News & Notes Volume XII, No. 19

October 20, 2026

 From the Internet Bookshelf

  When "Horse Blankets" Went Out of Style

   (Material on the shrinkage of American currency in 1929.)

• Exploring U.S. Small Size Notes (Collectibles & Currency). From 2023.
• Why Did U.S. Banknotes Shrink in Size? (PCGS). From 2021.
• The Downsizing of America's Paper Money (Coin World). From 2014.
• United States of America Small Size Currency, excerpt on the changeover (Dartos Enterprises). Pdf at link. From 2013.
• A Darker Reason for Smaller Currency (Paper Money). Pdf at link. From 1999.

Currency Coming and Going

• Ukrainian claims about Russian cash usage (SZRU).
• William Leggett and the Separation of Bank and State (Mises Institute).
• Pujo Committee and the Money Trust (The Tontine Coffee-House).
• What's going on in the silver market (Numismatic News).
• "Canceled" banknotes in Israel? (Jerusalem Post).
• The Unfulfilled Will of a Polish General in America (Geldscheine-online, in German).
• Will Cash Be Abolished? (Geldscheine-online, in German).
• Albanian protesters throw fake banknotes at police (Balkanweb).
• Myanmar denies plans for a K50,000 note (The Post).
• Public trust in banknotes, speech by Victoria Cleland (Bank of England).
• KOMSCO chief on the "shift from cash to digital trust" (The Korea Times).
• Ghana addresses disability issues relating to banknotes (Graphic).

The Business of Collecting

• The First National Bank of Davenport, Iowa (Numismatic News).
• The History of Hawaiian Currency, Part I (Numismatic News).
• Five Dramatic Paper Money Errors You Can Find in Circulation (Coinweek).
• BOOK: Banknotes of the Levant (E-Sylum).
• BOOK: Arkansas War Bonds (E-Sylum).
• PMG Note of the Month: Spain 500 Pesetas (PMG).
• Iraqi currency featuring the Mustansiriyya Madrasa (Banknote World).
• Nigerian banknote honoring statesman Ahmadu Bello (Banknote World).
• A breakdown of Stack's Hong Kong Showcase auction (Stack's Bowers).
• What a series date means, or doesn't (Stack's Bowers).
• Singapore notes offered in Mavin International auction (PMG).
• Norwegian writer Camilla Collette on a 100 kroner banknote (Banknote World).
• Selections from Stack's upcoming World Paper Money Auction (E-Sylum).
• Rare banknotes donated to charity raise money at Noonans auction (The Scotsman).
• Selections from Crown Currency's upcoming Live Auction 60 (PMG).
• Scandinavian notes from Stack's Bowers Copenhagen sale (PMG).

New Banknote Issues

• Somalia says new shilling notes are on the way (FTL).
• New Transnistria 100 ruble note (MRI Bankers' Guide). Also here (Banknote News).
• New Maldives banknote changes its monetary sign (MRI Bankers' Guide).
• Ghana's new cedi notes will be smaller in size (MRI Bankers' Guide).
• Nepal's new 1,000 rupee note (Banknote News).
• Cuba's new 10,000 peso and 20.000 peso notes (Banknote News).

Local Coin/Numismatic Shows Happening this Week

     Multi-Day Shows​

• Citrus County Coin Club Show, Crystal River, FL, October 23-24 (CCCC).
• Ozarks Coin & Stamp Show, Springfielld MO, October 23-24 (Ozarks Coin Club).
• Toronto Coin Expo, Toronto ON, October 23-24 (Canadian Coin News).
• Utah Coin Show, Sandy UT, October 23-24 (Utah Coin Shows).
• Iowa Numismatic Association Coin Show, Altoona IA, October 24-25 (Coinshows-USA).
• Saskatoon Coin Show, Saskatoon SK, October 24-25 (Canadian Coin News).

      October 24

• Phoenix, AZ; St. Augustine, FL; Schererville, IN; Leichtfield, KY; Oswego, NY; North York, ON
  Watertown, SD; Port Neches, TX

   October 25

• Van Nuys, CA; Greenacres, FL; Elgin, IL; Devens, MA; North Attleboro, MA; West Springfield, MA
  Livonia, MI; Rochester, MN; Cranbury, NJ; Hackettstown, NJ; Batavia, NY; Plainview, NY; Sherburne, NY
  Cinti, OH; Westlake, OH; Oshawa, ON; Philipsburg, PA; Trevose, PA

Upcoming Online Currency Auctions

• China and Hong Kong Banknote Auction, October 21 (Spink).
• Collectors Choice U.S. Currency Auction, October 21 (Stack's Bowers).
• Hong Kong Showcase Auction, Session A, October 22 (Stack's Bowers).
• The Jack Copeland Collection, October 22 (Stack's Bowers).
• Hong Kong Showcase Auction, Session B, October 23 (Stack's Bowers).
• Hong Kong Showcase Auction, Session C, October 24 (Stack's Bowers).
• Hong Kong Showcase Auction, Session D, October 24 (Stack's Bowers).
• Hong Kong Showcase Auction, Session E, October 25 (Stack's Bowers).
• The Schwenk Family Collection, October 25 (GreatCollections).
• Crown Currency Live Auction 60, October 27 (Crown Currency).
• Stack's Copenhagen Sale, Session A, October 29 (Stack's Bowers).
• Stack's Copenhagen Sale, Session B, October 30 (Stack's Bowers).
• Mavin International Auction 69B, October 30 (Mavin).
• Heritage Fractional Currency Showcase Auction, November 1 (HA).
• World Premier Collectors Choice, November 2 (Stack's Bowers).
• Heritage Fall Colonial Currency Showcase Auction, November 15 (HA).

Major Coin and Currency Shows

• PAN Fall Coin Show, Monroeville PA, October 22-24 (PAN).
• Baltimore Fall Expo, Baltimore MD, November 12-13 (Whitman Expos).
• Numismata Berlin, Berlin Germany, November 14-15 (Numismata).

Banknote, Security Printing, and Cash Management Industries

• Glowing lanthanide liquids create unique security signatures (The Engineer)

Upcoming Industry Conferences

• Island Nations Currency & Payments Settlement, Nadi, Fiji, October 26-28, 2026 (Currency Research).
• High Security Printing-Asia, Hong Kong, China, November 3-December 2, 2026 (Reconnaissance).
• Optical & Digital Document Security, Berlin, Germany, January 25-27, 2027 (Reconnaissance).
• High Security Printing-EMEA, Vienna, Austria, March 1-3, 2027 (Reconnaissance).
• The Currency Conference, Berlin, Germany, May 24-26, 2027 (Currency Research).
• High Security Printing-Americas, Ottawa, Canada, June 7-9, 2027 (Reconnaissance).

From the Annals of Crime

• Iraqi Forces Uncover Mobile Counterfeit Currency Operation Near Iran Border (basnews).
• Taxi driver given fake cash drove customer to police (BBC).
• Courier fraud scams (Leicester Mercury).
• “$30K cash. No dye packs. No exploding bags.” (Sourceone).
• EU anti-money laundering cash caps (Tokenpost).
• Russian woman fined for her Harry Potter collectible coins (The Caspian Post).
• Malaysian drug smuggler tried to hide his stash in banknotes (New Straits Times).

Websites to Like

(in no particular order)

• Paper Money Forum (Numismatic discussion threads)
• Newman Numismatic Portal (Digital numismatic library)
• Numismatic Bibliomania Society (Includes E-Sylum, the weekly online complement to the NBS's journal, The Asylum)
• The American Revenue Association (Hobby website).
• The Souvenir Card Collectors Society
• New York Toll Script and Tokens (Collector website)..
• The American Historical Print Collectors Society (Hobby website).
• International Bank Note Society (useful features even for non-members).
• The Banknote Den (David Lok's website, with superb essays as well as a link to his book, The Many Faces of Money).
• The Higgins Museum (the one in Okoboji, IA, not Worcester, MA)
• Cigar History Museum's coupon gallery
• Boordgeld (Dutch ships' money)
• Depression Scrip (emergency money of the 1930s, and more)
• Wisconsin Depression Scrip
• Caishen's Temple-Asia Money
• Elkader Auction House
• Minnesota Nice
• The Currency Collector (more good essays by John Sandrock).
• COINWeek (numismatic aggregator with some paper money content).
• MRI Bankers' Guide (for its updates of new banknotes).
• Mujand (fantasy banknote maker).
• Alternative Banknotes and Coins (Alternatehistory). Fantasy thread.
• Stane Straus's Polymer Banknotes of the World
• Banknote News (roundup of news and promotional website for The Banknote Book).
• Mintage World (online museum of Indian numismatics).
• Chattanooga Money (site details historical episodes in Chattanooga, Tennessee's monetary and banking history)
• My Georgia Collection (collector site devoted to "Georgia State Notes, Obsolete Currency, Bonds, and Alternative Scrip")
• Banknotesworld ("THE German-language Banknote forum") Discussion threads and more.
• Scotsbanknotes
• Cash Essentials (Industry website devoted to promoting cash usage).
• Kuster's Engineering (Company website). Your expert in currency disintegration.
• PYMNTS.com (Industry website).
• Currency Research (Industry website).
• International Association of Currency Affairs (Industry website).
• De La Rue (Company website).
• Giesecke & Devrient (Company website).
• Our Passports (travel documents and other ephemera)
• Social Money (a Flickr album of photographs illustrating modern complementary currencies, heavy on Argentina).
• Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (search for banknotes etc.).
• Where's George? (currency tracking project).
• Banknoter
• Numismondo
• CoinsWeekly, numismatic website run by Ursula Kampmann. German-language version is here. Content is not identical.
• Blog du CNA (Club Numismatique  d'Argenteuil)
• AFEP   Association Française pour l'Étude du Papier-monnaie
• Monnaies Locales Complementaires
• Our Money (Eurozone currency).
• The Ephemera Society of America (Hobby website, with archived articles on ephemera topics)
• A Library of Scrip and Local Currency
• Fictional currency galleries (Deviant Art).
• Pakistani Currency