How to identify a banknote

Step by step

1. 1

   Name the issuing authority

   The heading is rarely the country: it is a central bank, a treasury, a state bank, an occupying authority, a colonial board or, in emergencies, a city or company. That distinction is the single most useful piece of information on the note.

   • Full institutional name, in the original language
   • Whether it is a state issue, a private bank issue or emergency money
   • For occupation and colonial issues, which authority actually stood behind it
2. 2

   Establish series and date

   Notes carry a series designation, a date of issue, a date of law, or all three, and they do not always agree. Record each date separately and label which is which.

   • Date printed on the note versus the series or law it cites
   • Whether the series ran for years with the same date
   • Emergency issues: dates can be days apart in hyperinflation periods
3. 3

   Read the denomination and the wording around it

   The numeral is the easy part; the surrounding promise text tells you what kind of instrument it is — payable in silver, in gold, in legal tender, or on demand at a named branch.

   • Denomination in numerals and words, in every language present
   • Any redemption clause or promise of payment
   • Overprints or revaluations applied after issue
4. 4

   Record signatures, serial block and prefix

   Signature combinations and serial prefix blocks are how catalogues separate otherwise identical notes. Transcribe the serial exactly, including letters, stars, leading zeros and the position of the number.

   • Number and names of signatories, where printed
   • Serial prefix or block letters, and any suffix
   • Replacement notes: star, asterisk or a distinct prefix range
5. 5

   Find the printer imprint and the security features

   The printer is usually named in tiny type in a margin. Security features — watermark, security thread, planchettes, intaglio relief, microtext, fibres — also date the note and are the first thing a reproduction gets wrong.

   • Printer name or monogram along an edge
   • Watermark held against light, described rather than assumed
   • Intaglio: raised ink you can feel, versus flat lithography
   • Paper colour, fibres, and whether it is paper, cotton or polymer
6. 6

   Match to a reference and keep the conflicts

   Compare to a standard paper-money catalogue, a central bank publication or a museum record. Where a catalogue and a central bank disagree on dating or series, publish both readings with attribution.

   • Catalogue, edition and number, transcribed not inferred
   • Central bank or archive confirmation where it exists
   • Note what remains unresolved rather than settling it silently

Worked examples from the catalogue

Each example is a real catalogue record with its sources, confidence level and the questions still open on it.

Common mistakes

• Confusing the date of the law with the date of issue.
• Reading a hyperinflation overprint as the original denomination.
• Treating a specimen, proof, cancelled or reproduction note as a circulating issue — look for punch holes, SPECIMEN overprints and missing serials.
• Ignoring the printer imprint, which often settles which of two near-identical series a note belongs to.
• Pressing, trimming or taping a note: all three destroy evidence and are irreversible.

A banknote's identification is separate from its condition and from any market price. This catalogue records what a note is and who issued it, with sources; it publishes no valuations.

Practise on these records