What are the attractions of collecting paper money?

This exciting hobby is growing in popularity for many reasons. For one thing it’s becoming increasingly easy to find interesting and attractive banknotes from around the world, with great visual, historical and cultural interest - often for only a few pence each. A banknote collection can be a fine investment. Many notes have been growing quite dramatically in value over the years, sometimes even over a few months. Besides this, the hobby is a great educator. It has something to teach everyone, about foreign culture, history, economics - and much more. As communication technologies brings the ‘global village’ ever closer, it becomes ever more desirable to have a knowledge of foreign affairs and cultures. It’s amazing how much knowledge of this kind you naturally absorb while enjoying this hobby. But collectors also love banknotes for their rich visual appeal. Every banknote collection is most definitely an art collection - and one of growing value.

A banknote collection makes a powerful conversation piece which rarely fails to arouse interest and admiration. Even an inexpensive collection makes a fabulous display of some of exquisite pieces of printing and graphic design. An exceptional amount of work and skill goes into the design of banknotes by artists and engravers of outstanding skill and talent. The design and manufacturing process is a field of study in itself - but many of the methods used are shrouded in secrecy to make forgery difficult. Nevertheless, forgeries do occur and these are often worth more than the genuine article to collectors!

As collectors’ items, banknotes have distinct advantages over stamps and coins: They have a much larger surface area, creating more room for interesting information and attractive artwork. Compared to a coin, a banknote is extremely lightweight and thin, making a large collection much easier to store and transport. Over the postage stamp, the banknote has the advantage of having two sides, and again, a much larger surface area.

Banknote enthusiasts enjoy individualist status; the hobby is regarded as intriguingly different. It has a certain prestige attached to it; people tend to assume that a banknote collector must be well-off - but this is often not the because many attractive banknotes can be obtained for well under 50p each. The hobby has a refreshing dignity to it; the banknote collecting fraternity is generally an honest, friendly community, with a genial camaraderie born of a common interest.

The hobby is still much less widespread than stamp and coin collecting, although interest is growing every year. Many stamp and coin collectors are now considering banknotes as the promising new collecting frontier. The hobby holds many of the same pleasures as stamp and coin collecting: One gets the same thrill at finding that elusive item to fill a gap in a series or a set. There is the same reverence one feels for owning something that has been preserved in perfect condition for a hundred years. There is the same satisfaction of travelling to a collector’s fair to hunt down bargains and meet fellow enthusiasts and develop one’s knowledge.