News & Notes Volume XI, No. 42
March 31, 2026
From the Internet Bookshelf
"Porthole" and "Miniportal" Notes
- Notable Notes: The "Lincoln Porthole" $5 Silver Certificate (Coinweek). From 2026.
- A Porthole certificate at the top of the pops (Stack's Bowers). From 2020.
- Series of 1923 Porthole Silver Certificates Doomed by Treasury Policies (Paper Money). Pdf at link. From 2020.
- Why $5 Porthole Silver Certificates are Scarce (Paper Money). Pdf at link. From 2014.
- "Honest John Burke" and the Number One Sheet of the 1899 $2 Silver Certificate (Paper Money). Pdf at link. This is the "mini porthole" note. From 1995.
Currency Coming and Going
- Banknotes Should Depict Flora and Fungi, Not Just Animals (The Guardian).
- Guinea's cash crunch (Ecofin Agency).
- Cuba plans higher denomination banknotes (The Canadian Press).
- Treasury's announcement of Trump signature plans (U.S. Department of the Treasury).
- The company Trump's signature will keep (Reuters).
- European Payments Initiative boosted by fears of Trump (Reuters).
- Kenyans assured that their old notes are still valid (Kenyans.co).
- Rwanda retires older banknote series (MRI Bankers' Guide).
- Madagascar plans monetary reform (MRI Bankers' Guide).
- Hoare's Bank in 18th Century London (The Tontine Coffee-House).
- Banking Beyond the Law (Aeon).
The Business of Collecting
- Stack's to offer the Bay of Bengal Collection at Maastricht auction (Stack's Bowers).
- Collection Inspiration: Frogs (PMG).
- Note of the Month: Bangladesh 500 Taka (PMG).
- Hyperinflation and the Bosnia-Herzegovina dinar (Banknote World).
- Commemorating Carlos Lleras Restrepo, former President of Colombia (Banknote World).
- The 50 yuan note marking the 50th anniversary of Chinese communism (Banknote World).
- Could Trump's currency signature become a collector's item? (The Hill).
- CGB's Bulletin Numismatique No. 262, April 2026 (CGB Numismatique, in French). Pdf at link.
- Stack's offers a "banana boat" note (PMG).
- Spink offers historic Chinese rarity in upcoming auction (PMG).
- Where is the 250th Commemorative Bank Note? (Numismatic News).
- Dean Gordon Oakes, 1936-2026 (Legacy.com).
New Banknote Issues
- Taiwan to include NT $200 and NT $2,000 notes in its banknote redesign plans (Taiwan News). Also here (MRI Bankers' Guide).
- New Bangladeshi notes slowly enter circulation (Dhaka Tribune).
- Iran's 10,000,000 rial cheque (Banknote News).
- The Papua New Guinea 100 kina commemorative (Banknote News).
- Maldives to issue new banknotes with revised currency symbol (MRI Bankers' Guide).
- What's New in Banknotes: March 2026 (Numismatic News).
- Asylum seeker money (Geldscheine-online, in German).
- The first ATMs and their test notes (Geldscheine-online, in German).
Local Coin/Numismatic Shows Happening this Week
Multi-Day Shows
- Las Vegas Numismatic Society Coin Show, Las Vegas, NV, April 2-4 (CK Shows).
- New Hampshire Coin & Currency Expo, Manchester, NH, April 3-4 (NH Expos).
- Central Oklahoma Coin Club Show, Guthrie, OK, April 3-4 (Coinshows-USA).
- National Battlefield Coin Show, Gettysburg, PA, April 3-4 (Americas Coin Shows).
- Waco Coin Show, Bellmead, TX, April 3-4 (Coinzip).
- Shenandoah Valley Coin Club Show, Weyers Cave, WV, April 3-4 (Coinshows-USA).
(Always call ahead to confirm)
April 4
- Tampa, FL; Richmond, IN; Clarion, IA; Kalamazoo, MI; Big Flats, NY; Lancaster, PA
Knoxville, TN; Lakewood, WA
April 5
Upcoming Online Currency Auctions
- Crown Currency Live Auction 52, March 31 (Crown Currency).
- Heritage Tuesday US Currency Select Auction, March 31 (HA)
- Heritage Tuesday World Currency Select Auction, March 31 (HA).
- Heritage Hong Kong Spring World Paper Money Showcase Auction, April 5 (HA).
- Archives International Auction 112, April 6-7 (AIA).
- Stack's World Collectors Choice Auction, April 7 (Stack's Bowers).
- Spink Hong Kong World Banknotes and Coins Auction, April 8 (Spink).
- Spink China Banknotes and Coins Auction, April 9 (Spink).
- Stack's Hong Kong Showcase Auction, Session A, April 17 (Stack's Bowers).
- Stack's Hong Kong Showcase Auction, Session B, April 18 (Stack's Bowers).
- Stack's Hong Kong Showcase Auction, Session C, April 19 (Stack's Bowers).
- Stack's Hong Kong Showcase Auction, Session D, April 19 (Stack's Bowers).
- Stack's Hong Kong Showcase Auction, Session E, April 20 (Stack's Bowers).
- CGB Auction April 21 (CGB Numismatique).
Major Coin and Currency Shows
- Central States Numismatic Society Convention, Schaumburg, IL, April 23-25 (CSNS).
- MIF Paper Money Fair, Maastricht, Netherlands, May 1-3 (MIF).
- PAN Spring Coin Show, Monroeville, PA, May 28-30 (PAN).
- Baltimore Summer Expo, Baltimore, MD, June 11-13 (Whitman Expos).
Banknote, Security Printing, and Cash Management Industries
- KOMSCO markets the "Wonniverse" (The Korea Times).
Upcoming Industry Conferences
- 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
- Malta's counterfeit banknote count for 2025 (Malta Business Weekly).
- "Rob from the rich without a hitch" (Yahoo News).
- Counterfeit Detection: Hong Kong 10 Dollars - Raised (PMG).
- A bill washing scheme is brought down in Arizona (MSN).
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
