Binary notes

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I also thought the price was low considering how scare the $500 note is. I wonder if it would've brought more at a Canadian auction house. Agreed it was rather complicated to figure out the sold price but after creating an account and playing around I figured it out. Will be interesting to see what prices are like at the Geoffrey Bell auction this weekend.

-yes, a bit low, if you asked me (why I wrote "fair" meaning a good deal for the collector).  You may be right: CDN collectors might be turned off with the S&B auction, the customs clearance (extortion at the border) & calculating the exchange rate.

However, should a trophy note like that appear here, you've got 13-15% tax. In fact, I was looking at the taxes, 20% B.P. + CC/payment fees for Sept 30th (tomorrow's) auction & it seems pretty prohibitive (at least in my books).

It made me wonder who shows up to pick up & to pay in cash?

The price was low for sure but whoever is buying this at this price level is certainly not paying 15% tax and is most certainly not paying by credit card.  I don't think there is any reason to think that the price would have been higher in a Canadian auction.  I think the opposite.  This note screams with international appeal.

At this level, the grade is the only important factor.  The serial number is intriguing but won't affect the price in the least.  What caused the price to be low is that no less than five of these have traded in the past 3-4 years, with several still "available" at this very moment to anyone willing to pay the price, most of those being in higher grades.

We are also in the middle of a major economic crisis which will affect the price of all commodities.  Prices, especially of high-end material will take a beating, at least in the short term until the current uncertainties get sorted out.

At this level, the grade is the only important factor.  The serial number is intriguing but won't affect the price in the least.  What caused the price to be low is that no less than five of these have traded in the past 3-4 years, with several still "available" at this very moment to anyone willing to pay the price, most of those being in higher grades.

We are also in the middle of a major economic crisis which will affect the price of all commodities.  Prices, especially of high-end material will take a beating, at least in the short term until the current uncertainties get sorted out.

-interesting: I have not been keeping track of the number of $500 that have been offered (nor available).  Yes, it appears that high-end collector material will be attained at much lower prices until global affairs, climate change, etc, get better sorted out.  At this point, I would expect less high end stuff to be offered on the block.

PMG recognizes "rotators" with the "1" digit.  Charlton does not.  At the very least, we can all agree that it's a radar note, I think.

Could it be that PMG doesn't designate serial numbers with only 5 digits??  Or it may be a situation where they will do it when asked but not automatically.

At some point it gets a little ridiculous.  What if there were only 4 digits or 3 digits?  Is "171" a radar or "2345" a ladder?  Technically, yes.  But who cares at that point?

Got the 2023 catalog today. It’s disappointing they haven’t changed the binary page at all over  the last ten years. The popularity is there.

I'm not surprised to hear that based on what others have written about the 2023 book. I'm certainly glad I didn't order one as it sounds like there isn't any point. Here's to hoping for 2024

The publishers of this guide MUST know that hobbyists rely on the Charlton Guide for accurate information provided within it's pages, and all I can say is ... it's disgusting that they are ignoring this fact, and clearly do not feel any "responsibility" to produce a good and accurate product. Want my increased price paid for a lower quality book -- money back!!!

-I think you're overreacting a tad. The guide (& remember it is a "guide" aimed to help collectors form an opinion on "what its approximately worth") will never be that accurate (or precise) for the most recent series.  It's just "the nature of the beast." Collectors look at the "TRENDS" for that kind of up-to-date info.  (Or pay a subscription fee for "Track & Price")

They catalogues are published & released far too early IMO. You guys know me- I've been complaining about the gross oversight of the M-C FTH $10 for years but overall, the Charlton guide is my "bible" which is pretty darn helpful the farther you go back. They're still slow at picking up on the popularity of special numbers but that's to be expected.  MOST guides normally follow trends "well after" the trend has been established.

[For example the opposite mentality would be- should catalogues bump up QEII note estimates simply b/c HM passed away & newbies (or those who lapsed into inactivity) have suddenly become keen on her notes?]. I should think not. It is better that catalogues err on the side of caution/conservative grading/predictions (rather than loose grading & speculative hyperbole over X note).   

When it comes to the most recent released series (& prefixes) of almost any nation, you can pretty much bet that the catalogue info will be fairly DATED. One shouldn't be expecting up-to-date "Trends" analysis (to be sure).

You are much better off consulting online resources for recent series (& even special numbers).  I try to give a weekly analysis on my NC site:
https://sites.google.com/view/notaphilycculture/collecting-banknotes but you may wish to go for a "track & price" algorithm for more accurate predictions.

Comments and constructive criticism regarding the Charlton catalogue are best directed at the publisher and the editor.

While I appreciate, understand and sympathize with your frustrations, ranting about them here is unlikely to effect any positive change on the matter.

New find

1973 low serial

Great finds! Haven’t seen any lately & I'm still waiting to find my first in circulation 

Well it took many many years but I finally found my first binary in the wild.

Nice find Archey80! 

Just picked up this Replacement & Binary note!