BHUTANESE PARO DZONG

This note is the 10 Ngultrum note from 2013. it has Jigme Singye Wangchuck on the front. He was the king of Bhutan until his abdication in 2006. On the reverse is the Rinpung Dzong  in the district of Paro in Bhutan.

Dzong is a fortress come Buddhist monastery that is typically found in Bhutan and Tibet although we have at least one in Edinburgh  - Samye Dzong

RUSSIAN NOTE FEATURING SIBERIAN CITY

This Russian note is the 10 Ruble note from 1997 and features the Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric dam on the reverse and the bridge across the Yenisey river and the chapel at Krasnoyarsk on the front.

more Tussian notes HERE

RESCUED BELARUS BACKNOTE

This note almost went astray as it was bought as a Russian note however it is, in fact, a 500 rublei note from Belarus. It was issued in 2000 and has the palace of culture in Minsk, on the from and a part of a facade  on the back.

more notes from Belarus HERE .

 

ARGENTINIAN AUSTRAL NOTE

This is the 1 austral note from Argentina and issued in 1985-89. It has the first president of Argentina, Bernardino Rivadavia  on the front and liberty on the reverse .

more Argentinian notes HERE

LOVELY SYRIAN 100 POUND NOTE

This colourful note is the 100 pounds from Syria and was issued in 1998 with the Bosra roman  theatre in south west Syria on the front and the Hajaz railway loco and Damascus train station  on the reverse.
 After the human misery caused by the war in Syria , the loss of the culture of Syria is a huge loss that cannot be repaired.

More Syrian notes HERE

REGAL OR SHIFTY ?

This note is the 200 forint note from Hungary, It was issued in 1998 and has king Robert Karoly (charles I) on the forint and the ruins of castle Diosgyori on the reverse. Its a pity that the artist has made him look a bit shifty rather than regal !!


find more Hungarian notes HERE

KING OF LUANG PHRABANG ( AND LAOS)

Here we have a 5 kip note from Laos and was issued in 1962. The front has a portrait of Sisavang Vong, The last king of the Luang Phrabang and then the new  king of the kingdom of Laos. The reverse has a temple and an elephant with his mahout.  In 1975 Sisavang's grandson hands over power to the Marxist Pathet Lao where the royal family is sent to re-education camps where they are said to have died.

more Lao notes HERE

BRAZILIAN NOTE WITH A RED SPOT

This first note is a 5 Cruzeiros note from 1964 with a portrait of the Baron of Rio Branco with the reverse having a tableau of the conquest on the Amazon tribes.

Its funny how a small thing can catch your interest and this applies to this note. The polymer note has a red circle within the clear window - something I have never seen before. The note itself in a commemorative note issued for the 500th anniversary of the founding of Brazil. the books say the discovery of Brazil but I'm sure the Amazonian tribes had discovered the area long before the Europeans came there !! The front has Pedro Alvares Cabral, the Portuguese explorer who is credited with discovering Brazil and the first man to have set foot on 4 continents. the reverse has portraits of people.

see more Brazilian notes HERE and HERE 

BAHRAINI NOTE

This not is the 100 fils from Bahrain where it was issued in 1964. the front of the note has Dhows (Arab sailing boats) and the back has palm trees. what you cant see is the watermark which is around where the sail of the boat is and is the head of a hawk.

more Bahraini notes HERE

A DIFFICULT PAIR OF NOTES

These Two small uniface notes were a bit of a challenge for two reasons. first I don't read Chinese and second they are not listed (at least their photos aren't listed) in any of the reference books so eventually went to google images and looked for a match to get the info.

so these two are the 2 and 5 cent notes from 1949.The two is printed in a sort of brown ink while the 5 cent is printed in red other than that and the numbers in the central panel. I have narrowed it down to probably the Hainan Branch but it could be a Taiwan branch issue.

The gentleman on the notes is Sun Yat Sen

more chinese notes here 

A SPANISH ROCK STAR BEFORE ROCK STARS WERE INVENTED

This note, with this man with film star looks is from Spain and was issued in 1953. The 100 peseta Note has the painter Julio  Romero de Torres on the front and one of his portraits on the reverse. the Lady also has film star looks but unfortunately her name is unknown.


EDIT: the girl's name is Maria Teresa Lopez and was Argentinian from Spanish parents. although Julio died in 1930 , Maria lived until 2003.

info from arte.laguia2000.com 

Some of Julio Ramero's works

SIR AHMADU BELLO ON THE 200 NAIRA NOTE

This note has seen a lot of traffic as it is from 2005 and has been well circulated. it is a Nigerian note and features Sir Ahmadu Bello , who was the first premier of Northern Nigeria, On the back of the 200 Naira Note is fruit and vegetables and a couple of cows - which seems to have been a theme over the last few notes - I suppose cattle are important to many cultures around the world including the Scottish culture (Aberdeen Angus Beef)

see more from Nigeria HERE HERE and HERE

and notes from Biafra HERE

Interview with Sir Ahmadu Bello

THREE ELEGANT LADIES FROM LAOS

These 3 elegant ladies are on the 1000 kip note from 2003. The note is from Laos and as well as the 3 ladies there is a picture of a temple on the front and a herd of cows on the reverse along with two geometric designs that remind me of the nail and string pictures of the 1970's


more notes from Laos HERE and HERE

also see FRENCH INDO_CHINA

10 SHILLINGS FROM KENYA

This note is the 1978 Kenyan 10 Shillings note featuring the first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta
who died a month or so after this note was issued . The reverse has African cows on it.

KENYA'S SHILLING

MORE NOTES HERE

A PUZZLE FROM GUINEA

The scan makes this note look like it is a regular size but in fact it is tiny and a bit elongated - 102mm x 45mm ( 4 in x 1 3/4 in in old money !!). Its a 2 Sylis from Guinea and it was issued in 1981.Why guinea should have King Mohammad V of Morocco on the note is something I have not found a reason for. In 1981 Guinea was a one-party Socialist state and doesn't border Morocco at all.

If I find out any info, you will be the first to know !!!


MORE GUINEAN NOTES HERE

BANK OF GHANA CEDI

This note is a 200 Cedi note from Ghana.the front has a picture of an old man and the red star and fist with the motto "Honour and Truth" . The reverse has a classroom scene . the note is from 1991 and has a security devise which is a UV reactive "200" over the man's right shoulder.

more from Ghana HERE, HERE and HERE

A DELICATE NOTE FROM GEORGIA

This is a slightly Tatty , delicate note from Georgia. It is the 1000 rouble from 1920. I love the Georgian script although i find it a bit unfathomable.

Letters			Unicode (mkhedruli)	Name	IPA	Transcriptions				Numeric value
asomtavruli	nuskhuri	mkhedruli				National	ISO 9984	BGN	Laz
Ⴀ	ⴀ	ა	U+10D0	ani	/ɑ/, Svan /a, æ/	A a	A a	A a	A a	1
Ⴁ	ⴁ	ბ	U+10D1	bani	/b/	B b	B b	B b	B b	2
Ⴂ	ⴂ	გ	U+10D2	gani	/ɡ/	G g	G g	G g	G g	3
Ⴃ	ⴃ	დ	U+10D3	doni	/d/	D d	D d	D d	D d	4
Ⴄ	ⴄ	ე	U+10D4	eni	/ɛ/	E e	E e	E e	E e	5
Ⴅ	ⴅ	ვ	U+10D5	vini	/v/	V v	V v	V v	V v	6
Ⴆ	ⴆ	ზ	U+10D6	zeni	/z/	Z z	Z z	Z z	Z z	7
Ⴡ	ⴡ	ჱ	U+10F1	he	/eɪ/, Svan /eː/	—	Ē ē	Ey ey	—	8
Ⴇ	ⴇ	თ	U+10D7	tani	/t⁽ʰ⁾/	T t	T' t'	T' t'	T t	9
Ⴈ	ⴈ	ი	U+10D8	ini	/i/	I i	I i	I i	I i	10
Ⴉ	ⴉ	კ	U+10D9	k'ani	/kʼ/	K' k'	K k	K k	Ǩ ǩ	20
Ⴊ	ⴊ	ლ	U+10DA	lasi	/l/	L l	L l	L l	L l	30
Ⴋ	ⴋ	მ	U+10DB	mani	/m/	M m	M m	M m	M m	40
Ⴌ	ⴌ	ნ	U+10DC	nari	/n/	N n	N n	N n	N n	50
Ⴢ	ⴢ	ჲ	U+10F2	hie	/je/, Mingrelian, Laz, & Svan /j/	—	Y y	J j	Y y	60
Ⴍ	ⴍ	ო	U+10DD	oni	/ɔ/, Svan /ɔ, œ/	O o	O o	O o	O o	70
Ⴎ	ⴎ	პ	U+10DE	p'ari	/pʼ/	P' p'	P p	P p	Ṗ ṗ	80
Ⴏ	ⴏ	ჟ	U+10DF	zhani	/ʒ/	Zh zh	Ž ž	Zh zh	J j	90
Ⴐ	ⴐ	რ	U+10E0	rae	/r/	R r	R r	R r	R r	100
Ⴑ	ⴑ	ს	U+10E1	sani	/s/	S s	S s	S s	S s	200
Ⴒ	ⴒ	ტ	U+10E2	t'ari	/tʼ/	T' t'	T t	T t	Ť ť	300
Ⴣ	ⴣ	ჳ	U+10F3	vie	/uɪ/, Svan /w/	—	W w	—	—	400[72]
Ⴓ	ⴓ	უ	U+10E3	uni	/u/, Svan /u, y/	U u	U u	U u	U u	400[72]
—	ⴧ	ჷ	U+10F7	yn, schva	Mingrelian & Svan /ə/	—	—	—	—	—
Ⴔ	ⴔ	ფ	U+10E4	pari	/p⁽ʰ⁾/	P p	P' p'	P' p'	P p	500
Ⴕ	ⴕ	ქ	U+10E5	kani	/k⁽ʰ⁾/	K k	K' k'	K' k'	K k	600
Ⴖ	ⴖ	ღ	U+10E6	ghani	/ɣ/	Gh gh	Ḡ ḡ	Gh gh	Ğ ğ	700
Ⴗ	ⴗ	ყ	U+10E7	q'ari	/qʼ/	Q' q'	Q q	Q q	Q q	800
—	—	ჸ	U+10F8	elif	Mingrelian & Svan /ʔ/	—	—	—	—	—
Ⴘ	ⴘ	შ	U+10E8	shini	/ʃ/	Sh sh	Š š	Sh sh	Ş ş	900
Ⴙ	ⴙ	ჩ	U+10E9	chini	/tʃ⁽ʰ⁾/	Ch ch	Č' č'	Ch' ch'	Ç ç	1000
Ⴚ	ⴚ	ც	U+10EA	tsani	/ts⁽ʰ⁾/	Ts ts	C' c'	Ts' ts'	Ts ts	2000
Ⴛ	ⴛ	ძ	U+10EB	dzili	/dz/	Dz dz	J j	Dz dz	Ž ž	3000
Ⴜ	ⴜ	წ	U+10EC	ts'ili	/tsʼ/	Ts' ts'	C c	Ts ts	Ts’ ts’	4000
Ⴝ	ⴝ	ჭ	U+10ED	ch'ari	/tʃʼ/	Ch' ch'	Č č	Ch ch	Ç̌ ç̌	5000
Ⴞ	ⴞ	ხ	U+10EE	khani	/χ/	Kh kh	X x	Kh kh	X x	6000
Ⴤ	ⴤ	ჴ	U+10F4	qari, hari	/q⁽ʰ⁾/	—	H̠ ẖ	q'	—	7000
Ⴟ	ⴟ	ჯ	U+10EF	jani	/dʒ/	J j	J̌ ǰ	J j	C c	8000
Ⴠ	ⴠ	ჰ	U+10F0	hae	/h/	H h	H h	H h	H h	9000
Ⴥ	ⴥ	ჵ	U+10F5	hoe	/oː/	—	Ō ō	—	—	10000
—	—	ჶ	U+10F6	fi	Laz /f/	—	F f	—	F f	—

wikipedia

more from Georgia HERE and HERE