Banknote Acquisitions 2026 Q1 (Jan.-Mar.)

Hello all,

It's a new year and with it comes new banknotes. I'll start the thread off for this quarter (link to the previous and first thread).

So far this month I've had one package arrive from an eBay order.

N#209026

This is one of the later issues of the 16 republics variant of the 1947 USSR 1 Ruble. It's a beautiful piece of Soviet money featuring the 16 languages of the, at the time, 16 SSRs. In 1956, the USSR demoted the Karelo-Finnish SSR into the Karelian ASSR, which was absorbed by the Russian SFSR and thus reflected on the USSR State Emblem. This resulted in the removal of Finnish from the State Emblem and on all new issues of Soviet currency.

N#202832

Next, we shift towards England in the early 2000s. On the reverse, it depicts Elizabeth Fry, an English social reformer who worked to improve treatment of prisoners and has such been called “Angel of Prisons.” This, among the next banknote, are my first pieces issued by the Bank of England.

N#202179

I think this might be my favorite piece I've acquired so far this year. It has a beautiful orange color on the front and a hummingbird over flowers beside Charles Darwin on the back. I won both this and the 5 pound note for a little under what-would-be face value.

I'm excited to see what new pieces you all have gotten and will get over the first three months of 2026!

Best,

Daniel

wow ! those are quite some great banknotes especially the soviet one but may i ask you about your experience on buying banknotes from ebay because i have thought about buying banknotes from ebay but i am quite hesitant about it so it would be great if you tell me about the experience , thanks 

best regards

Jonathan Johnson iv

wow ! those are quite some great banknotes especially the soviet one but may i ask you about your experience on buying banknotes from ebay because i have thought about buying banknotes from ebay but i am quite hesitant about it so it would be great if you tell me about the experience , thanks 

 

 

best regards

Thanks! It’s my first piece of the 1947 Soviet series, and I hope to get more of it.

When it comes to eBay, I haven’t had many bad experiences. Most of the sellers I’ve bought from are reputable and provide quality service. Any issues that I’ve had weren’t anything that couldn’t be solved by a simple refund or replacement, and sellers with good ratings will almost always provide good customer service in order to maintain that reputation. You simply have to be wary of who you purchase from and check the prices of items against other markets.

Best,

Daniel

Voided_Username01

Jonathan Johnson iv

wow ! those are quite some great banknotes especially the soviet one but may i ask you about your experience on buying banknotes from ebay because i have thought about buying banknotes from ebay but i am quite hesitant about it so it would be great if you tell me about the experience , thanks 

 

 

best regards

Thanks! It’s my first piece of the 1947 Soviet series, and I hope to get more of it.

 

When it comes to eBay, I haven’t had many bad experiences. Most of the sellers I’ve bought from are reputable and provide quality service. Any issues that I’ve had weren’t anything that couldn’t be solved by a simple refund or replacement, and sellers with good ratings will almost always provide good customer service in order to maintain that reputation. You simply have to be wary of who you purchase from and check the prices of items against other markets.

 

Best,

Daniel

thanks for informing me about your experience , also may I ask you to recommend to me some reputable sellers on ebay 

best regards 

Jonathan Johnson iv

Voided_Username01

Jonathan Johnson iv

wow ! those are quite some great banknotes especially the soviet one but may i ask you about your experience on buying banknotes from ebay because i have thought about buying banknotes from ebay but i am quite hesitant about it so it would be great if you tell me about the experience , thanks 

 

 

best regards

Thanks! It’s my first piece of the 1947 Soviet series, and I hope to get more of it.

 

When it comes to eBay, I haven’t had many bad experiences. Most of the sellers I’ve bought from are reputable and provide quality service. Any issues that I’ve had weren’t anything that couldn’t be solved by a simple refund or replacement, and sellers with good ratings will almost always provide good customer service in order to maintain that reputation. You simply have to be wary of who you purchase from and check the prices of items against other markets.

 

Best,

Daniel

thanks for informing me about your experience , also may I ask you to recommend to me some reputable sellers on ebay 

 

 

best regards 

There are many discussions regarding this on Numista forums, simply search within the Banknote Information and Questions section. Here’s a more recent one to get you started.

Daniel

thank you mr. Daniel for the information , have a nice day:)

Not an acquisition but just change - kept it for now but will probably go back into circulation at some point. A case of so close yet so far =/ 

Jeez, I would be tempted to keep that Ten Euros @53th0s as you just don't see many serial numbers on long-digit Euros (with chek-sum numbering) that even come close to beng remotely special (or “fancy” as may  American collectors call them). 

@Serial_Number_8 there must be a nest of those around here 😅 this one unc even

@

Serial_Number_8 there must be a nest of those around here 😅 this one unc even

If there's a “nest” near you, I'm sure there'll be other collectors on the hunt for these! Good luck snagging the six 6's!

I've been on an African roll, ever since I picked up a 1 Franc (P-85) from the DRC late last year.  I rarely seen anything from the Belgian Congo that is within my budget, so I figured I may as well get some later issues.

I figured I it would be nice to have an example from the late 70's Zaire (P-24b):

And then figured I should go back even further with this small 50 Franc (P-5) from the Banque Nationale du Congo:

Picked up this inexpensive 10 Franc P-87B from 1997 Democratic Republic of Congo:

Serial_Number_8

I've been on an African roll, ever since I picked up a 1 Franc (P-85) from the DRC late last year. I rarely seen anything from the Belgian Congo that is within my budget, so I figured I may as well get some later issues.

Not exactly the easiest of the lot to start with. Actually I'm still missing that one, along with a few other 1997/2000 francs.

Though I did get the CDR 5,000 through 20,000 as an early Christmas present for myself last year :)

I do see Belgian Congo notes here every now and then, but they do tend to be pricey. Let me know if I should keep my eyes open for anything for you ;)

 

53th0s

 

Though I did get the CDR 5,000 through 20,000 as an early Christmas present for myself last year :)

Great Christmas gift idea! 

I forgot this 1977 fractional called a 50 Makuta P-16b in a pretty decent grade which arrived in Jan:

And picked up this 1997 P-88* 20 Francs replacement in December from Kate UK store (my Christmas gift hope you don't mind me adding it here as it doesn't quite belong since I got it before the Q1):

That's it. I had to cool down a bit as I was on a DCR/Zaire Boxing Day shopping spree! 

Excellent Euro catches @53th0s! You certainly got lucky with those tough serial numbers in relatively nice condition.

Those are some very beautiful Congolese pick-ups @Serial_Number_8. That 50 Franc is in excellent condition for its value.

Now, onto my most recent acquisitions (with the exception of recent swaps). Everything from this session is from the Soviet Union.

First, I picked up this nice example of a standard issue 1938 1 Ruble from the USSR in VF:

My two most recent purchases from Latvia just arrived the other day, both early-issue pieces from the 1938 USSR series, signified by the 1-letter prefixes:

1 Ruble in F

5 Rubles in VF