News & Notes Volume XI, No. 36

February 17, 2026

 From the Internet Bookshelf

  Various Links for Valentine's Day

• Thinking Pink With Banknotes (Numismatic News). From 2026.
• Valentine's Day and Czech and Czechoslovak banknotes (CNB). From 2023.
• Valentine’s Day – More Than A Greeting Card Holiday (Banknote World). From 2023.
• British Valentine's Day 'banknotes' from the 19th century (The Standard). From 2022.
• Cupid on Yemen Banknote (Mintage World). From 2022.
• Signatures Recall Love Story (Paper Money). From 2013. Pdf at link.

And, a few felicitously named bankers from SPMC's Bankers and Bankers database:

• Howey Alonzo Valentine, Akron, OH
• John Joseph Valentine, Portland, OR
• Valentine Hay, Somerset, PA
• Valentine Winters, Dayton, OH
• Frank Samuel Love, Russelton, PA
• Lucius Bowles Darling, Pawtucket, RI
• James Sweet, Nebraska City, NE

Currency Coming and Going

• Retirement of the Bulgarian lev "continues according to plan" (Novinite).
• Quantum tokens as secure digital assets (Quantum Zeitgeist).
• Azerbaijan enhances banknote exchange services (ABC).
• Kenya's banknote bouquets (BBC).
• Book review: Everyone Loves Our Dollars (The Observer).
• "Cash Remains a Cornerstone of Society" (EU Reporter).
• A new currency for West Africa? (MRI Bankers' Guide).
• Ukraine's plans to retire older banknotes (MRI Bankers' Guide).
• Stock Market Participation in the 1950s-60s (The Tontine Coffee-House).

The Business of Collecting

• A Deep Dive into Puerto Rican Paper Money (Stacks Bowers).
• When Mistakes Turn Into Money (Stack's Bowers).
• Portraits on Banknotes: Democritus (Geldscheine-online, in German).
• Alphons Mucha, the Master of Art Nouveau (Geldscheine-online, in German).
• BOOK: The Currency Notes of Economic Unions (Geldscheine-online, in German, book in French).
• 3-cent U.S. Obsolete Notes (Numismatic News).
• The banknote celebrating Mieszko I Duke of Poland (Banknote World).

New Banknote Issues

• An "Island Ecology" theme for Taiwan's new banknotes (Taiwan News).
• Tunisia will issue "improved" 20 dinar notes (MRI Bankers' Guide).

Local Coin/Numismatic Shows Happening this Week

     Multi-Day Shows​

• Collectorama Coin Show, Lakeland, FL, February 19-21 (The Collectorama Show).
• Greater Chicago Coin and Currency Show, Countryside, IL, February 19-21 (Chicago Coin Show)
• Cessna Coin and Stamp Show, Wichita, KS, February 20-21 (Coinshows-USA).
• Stephens County Coin Club Show, Duncan, OK, February 20-21 (Coinshows-USA).
• The Cowtown Coin Show, White Settlement, TX, February 20-21 (Coinshows-USA).
• 56th Upstate SC Show, Spartanburg, SC, February 20-22 (Coinzip).
• El Paso Coin Show, El Paso, TX, February 20-22 (Coinshows-USA).
• Ames Coin Club Show, Ames, IA, February 21-22 (Coinshows-USA).

                    (Always call ahead to confirm)

      February 21

• Phoenix, AZ; Lafayette, IN; Cookeville, TN

      February 22

• Van Nuys, CA; Greenacres, FL; Joliet, Il; Batavia, NY; Melville, NY; Cincinnati, OH; Westlake, OH
  Curwensville, PA; Trevose, PA; Middletown, WI

Upcoming Online Currency Auctions

• Heritage Tuesday U.S. Currency Auction, February 17 (Greysheet).
• Heritage Tuesday World Paper Money Auction, February 17 (Greysheet).
• The Cordevo Collection of Small Size National Bank Notes, February 17 (GreatCollections).
• CGB Internet Auction, February 17 (CGB Numismatique).
• Archives International Auction 111, February 17 (AIA).
• Stack's World Collector's Choice auction, February 23 (Stack's Bowers).
• Stack's Collector's Choice auction, February 26 (Stack's Bowers).
• Lyn Knight Auction, February 28 (Lyn Knight).
• Heritage Winter Colonial Currency Auction, March 8 (HA).
• Stack's Spring 2026 Showcase Auction, Session 5, March 12 (Stack's Bowers).
• Stack's Spring 2026 Showcase Auction, Session 6, March 12 (Stack's Bowers).
• Stack's Spring 2026 Showcase Auction, Session 7, March 12 (Stack's Bowers).

Major Coin and Currency Shows

• ANA's National Money Show, Savannah, GA, February 26-28 (ANA).
• Whitman Expo, Baltimore, MD, March 5-7 (Whitman Expos).
• Numismata Munich, Munich, Germany, March 7-8 (Numismata).
• Central States Numismatic Society Convention, Schaumburg, IL, April 23-25 (CSNS).

Banknote, Security Printing, and Cash Management Industries

• A critical look at Oberthur Fiduciaire (Trinity Bugle).
• KOMSCO adjusts its revenue stream to compensate for declining banknote use (Chosun Biz).

Upcoming Industry Conferences

• High Security Printing -EMEA, Rabat, Morocco, March 2-4, 2026 (Reconnaissance).
• High Security Printing-Latin America, Guatemala City, Guatemala, June 1-3, 2026 (Reconnaissance).
• Security Designers Forum, Istanbul, Turkey, September 7-10. 2026 (Security Designers Form).

From the Annals of Crime

• The Syrian "Frozen Dollar" scam (The National).
• The five African nations that banned banknote bouquets (The Nation).
• European-wide crackdown intercepts Chinese-sourced currency fakes (OCCRP).
• Bangladesh warns against "sample notes" (UNB).
• "Being Given Fake Cash is a Slap in the Face" (BBC).

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