flower
2 : branch of the flower
3 : flower upside down

The back side of the banknotes showes images of the life of the Queen and her family.
We also can see a security thread on the surface of the paper, at regular intervals. This security thread is in blue and shows numerous "80's"

back side of the commemorative bankonte

details and security marks

4 : security thread with "80" (dark blue images)
5 : watermark with queen's initials

The queen's initials are a watermark in 2 colours (dark and light) and swap colours when the banknotes is lightened from the back side.

two letters of the queen's initials
seen backwards

Queen's initials

more odd notes to follow ...

Odd Banknotes - 04 Thailand

Whenever I come to the topic of 'odd bankotes', Thailand is not far away.

His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej accessed the throne in 1946.
This makes him the longest reigning monarch in the world.

For those who follow my articles on zodiac signs, we all know that there are 12 signs in western zodiac and in chinese zodiac.
After 12 years, one 'cycle' is completed, and you're back in the sign you were born under.

The banknote I'm presenting today, celebrates the 7th Cycle Birthday Anniversary.
In English this means : 7 x 12 = 84th birthday.

front side of the cover with the 100 baht note

The size and the value of the 100 baht note are not special, but it's a limited emission and a superb printed bankote.

The banknote is presented in a cover with a plastic holder. The see-through window allows us to see both front and back side, without having to touch the note.
On the front, we find the portrait of H.R.M. King IX, and next to him, a silver foil circle, baring the King's initials.

front side of the note - detail

We see the King's portrait in a yellowish glow.
When the banknote is lifted the yellowish glow becomes a gold print.
Mark also the special serial number : "9" ; this refers to the king, who's the nineth king (Rama IX) of the Chakri dynasty.

the "9" in the serial number refers to king Rama IX

At the back of the note we see scenes from the life and works of the king: King Rama IX with camera, holding papers, during his visit to Mae Roem Reservoir Project; Rama IX kneeling with a group of Thai people; royal Garuda emblem; Rama IX playing the saxophone; Rama IX planting an experimental plot of vetiver grass; four aircraft employing Super Sandwich cloud-seeding technique; Kwai Noi Bamrung Daen Dam in Phitsanulok Province and Chaipattana Low Speed Surface Aerator.

back side of the banknote

The banknote bares no date, but was introduced on 2 December 2011. Shortly before the birthday of the king (5 December)


Another link to the '9' of king Rama IX, is the fact that 9,999,999 banknotes were printed.
With the help of my friend in Thailand, who sent me the banknote, I can present one of those notes to you today.

To becontinued...

Odd Banknotes - 03 Philippines (supplement)

To complete the article on the 2000 peso banknote (see previous posts).
I want to show the special box that was made to hold the large note and the certificate.

cover of the box : Central bank of the Philippines

inside the cover : place for the certificate

inside the box : place for the banknote

Again a warm thank you to my pinoy friend Alex, who managed to send me the box without any damage.
Maraming salamat, po.

Odd Banknotes - 03 Philippines

In 2000, the Central bank of the Philippines printed a new set of 'millennium' notes.
These (unissued) notes are more commonly known at the BSP as "Erap" notes because the front features the inauguration of President Joseph "Erap" Estrada at Barasoain Church in Bulacan on 10 June 1998; and the scroll of the 1898 Malolos Constitution.
Printed in 2000, the notes were to circulate in 2001, but President Estrada was ousted from office that year.

As a result of that event, the planned notes were never brought into circulation.
A report from the BSP’s Banknotes and Securities Printing Department (BSPD) said that they have 770 boxes of 1000-piso, 8,312 boxes of 500-piso, 1,233 boxes of 200-piso and 2,957 boxes of 100-piso unissued banknotes.
Even more frightning is that there are also five million pieces of 2,000-piso “Erap” banknotes with a face value of P10 billion !
One option was to issue the 2,000-piso as legal tender circulation notes, the other option was to shred all 99 boxes containing 4.95 million pieces, but retain one box with 50,000 which would be demonetize for “historical, educational, numismatic and other purposes.


The BSP currently sells a larger version of this denomination as a centennial commemorative note (P189).

This note was issued only 300,000 times, together with a special collectors box and a certificate.
And of course, I had to get this note.
Thanks to my wonderful friend Alex in the Philippines, who managed to get one note for me, I can share it now to the world (well at least to those who follow my blog).

Maraming salamat, po, kaibigan Alex!

Certificate of the authenticy of the banknote

300,000 copies of a 216 x 133 mm ( = 287.28 cm²) note

Front of the centennial note : president Joseph Estrada with Filippino flag

centennial logo

Back of the centennial note

Design of the inauguration of J. Estrada

Real inauguration on June 10, 1998

Pres. J. Estrada, 13th president of the Philippines

Odd Banknotes - 02 Thailand

Thailand is a lovely country.
Not only for visiting and the delicious food, the amazing temples or the friendly population,
no, also for collecting it's one of my favourite countries.

Another, very odd banknote was issued on November 28, 2007
This note is, as my first article on 'odd notes' actually a 'double odd banknote', mabye even a 'triple odd bankote'...

First of all the size of the note is huge ! 229 mm x 147 mm (= 336.63 cm²)
Secondly, on the front of the note, 3 notes are printed, a 1 baht, a 5 baht and a 10 baht note.
So we get an uncut version of 3 banknotes on one page.
But finally, the back side of the 'note' is not the back side of the individual notes.
No, it's a new image, depicting the live of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, (Rama IX).

Front side of the 'triple' banknote - note in plastic cover

Front side of the note :

1-Baht banknote depicts the portrait of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the reigning monarch (Rama IX), the portrait of Their Majesties the King and the Queen granting an audience to various groups of people who paid tribute to His Majesty on the occasion of his coronation in 1950 at the Sutthaisawan Prasat Hall.

5-Baht banknote depicts the portrait of His Majesty in a royal procession by land, marking his 3rd Cycle Birthday Anniversary in 1963.

10-Baht banknote depicts the portrait of His Majesty granting an audience to various groups of people who paid tribute to His Majesty on the Auspicious Occasion of the 60th Anniversary Celebrations of His Majesty’s Accession to the Throne in 2006 at the Ananda Samakhom Throne Hall.


Back side of the note :

full back side of the commemorative note

His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej

scenes from the King's life

This banknotes was issued in a special leaflet and issued on 15,000,000 copies.

Odd Banknotes - 01 Thailand

After some post on 'odd stamps' I realised that I also have 'odd banknotes'...
Of course there won't be banknotes on cloth, wood, or in 3D ... but still.
In the next posts on 'odd banknotes' I'll show you some of the oddest items in my collection.

How can a banknote be 'odd'.
There 's a chance the material isn't that common.
Normally paper is used, and some countries have polymere banknotes.
The first polymere banknote was 'odd' for sure, but nowadays, it has become rather 'normal'.

So another way to express oddness is in the size, the value, ...

I start with a 'double odd' note :

First of all this banknote is not rectangular but square.
It's a 159 x 159 mm note.  (= 252.81 cm²)
Secondly the banknote has an unusual face value of 60 baht.

60 baht - front side

On the front : The portait of King Rama IX in the uniform of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, wearing a ceremonial robe, the Pudtan Kanchanasinghas Ceremonial Thone.

detail of the front side of the banknote

60 baht is a rather unusual face value on a note

Back side of the note : Their Majesties the King and Queen, H.R.H Crown Princess Maha Vajiralongkorn, H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and H.R.H. Princess Chulabhorn surround by their subjects.

Back side of the 60 baht note.

This banknote was issued on December 8, 1987, at the occasion of the 60th birthday of the King.

I could not find out how many notes were issued.
The catalogue doesn't mention any amount and also that thai national bank doesn't say how many copies were printed.

In addition to the 60 baht face value, a 40 baht surcharge was charged for social works.
The note however is still sold in Thailand, but for a higher price then 100 baht.