What should I record when identifying banknotes?

Record issuing bank and governing authority; denomination, date and series or signature combination; printer's imprint and security features; dimensions and main colours. Compare those details with the entries here before drawing any conclusion.

How many banknotes entries are published, and do they have photographs?

895 entries are published in this section; 895 of them carry at least one credited photograph of a real object, with its source and stated rights.

What period do the banknotes entries cover?

844 entries carry their own date to within about a century and a half; they range from 1666 to 2026. Broader museum date ranges are kept exactly as recorded and are left out of this span.

Does Orbis value or grade banknotes?

No. Orbis documents and identifies object types with cited sources. It does not grade condition, estimate prices or sell objects.

Catalogue

Banknotes

Notes issued by central banks, governments, colonial and private issuers.

Scope

Paper money issued by central banks, governments, colonial administrations and private banks, including specimens and printers' proofs held by museums.

This section remains smaller than the coin sections; more documented notes are being added from museum and auction records.

What to record when identifying

Issuing bank and governing authority
Denomination, date and series or signature combination
Printer's imprint and security features
Dimensions and main colours

Published entries

895

Individual types and documented families

With photographs

100%

895 with a credited real-object photo

Dated span

1666 – 2026

844 entries with their own date

Verified or well documented

Highest two confidence levels

Catalogue entries (895)

Filter by era, country, maker or material

1–48 of 895 entries

[Underground banknote with Lech Wałęsa], Niezależny Bank Polski., 1983

Open Society Archives at Central European University via Europeana

banknotes

[Underground banknote with Lech Wałęsa], Niezależny Bank Polski., 1983

1983

[Underground banknote with Lech Wałęsa], Niezależny Bank Polski., 1983 is held by Open Society Archives at Central European University, dated 1983. Museum description: col. print; The museum record gives place associated: Poland; maker recorded: Niezależny Bank Polski.

Banknotes

Scope

What to record when identifying

Catalogue entries (895)

[Underground banknote with Lech Wałęsa], Niezależny Bank Polski., 1983

1 000 000 Lira, Central Bank of Turkey, Turkey, 1995–1996 (Pick 209)

1 000 000 Rials, Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iran, 2010–2015 (Pick 154B)

1 000 000 Rials, Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iran, 2026

1 Baht (1 บาท), Bank of Thailand, Thailand, 1954–1969 (Pick 74)

1 Balboa, Central Bank of Issue of the Republic of Panama, Panama, 1941 (Pick 22)

1 Boliviano, Bank of the Bolivian Nation, Bolivia, 1911 (Pick 103)

1 Boliviano, Bank of the Bolivian Nation, Bolivia, 1911 (Pick 104)

1 Colón, Banco Internacional de Costa Rica, Costa Rica, 1918–1935 (Pick 158)

1 Dinar (دينار), Iraq, 1931–1932 (Pick 3)

1 dinar banknote

1 Dīnar, Central Bank of Jordan, Jordan, 1423–1442 (2002–2021) (Pick 34)

1 Dinar, Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait, 1968 (1968–1980) (Pick 13)

1 Dīnar, Jordan, 1952 (Pick 6)

1 Dollar, Bank of Canada, Canada, 1954 (Pick 74)

1 Dollar, Board of Commissioners of Currency, Singapore, Singapore, 1967–1972 (Pick 1)

1 Dollar, Brunei, 1967 (Pick 1)

1 Dollar, Dominion of Canada, Canada, 1911 (Pick 27)

1 Dollar, Fiji, 1872–1873 (Pick 14)

1 Dollar, Fiji, 1980 (Pick 76)

1 Dollar, Malaya, 1940 (Pick 4)

1 Dollar, North Borneo, 1889–1936 (Pick 3)

1 Dollar, North Borneo, 1927 (Pick 19)

1 Dollar, North Borneo, 1940 (Pick 29)

1 Ðồng, State Bank of Vietnam, Vietnam, 1985 (Pick 90)

1 Franc, Bank of the Belgian Congo, Belgian Congo, 1914–1920 (Pick 3)

1 Franc, Tunisia, 1918–1919 (Pick 33)

1 Gulden, Netherlands Antilles, 1970 (Pick 20)

1 Hrvatski Dinar, National Bank of Croatia, Croatia, 1991 (Pick 16)

1 Karbovanets (1 карбованець), National Bank of Ukraine, Ukraine, 1991 (Pick 81)

1 Kip, Laos, 1962–1975 (Pick 8)

1 Kyat, Union of Burma Bank, Myanmar, 1972 (Pick 56)

1 Lempira, Central Bank of Honduras, Honduras, 1951 (Pick 45)

1 Lempira, Central Bank of Honduras, Honduras, 2012–2024 (Pick 96)

1 Leu, National Bank of Romania, Romania, 1920 (Pick 26)

1 lipa banknote

1 Litas, Bank of Lithuania, Lithuania, 1922 (Pick 13)

1 Livre, Bank of Lebanon, Lebanon, 1964–1980 (Pick 61)

1 Livre, Bank of Syria and Great Lebanon, Lebanon, 1925–1935 (Pick 3)

1 Markka, Bank of Finland, Finland, 1915 (Pick 16)

1 New Peso (1 Nuevo Peso), Central Bank of Uruguay, Uruguay, 1975 (Pick 55)

1 Ngultrum, Bhutan, 1981–1985 (Pick 5)

1 Palestine Pound, Anglo-Palestine Bank, Israel, 1948–1951 (Pick 15)

1 Pataca, Banco Nacional Ultramarino, Macau, 1945 (Pick 28)

1 Peso, Argentina, 1900 (Pick 232)

1 Peso, Bank of Mexico, Mexico, 1948–1950 (Pick 46)

1 Peso, Bank of the Republic of Colombia, Colombia, 1953 (Pick 398)

1 Peso, Central Bank of the Philippines, Philippines, 1949 (Pick 117)

Dated entries by century

Materials recorded in the physical descriptions

Confidence of the published entries

Most represented issuing authorities

Most represented makers

Museum specimen from this field

Compare the identifying evidence

Related guides and articles

Banknote identification guide

Collecting and caring for banknotes

Common questions about banknotes

Museum specimen from this field