KUWAIT

Kuwait is a constitutional monarchy situated at the north west corner of the Persian Gulf. It's capital is Kuwait city. From 1899 until independence in 1961 Britain oversaw the defense and foreign relations but the rulers were from the Al-Sabah dynasty. In 1990 Kuwait was occupied by Iraqi Forces and the following conflict led to the 1st Gulf war. where western and Saudi Arabian forces removed Iraq from Kuwait.

Monetary Unit: 1 Dinar = 1000 Fils

The Note above is the 1 Dinar from the issue between 1980-91 and it has a later set of signatures ( S.A.Al-sabah and N.A.Al-Rodhan).

KOREA _ SOUTH

The Republic of Korea (south Korea) is the southern half of the Korean peninsula with its capital city as Seoul. separated from the north in 1946 after the japanese occupation came to an end following the end of WWII.

Monetary units;
1 Won (Hwan) = 100 chon
1 new Won = 10 Hwan = 100 Jeon(1962 onward)

These two notes above are tiny and are the 50 and 10 Jeon from 1962.

KOREA _ NORTH

The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea)is a country in the northern half of the Korean peninsula between the Peoples Republic of China and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) with it's capital city of Pyongyang. The Japanese annexed the peninsula in 1910 and occupied it until their defeat after WWII when Us troops occupied the south and Soviet troops occupied the north. In 1943 the Cairo conference declared that Korea should be "free and independent" but the Potsdam Conference  had to impose a line on the 38th parallel to divide the  two occupying forces. In august 1948 South korea declared itself the republic of Korea and then 10 days later the north declared itself the DPRK.

Monetary unit: 1 Won = 100 Chon

The notes above are the 50 won and 5 won notes. The 50 won note from 1992 has workers on the front with the monument to the 5 year plan in the centre left and a pine Forrest scene on the reverse.
The 5 won note from 1998 and has students on the front and a modern building on the back.

The Korean language is written in Hangul and historically in Hanja 

KIAO CHAU

Now this is a bit of an anomaly!! This is a German "note-geld" from Kiao Chau a German enclave on the east coast of china which was occupied by the German army in 1897 and negotiated a 99 year lease from the Chinese Government. the Japanese laid siege to the port in 1914 and occupied it until 1922, when it was returned to the Chinese government. It was again occupied by the Japanese from 1936 until the end of the WWII (1945) when it returned to the Peoples Republic. And the anomaly ? well this note has 1921 and 75 pfennig on it - in 1921 the Japanese were in occupation and the monetary system was dollars and cents from 1907 !!! so a bit more digging is needed to see if this is a forgery or some kind of commemorative note.

KENYA

The Republic of Kenya took its independence from Britain in 1963 and had its capital city as Nairobi. for the first few years notes of the East African Currency Board still circulated until it introduced its own system in 1966.

Monetary unit: 1 Shilling (Shillingi) = 100 Cents

The note above is the 5 Shillingi note from 1982 with President Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi  on the front and a mountain scene with girraffes and oxen on the reverse.

KAZAKHSTAN

The Republic of Kazakhstan is a former soviet republic since 1936 it was part of the USSR and became independent in 1991.It is the largest landlocked country and the ninth biggest country overall.Its capital (since 1993) is Astana

Monetary unit :

1 Tenge = 100 Tyin = 500 (russian ) roubles

 The note above is a 1993, 2 Tyin note with the denomination on the front and the coat of arms on the reverse left.

A little tutorial on Cyrillic writing here

JORDAN

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a constitutional monarchy with its capital city as Amman. After the collapse of the Ottoman empire after WWI, Britain gained the mandate over much of the middle east and split a semi autonomous region from Palestine called Transjordan in the 1920's and the region gained independence in 1946. In 1950 it changed its name to Jordan.In 1967 a war with Israel led to the loss of the west bank which Jordan conceded in 1988.In 2003 Jordan backed the western invasion of Iraq and absorbed many refugees from that conflict, most of which are still in the country.

The Monetary units:
1 Dinar = 10 Dirhams = 100 piastres = 1000 Qirsh = 10000 Fils

The note here is the 1 Dinar note from 2001 (AH1422) with King Hussein wearing a Keffiyeh on the front and the ruins of Jerash on the reverse

JERSEY

The Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel. Its capital is St. Helier.It is the only British soil to be occupied by the German army in WWII. Although it is a crown dependency it is not part of the UK.

The note here is the £1 commemorative issue in 2004 marking the 800th anniversary of Jersey's connection with the British Crown. the front has Queen Elizabeth II on the right and the commemorative symbol on the left. the reverse has Mont Orgueil castle

THE JASON ISLANDS

The Jason Islands are a small collection of Islands in the Falkland island group and, as such are a crown dependency of Britain. Most of the islands are in a wildlife conservation area although some are privately owned (two have been donated to the Bronx Zoo wildlife conservation Society). These bank notes were issued to raise money for wildlife conservation.the issue included £20, £10, £5, £1 and 50p each featuring a different species of Penguin and a picture of Len Hill the owner of some of the islands on the right. This £5 note has the Rockhopper penguin.

JAPAN

Japan is a constitutional Monarchy with a capital city of Tokyo. After 2 centuries of Isolationism, Japan signed a treaty with the US in 1854 and opened up its ports to begin modernising. During the 19th and 20th centuries Japan became an invading power in the region, occupying Korea, Formosa (Taiwan),and Sakhalin Island. In 1931/2 Japan occupied Manchuria and then in 1937 invaded china as a whole. In 1942 Japan attacked Pearl Harbour which led to the US joining the Second world war.
As the intro  to japan is quite war heavy, I thought I'd include a link to some of the Japanese culture

Monetary units: 1 Yen = 100 Sen

The Notes above are as follows:

Top is the 10 Yen note from 1944/45 with a portrait of Wakeno Kiyomaro. then in the middle is the 1 Yen note from 1946 with Ninomiya Sontoku on the front. The last one here, is the 50 sen note from 1942-44 with the Yasukuni shrine on the front

JAMAICA

Jamaica is a member of the British commonwealth and is situated in the Caribbean sea. its capital city is Kingston. Jamaica was settled by the Spanish in the 16th century. the native Taino peoples were gradually exterminated and replaced with slaves from Africa. England took the island in 1655 and established plantations. In 1834 the abolition of slavery freed more than 250,000 slaves. with increasing independence from Britain  in 1958 Jamaica joined the Federation of the West Indies. It gained full independence in 1962 after leaving the federation.Queen Elizabeth II is head of state and queen of Jamaica.

Monetary Units:
1 pound = 20 shillings = 240 pence (up to 1969)
1 Dollar = 100 cents ( 1969 onward )

The notes above are; the 50 dollar ($) note from 2007 with Sam Sharpe on the front and a beach view of Montego bay.

The other one is the $1 from 1990 featuring Alexander Bustamante, who founded the Jamaican Labour Party and was the first prime minister of an independent Jamaica.

END OF THE "I's"

Before we move on from the "I's" there are a few missing names here,

Isles of France and of Bourbon (now Reunion)
Italian east Africa (now Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia)
Italian Somaliland (now Somalia)


Also we have

Ivory Coast (Cote D'Ivoire) listed under West African States.

ITALY

The Italian Republic became a country in 1861, when all the regions of the peninsula with Sardinia and Sicily joined together to make up the country of Italy under King Victor Emmanuel II. Its capital city is Rome. there followed a parliamentary democracy until 1920 when Benito Mussolini imposed a fascist dictatorship which sided with Hitler's Nazi's during WWII. After defeat, in 1946 the monarchy was replaced by a republic.Italy was a founder members of NATO and the EU and adopted the euro in 2001.

Monetary units: 1 Lira = 100 Centesimi (up to 2001)
                       1 Euro = 100 Cents (2001 onwards)

The notes above are from various dates in the 70's, 80's and 90's. The first is the 10 000 lira note from 1984 with Alessandro Volta, the Italian inventor of the battery, on the front, with his mausoleum on the reverse. The 5000 lira note is from 1985 and features Bellini, the opera composer on the front and a scene from the opera Norma on the reverse,

The 2000 lira note is from 1990 and has Marconi, the inventor and has some of his inventions on the back - radio towers, a radio set and his yacht Ellectra . the first of the 1000 Lira notes is the one from 1982, with Marco Polo on the front and the doge's palace in Venice on the reverse. the reverse image has been rotated so as it is in the vertical plane.

The other 1000 Lira note is from 1990 and features Maria Montessori, who developed a form of education, and finally the 500 Lira Note from 1974 with Arethusa  on the front.

The three notes above are from the second world war era. starting with the 1944, 10 lire (plural of lira) with Jupiter on the front left.The middle one is the 2 Lire note from 1939 and has Julius Caesar on the reverse. finally the One lira note from 1944.

 I'm not sure what these are but i imagine they are commercial promissory notes used in the agricultural industry . i have 5 of them from different dates and areas.

ISRAEL

The state of Israel has its capital city as Jerusalem. Following the end of WWII the British pulled out of their mandate in Palestine and the UN divided the area up into Arab and Jewish states, a situation the Arabs didn't, and still don't, agree with. subsequently, Israel defeated the Arabs in a series of wars which has done nothing to lessen tensions in the area.

Monetary Units:

1 Lira = 100 Agorot (1958 - 1980)
1 Sheqel = 10 old lirot = 100 new agorot (1980-85)
1 new Sheqel = 1000 old sheqalim = 100 Agorot (1985 onward)

The notes above are :

The 50 sheqalim with David Ben-Gurion on the front and the golden gate on the reverse. the note is from 5738 (1980)

The 20 new Sheqalim note with Moshe Sharett, the second prime minister of Israel, on the front and Herzliya high school on the reverse.the note is from 5747 (1987)

and the 10 New Sheqalim with Golda Meir, the fourth prime minister of Israel, on the front and people gathering outside the Moscow synagogue on the reverse. the note is from 5752 (1992)

The Hebrew alphabet can be found here. and the Hebrew calendar here

ISLE OF MAN

The Isle of Man is a British Crown dependency in the Irish sea. its capital city is Douglas. The island was part of the Norwegian kingdom of the Hebrides until the 13th century when it was given to Scotland.It came under the British Crown in 1765. although a dependency it is not part of the UK and UK laws do not apply unless specifically mentioned. The Isle of Man has one of the world's Oldest Legislative Assemblies . The local Manx Gaelic language is nearly extinct but there is an effort to revive it.
Monetary unit:
1 Pound = 20 Shillings = 240 Pence ( up to 1971)
1 Pound = 100 pence (1971 onward)

British pound sterling notes are used as well

The note above is the £1 note from the 1983 issue with Queen Elizabeth II and the 3 legged manx symbol on the front and Tynwald Hill on the reverse