Singapore: New blog for Singaporean notes

Vincent Tan, a fellow banknote collector from Singapore, has a new blog on Singaporean banknotes. He is an authority on polymer banknotes and we will definitely see more of his collection, especially specimen notes, on his new blog.

http://www.mrbanknotes.blogspot.com

Thailand: Thai Banknote Expo 25-26 Sept 2010

Bank of Thailand (BOT) has organised "Thai Banknote Expo", a two day event to let public know more about history of Thai banknotes, identification of counterfeits, taking care of banknotes, etc. Commemorative banknotes issued during the last 10 years are also on sale. Public can exchange soiled banknotes as well.

On 26th there will be 300 lots of banknotes for auction. The lots are mainly made up of specimen notes and banknotes having solid serial numbers.

Many banknotes are on display following the theme "Best of Thai banknotes". Extremely rare banknotes right from the 1st series to unissued varieties are on display. The unissued notes and provisional issues are just awesome. I did not even know that some of these banknotes ever existed. They have not been reported in catalogues or numismatic websites. I will cover them next week.

Overall the expo was small but very informative. Below images show the atmosphere inside the expo.


Entrance to Thai Banknote Expo

Banknote displays
Famous Thai TV personalities Paul-Pattarapol and Pui-Pimonwal were MC's
People queuing up for commemoratives
BOT official explaining printing process


Banknotes on display

Singapore: New 50 Dollars variety with 2 square dots

50 Dollars note with two square dots beneath the word ART on reverse has been found recently.






Images and information courtesy of my very good friend and fellow banknote collector Vincent Tan.

India: RBI to issue new 10 Rupees note with S inset letter

The Reserve Bank of India will shortly issue Rs.10 denomination banknotes with 'S' inset letter in both numbering panels and bearing the signature of Dr. D. Subbarao.



Press release of Reserve Bank of India on 17 Aug 2010.

Thailand to get new series of circulating banknotes

On 27th July, Ms. Chittima Duriyaprapan, Assistant Governor - Banknote Management Group of the Bank of Thailand (BOT) announced that the BOT board has approved issuing of Series 16 banknotes with newer counterfeit protection features. Design for the new 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 Baht notes are awaiting approval from the Royal Household Bureau. This new series of circulating banknotes, expected to come out towards the end of this year, will replace Series 15 which has been in use for the past 12 years.

However, the current series of banknotes will carry a new signature variety starting October till the new series are issued. (BOT gets new governor)



ธปท.เตรียมออกธนบัตรใหม่หมุนเวียนใช้สิ้นปีนี้

คณะกรรมการธนาคารแห่งประเทศไทย (ธปท.) มีมติให้จัดทำธนบัตรรูปแบบใหม่ ภายใต้ชื่อชุดที่ 16 หลังจากที่ธนบัตรปัจจุบันชุดที่ 15 นั้น ใช้มาเป็นเวลา 12 ปีแล้ว จะมีการเปลี่ยนธนบัตรทุกชนิด ตั้งแต่ 20 50 100 500 และ 1,000 บาท รูปแบบที่เปลี่บนแปลงไปจะใช้เทคโนโลยีทันสมัย และมีการใส่สิ่งต่อต้านการปลอมแปลงธนบัตรเพิ่มขึ้นด้วย ขณะนี้รูปแบบของธนบัตรรูปแบบใหม่ อยู่ระหว่างการขออนุญาตจากสำนักพระราชวัง คาดว่าจะเริ่มทยอยนำออกมาใช้ได้หลังวันที่ 5 ธันวาคมนี้ และจะนำออกมาใช้หมุนเวียนในปีต่อไปด้วย

ด้าน นางจิตติมา ดุริยะประพันธ์ ผู้ช่วยผู้ว่าการธนาคารแห่งประเทศไทย กล่าวว่า จากการติดตามสถิติของการระบาดธนบัตรปลอม ในช่วงครึ่งแรกของปีนี้ ปรากฏว่าลดลงจากปีที่ผ่านมา 39 เปอร์เซ็นต์ ครึ่งหนึ่งของธนบัตรปลอมนั้นกระจุกตัวอยู่ในภาคกลาง เช่น พัทยา อยุธยา กำแพงเพชร เนื่องจากปริมาณเงินที่หมุนเวียนในภาคกลางมีมากกว่าภาคอื่น ซึ่ง ธปท.ประสานกับเจ้าหน้าที่ตำรวจ เพื่อขยายผลหาแหล่งผลิตต่อไปแล้ว


Further reading:
BOT Announcement on Channel 7 News (in Thai)

The Nation (English)

Thailand: WIPO Award Commemorative coins issued

"World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Global Leader Award to HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej" commemorative coins will be issued on 2nd August. These coins were announced way back in December 2009 and the designs were released in May this year.



Coin details:




Previous posts:
http://numis-asia.blogspot.com/2010/05/thailand-updates-on-commemorative-coins.html

http://numis-asia.blogspot.com/2009/12/thailand-new-commemorative-coins.html

India: Rupee gets new symbol

The Indian Cabinet on Thursday 15 Jul approved the new symbol for the Indian rupee – an amalgam of the Devnagiri 'Ra' and the Roman capital 'R' without the stem. The symbol was selected from among five shortlisted symbols before the Cabinet. The symbol will not be printed or embossed on currency notes or coins.




For more information read:

Indian rupee gets a symbol, joins elite currency club

Thailand: Bank of Thailand gets new governor

Thailand's Cabinet on Tuesday, 6th July endorsed the nomination of the country's top banker Dr Prasarn Trairatvorakul as new governor of the Bank of Thailand (BoT). Dr Prasarn will succeed Ms. Tarisa Watanagase, who completes her term in September.

Expect banknotes with new signature variety from October 2010 onwards.

sig 82: Korn Chatikavanij as Finance Minister and Prasarn Trairatvorakul as Governor BOT.

For more information see link below:

Thai central bank gets new governor

Thailand: BANGKOK 2010 - 25th Asian International Stamp Exhibition

BANGKOK 2010 - 25th Asian International Stamp Exhibition will be held in Bangkok, Thailand between 4 and 12 August. Apart from being the largest philately event in Asia, this year's event will feature one of biggest auction ever. "Super Grand Auction Sale" will be organised by Eurseree at the event venue on 7th and 8th August. Definitely looking forward to this event as apart from stamps, many interesting lots of banknotes and coins will be up for auction. If any of you are coming, please let me know and we can meet up at the event.

For more information click on the links below:

1. Official site for BANGKOK 2010
2. Event update from Eurseree

Thailand: Gold coins issued by Rama 5

Siamese trade was booming during the 1860's due to which there were surplus of gold coins in the royal treasury. HM Rama IV ordered issuing of three gold coins in 1863 which were mainly given as presents to the royal family members and other dignitaries. The three denominations were:

Pad Dueng = 2 ½ Baht equivalent
Pit = 4 Baht equivalent, and
Tot = 8 Baht equivalent

The same three denominations were issued again by HM Rama 5 in 1894 with slight differences in the design (more refined) and weights.





Click on above to see Checklist of gold coins.


Please refer to my previous posts Thailand: Circulating coin denominations and Thailand: Coin Dating to understand denominations and dates.

Thailand: 2 Baht circulation coin dated 2010 issued

พ.ศ. ๒๕๕๓ = B.E. 2553 = 2010
Yesterday I found a 2 Baht circulation coin dated 2010 during a regular shopping run to a wet market. A quick call to Thai Treasury and I found out that even the 1 Baht coin dated 2010 is in circulation. Will find it and post images soon.

Laos: Unlisted 1 Kip banknote variety

The written denomination on the back of early 1 Kip notes (P25 unlisted) contains an incorrect accent over the next-to-last character which is corrected on later notes (P25a). SCWPM does not list this but has now been correctly listed in Owen Linzmayer's upcoming catalog.

Thailand: Update on 100 Baht commemorative banknote

Commemorative 100 Baht banknotes has been issued last Tuesday to mark the 60th Anniversary of the Royal Wedding and the Royal Coronation of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand.

I got my first banknotes on the same day but cannot post any scans as these banknotes have EURion constellation patterns on the reverse to prevent counterfeiting. EURion constellation is a pattern of five rings which are incorporated into the banknote's design which help software in digital copiers and scanners to identify banknotes.



The obverse is similar to current series 15 circulation notes (Pick 114) while the reverse feature the 60th anniversary of the Royal Wedding (28 April 1950) and the Royal Coronation of HM the King (5 May 1950). Serial number run from 9ธ(R)0000001 to 9ธ(R)9999999. Specimen notes are available but replacement notes have not been noticed as of yet. Will keep my readers posted.

To mark both occasions, postage stamps have also been issued on respective dates. See images below:

Postage stamps 60 years Royal Wedding 28 Apr 2010

Postage stamp 60 years Royal Coronation 5 May 2010

Thailand: Updates on Commemorative coins to be issued in 2010

On 22nd December 2009, the Treasury department of Thailand had announced plans for release of commemorative coins during the year 2010. See updates on these coins below.

1. 10 Baht Bi-metallic coin marking "100 years of Command and General Staff College, Royal Thai Army" (http://numis-asia.blogspot.com/2009/07/thailand-new-commemorative-coins.html) - No definite issue date.

2. "World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Global Leader Award to HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej" - 16,000 Baht 99% Gold and 800 Baht 99% Silver proof coins along with a 20 Baht Cupro-nickel coin (http://numis-asia.blogspot.com/2009/12/thailand-new-commemorative-coins.html) - Issue date not finalised but sketches of design released.



3. "84th Birthday of HRH Princess Bejaratana Rajasuda Sirisobhabannavadi" - Silver 800 Baht, Cupro-Nickel 20 Baht and Bi-metallic 10 Baht coins - Will be issued very soon.

4. 10 Baht Bi-metallic coin marking "150th Birthday of HRH Prince Bhanurangsi Savangwongse" - No definite issue date.

5. 20 Baht Cupro-nickel coin marking "Father of Thai Trade title given to HM King Rama 3" - No definite issue date.

6. 50 Baht Cupro-nickel coin marking "150 years of Royal Thai Mint" - No definite issue date.

Two new coins are also being talked about.

7. "60 years Royal Coronation of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand" - 25,000 Baht 99% Gold (26mmx15g) and 1,000 Baht 99% Silver (30mmx15g) coins - will be announced mid-May and made available to public by reservation only.

8. "60 years Royal Wedding of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand" - details not known.

Thailand: New Commemorative banknote

The Bank of Thailand (BoT) will launch a 100 Baht banknote to mark the 60th Anniversary of the Royal Wedding and the Royal Coronation of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. A total of 9,999,999 banknotes will be available from 4 May 2010 onwards at all commercial bank branches.



The obverse is similar to current series 15 circulation notes or Pick 114 except the serial number which will run from 9Rธ0000001 to 9Rธ9999999. However, the reverse will feature the 60th anniversary of the Royal Wedding (28 April 1950) and the Royal Coronation of HM the King (5 May 1950).



Thai Government Public Relations Department announcement