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August 21st:

What does this say?

This 1973 $1 has Asian characters (Japanese or Chinese?) written in the bottom right corner on the back of the note.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Dean

That's Japanese, and it appears to be a souvenir or memento of sorts. It says:（山林）S55.5 17

The kanji characters appear to be someone's last name, 山林 = Yamabayashi (literally 'mountain forest'). This is followed by the date written in the traditional Japanese style, where the year is marked by the reign of the emperor instead of by the western (Gregorian) calendar. The Showa era marked Emperor Hirohito's reign, from 1926-1989, and accordingly the 55th year of Showa is 1980.

So evidently someone named Yamabayashi had that $1 note in hand on May 17, 1980, and decided to make a record of that fact. It could be that they meant to take it home with them as a souvenir, or simply leave it behind as evidence of their travels.

Incidentally, May 17, 1980 was exactly one day before the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in Washington state. Did the volcanic ash make it as far as BC or Alberta? It definitely blanketed the Portland, Oregon metro area, where I'm from.

That's Japanese, and it appears to be a souvenir or memento of sorts. It says:（山林）S55.5 17

The kanji characters appear to be someone's last name, 山林 = Yamabayashi (literally 'mountain forest'). This is followed by the date written in the traditional Japanese style, where the year is marked by the reign of the emperor instead of by the western (Gregorian) calendar. The Showa era marked Emperor Hirohito's reign, from 1926-1989, and accordingly the 55th year of Showa is 1980.

So evidently someone named Yamabayashi had that $1 note in hand on May 17, 1980, and decided to make a record of that fact. It could be that they meant to take it home with them as a souvenir, or simply leave it behind as evidence of their travels.

Hi Cory,

That is cool…and being of Japanese heritage, an appropriate addition to my collection of defaced notes.  It’s a shame that I never learned how to read or write in Japanese so thanks for your translation services!  It’s also neat that this note was in circulation at the time of the eruption.

I was aware of the Japanese calendar system because I like searching through Japanese coins when I visit Japan.  Maybe it was the “s” character used instead of the formal characters for “Showa” and the way that the person wrote the number 5 that threw me off.

Here’s a photo of the front of the note.  It’s a 2 letter prefix so it makes sense that it was around in 1980.

Dean

That's really neat about your heritage and nice that you now have that note in your collection. I lived in Japan in the mid 90's, and it profoundly changed my life for the better.

My tendency has always been to get rid of imperfect notes and try to get the nicest, most uncirculated and perfect examples I can find. Your notes with pink bank stamps, and this note that probably briefly belonged to a Japanese tourist have taught me to hold on to some of these things, because there's a story there if you're willing and able to find it. Thanks, friend.

- Cory

August 22nd finds:

Today, I obtained these two $50 notes from the main branch of my bank.

The birds $50 has a small circular stamp on it with a butterfly and the initials “WTTB”.  I’m not sure what this stamp is, but the circular shape reminds me of Japanese hanko stamps that are used when signing for parcels and other documents in Japan.

The journey $50 has the remnants of a teller stamp with a legible transit number, 02402-004.

A quick search shows that this stamp belongs to this bank:

The Toronto Dominion Bank
Clarke Road Branch
1920 Dundas Street
London, Ontario
N5V 3P1

Enjoy!
Dean

PS:  I’ve been finding more defaced notes in the high denominations…This section of my collection is getting costly!   

The small hand stamps are used by Currency Exchanges in Asia and South America to mark banknotes as genuine.  It is a quick and easy way for them to tell if all of the security features have been verified on the note.

I have attached a couple of stamps on notes that I picked up in Peru back in 2006.  Counterfeits are very common.  Every banknote is checked.  Even the coins were checked.  All of the Scotia Bank ATMs dispensed only new notes and damaged notes were refused.

 

The small hand stamps are used by Currency Exchanges in Asia and South America to mark banknotes as genuine.  It is a quick and easy way for them to tell if all of the security features have been verified on the note.

Hi ShareBear,
Wow, that’s fascinating! I wonder where my birds $50 note was when it got verified and stamped?

Thanks for the information!

Dean

The small hand stamps are used by Currency Exchanges in Asia and South America to mark banknotes as genuine.  It is a quick and easy way for them to tell if all of the security features have been verified on the note.

Sounds like a very lazy way of verifying the authenticity of a banknote.  The stamps can be easily faked.  Verify banknote authenticity by checking the security features, not a simple ink marking that anyone could apply.

The exchange places stamp their own notes when the get them from the bank.  They know who stamps what and so that they can tell where the note came from.

These were on 10 soles notes which is the smallest paper denomination 4 soles = 1 dollar at that time.

They are going for quick and easy.  Everyone checked the paper and the watermark.  This was more of a tracking feature.

Peru has one of the highest quality counterfeits in South America at that time.  The counterfeiters are not going to ruin their notes by adding fake currency exchange stamps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RoZrtBijRY

Dean, it would be almost impossible to narrow down where your stamp comes from.  Almost every mom and pop currency exchange place marked their notes.

I have attached a couple of more stamps on banknotes.

The one from Ceylon is a legit bank branch.  Not sure why they stamped the note perhaps it was requested by a customer.

 

August 30th:

One of the 1973 $1s I found today has this tiny handwritten message by the coat of arms.  I think it reads “Drew 100”.

Could it be a reference to “drawing” money from a bank account?  In accounting, this means to take money from a business account for personal use.  (Thanks to the internet for that definition!)

Enjoy!
Dean

August 31st:

This $50 in my finds today shows the telltale signs of being used as a teller’s notepad (several times).

It has numbers written in several places and a set of initials on the margin.  This was common in the old days when notes had to be counted and verified by hand.

The second $50 with interesting markings found today has what looks like a licence plate number written on the back.  Maybe it was left as a down payment on a car back in the day?

This note is similar to a 1954 $50 I found a few years ago with vehicle information written on it.  Search back through this thread to find my post on the 1954 $50.


Enjoy!
Dean

September 1st:

I was looking at one of the 1954 $20s I found yesterday and there is a faint teller stamp on the front of the note.

I can’t see the whole thing, but it appears to say “…(ret)urned with original M…” and then another line underneath with unintelligible wording.

I also received this $1 from Whitenite:  It has a date stamp of Nov 15 ‘85.

Enjoy!
Dean

September 7th mail call:

I bought this beaten up 1937 $1 for the message written on the back margin (upside down on the note),

“Dad to Eva Christmas 1953”.

This note must have been a Christmas gift; $1 was a lot of money for a kid to receive in 1953!

Enjoy!
Dean

September 9th:

Coin show pickup!

I bought this 1870 shinplaster at a coin show today.

It reads: “To Eveline from her papa March 29 1900.”

I think notes like this are really cool.

Enjoy!
Dean