Banknote Blog

Collector's Guide · Germany · 1914–1923 What Is German Notgeld? The Emergency Money Towns Printed for Themselves Between 1914 and 1923, thousands of German towns, companies and railways printed their own money. Some of it was plain and practical. Much of it was art. A century later, it is one of the most affordable ways to hold a piece of the Weimar years in your hand. Between 1914 and 1923, towns across Germany printed their own money. Quick answer Notgeld (German for "e …

Collector's Guide · Care and Storage · Updated September 2026 How to Store Banknotes: Sleeves, Holders, and the Five Things That Ruin Paper Money A banknote that survived a hyperinflation, a war, or a century in a drawer can be undone by a rubber band and a sunny windowsill. Here is how to store paper money so it is in the same condition in thirty years as it is today, what to buy, what to throw away, and the one mistake we see more than any other. Quick answer: Store each bankno …

Grading Guide · Numismatic Reference · Updated September 2026 Banknote Grading Scale Explained: What VF, XF, AU, and UNC Mean Every dealer listing, auction lot, and grading label uses the same short alphabet: G, VG, F, VF, XF, AU, UNC. Here is what each grade means in plain terms, how the letters map to the 70-point numbers on a PMG or PCGS holder, and how to grade a note in your own hands before you pay for someone else's opinion. Quick answer: Banknote grades run from Poor (a d …

Collector's Guide · Zimbabwe · Updated September 2026 Zimbabwe 50 Trillion Dollar Note (P-90): Value and Collector's Guide The 100 trillion gets the headlines. The 50 trillion came off the same press on the same day, carries the same balancing rocks and the same Zimbabwe Bird security stripe, and costs less than half as much. Here is what it is, what it sells for in 2026, and how to tell the green note from the blue one at a glance. Quick answer: The Zimbabwe 50 trillion dollar n …

Collector's Guide · Yugoslavia · Hyperinflation Notes The Yugoslavia 500 Billion Dinara Note (1993): A Collector's Guide to P-137 The largest denomination Yugoslavia ever printed carries a children's poet on its face and the second-worst hyperinflation in recorded history in its story. Here is what the 500 billion dinara note is, how it came to exist, and what separates an ordinary example from a great one. Quick answer: The 500,000,000,000 dinara note (Pick 137) was issued by th …

Grading Guide · PMG · PCGS Banknote PMG vs. PCGS Banknote Grading: Which Holder Should You Buy? Two grading services certify the world's paper money, and both are trustworthy. The differences are in market share, designations, and what a single grade point does to price. Here is how PMG and PCGS Banknote compare, with real examples from the same notes in both holders. Quick answer: PMG (Paper Money Guaranty, founded 2005, Sarasota, Florida) and PCGS Banknote (relaunched 2020 unde …

Collector's Guide · Iraq · Modern World Notes The Iraq 25,000 Dinars Banknote: A Collector's Guide to P-102 Iraq's largest banknote puts four thousand years of history on one piece of paper: a Kurdish farmer on the front, King Hammurabi on the back. Here is what the 25,000 dinar note depicts, when and why it was issued, and what collectors look for in a good example. Quick answer: The 25,000 dinar note (Pick 102) is the highest denomination of the currency series the Central Bank …

Explainer · Venezuela · Oil & Currency The 2026 U.S.-Venezuela Oil Deal, Explained: 65 Billion Barrels and the Currency Question On August 28, 2026, President Trump announced what he called the biggest oil deal in world history: a U.S. partnership covering 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan reserves. Venezuela's money has always risen and fallen with its oil, so here is what was announced, how the country got here, and why collectors of the bolívar are watching closely. …

Explainer · Inflation · Inflation Day What Is the CPI? The Monthly Number That Moves Markets (and Sets Our Discounts) Once a month, at 8:30 in the morning Eastern time, the U.S. government publishes a single percentage. Bond desks reprice trillions of dollars within minutes. Your Social Security check, your tax brackets, and, at Planet Banknote, your discount code all trace back to it. Here is what the Consumer Price Index measures, how to read it, and why banknote collectors watc …

Collector's Guide · Argentina · Hyperinflation History Argentina's Austral: The Currency That Lasted Six Years and Lost Five Zeros In 1985 Argentina launched a brand-new currency to end inflation for good. By 1989 shoppers were sprinting to beat price stickers that changed during a single trip to the market. This is the story of the austral, the note it ended with, and why bank bricks of it now sit in collections around the world. Quick answer: The austral was Argentina's currenc …