Paper Money Glossary and Terminology: also see Banknote Collecting
ABM test note -a special imitation note issued for testing
automatic banking machines(ABM).
Allied Military Currency(AMC) -money issued by Allied military
authority(USA, UK, Russia and France) during and after the World War II in
following countries: Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan.
Back -the reverse side of a note.
Billion
-in Europe 1.000.000.000.000 (in USA trillion)
-in USA 1.000.000.000 (in Europe miliard)
Block number -number for a run(batch) or big sequence of notes.
Cancellation -mark on withdrawn notes from circulation by punch
hole, perforation, cutting, overprinting, stamping or writing.
College currency -imitation of notes used by schools and colleges
for training and educational purpose.
Commemorative issue -banknote issued to commemorate an event or a
person.
Counterfoil -stub paper connected to the note, retained by issuer
authority for record keeping.
Counterfeit(forgery) -illegal copy of note. The contemporary
counterfeits were made by Governments or private persons to pass side by
side with genuine notes. Modern counterfeits were made to fool collectors
(it is virtually an unknown problem in paper money collecting, with
exceptions of overprints, additional stamps or very poorly unsecured printed
emergency notes)
Date -usually the issuing date of the note, sometimes the date of
the law or decree of official currency authorization.
Dating -usually Western date system -Christian calender(AD).
Approximately conversion of other dating systems to Christian calender(AD),
{2000 AD year in different calenders}:
Christian calender(AD)
-AD
{AD 2000}
Mohammed calender(AH)
-AH +579
{AH 1421}
Solar calender(SH)
-SH +621
{SH 1379}
Monarchic Solar calender(MS)
-MS -559
{MS 2559}
Vikrama Samvat calender(VS)
-VS -57
{VS 2057}
Saka calender(SE)
-SE +78
{SE 1921}
Buddhist calender(BE)
-BE -543
{BE 2543}
Bangkok calender(RS)
-RS +1781
{RS 219}
Chula-Sakarat calender(CS)
-CS +638
{CS 1362}
Ethiopian calender(EE)
-EE +8
{EE 1992}
Jewish calender(JS)
-JS -3760
{JS 5760}
Korean calender(KS)
-KS -2333
{KS 4333}
Demonetized notes -paper money officially withdrawn from
circulation and not longer redeemable.
Emergency notes -local or private notes issued under emergency
condition: lack of coins, banknotes, inflation, war or political
destabilization. In German called notgeld (see notgeld).
Engraved printing(intaglio) -printing method of 3 dimensional
character from engraved plates.
Errors -most common paper money errors are:
-design and engraving errors
-printing errors: incomplete printing, offset printing, double
printing, out of registry printing, misplace print, misplace, offset
image or lack of signature or date, ink smears, inverted back.
-numbering errors: mismatched prefix letters or serial numbers,
partial digit serial number, missing number, misplace serial number,
duplicate serial number
-cutting and folding errors: folds before printing, folds before
cutting, cut out of registry, cut of size.
-overprint errors: double print, inverted print etc.
Essay -a trial or design of new note. It may be drawn, printed or
partially printed.
Face -the front side of a note, usually with signatures and
numbers.
Fantasy notes -a totally invented or concocted note.
Foxing -yellow-brown aging stains on the paper.
Guilloche -the geometric design, printed as security device.
Haj Pilgrim notes -banknotes issued for use only by pilgrims in
another country.
Hansatsu -Japanese Government, local or private paper money issued
approximately from 1660 to 1875. Sometimes called "bookmark" notes
because of their narrow vertical shape.
Hell money -fantasy notes used by Chinese for burial purpose.
Japanese Invasion Money(JIM) -paper money issued during World War
II by Japan for occupied countries: Burma, Malaya, Netherlands Indies,
Oceania, Philippines and Russia(not issued).
Lithography(offset) -surface printing method of thin flat layer of
ink.
Local notes -notes issued by local authorities.
Miliard -1.000.000.000(in Europe) in USA billion.
Military Payment Certificates(MPC) -USA military notes issued for
US military personnel in overseas countries from 1946-1973.
Notgeld -German emergency money(Papernotgeld -emergency paper
money). Usually collected by region or type:
-emergency paper money till 1914
-emergency paper money of 1914
-POW -prisoners of the war 1914-1918 (Gefangenenlager Notgeld)
-fractional notes in pfennigs 1916-1922 (Kleingeldscheine)
-series notes issued for collectors (Serrienscheine)
-notes in marks 1918-1921 (Grossgeldscheine)
-inflation emergency paper money 1922-1923
-notes in dollars or gold standard 1923-1924 (Goldnotgeld)
-concentration camps notes(Konzentrationslager)
-emergency paper money 1945-1949
Notaphily -study and collecting of paper money and all substitutes
of money printed on paper, plastic, cloth, wood, leather etc.
D-# -Denis Ch. "Catalogue des Monnaies Russie"Paris 1927
J-# -Jablonski T."Katalog papierowych pieniedzy"
JP-# -Pirot J."Les billets des Cambres de Commerce"
K-# -Kardakoff N."Katalog der Geldsheine von Russia"
M-# -Major W."Belgium Local emergency issues" IBNS
P-# -Pick A. "Standard catalog of World Paper Money"
SB-# -Schwan F. &Boling J."World War II Remembered"
Pin holes -tiny holes made by pins or staples during old accounting
process.
Prisoner of War(POW) notes -notes issued for use in POW camps.
Private notes -notes issued by private organization, company or
person.
Promotional note -a special souvenir, advertising or promotional
print issued by printers(TdLR etc.), organizations(IBNS etc.) or a private
person in form of a note or a card.
Proof -whole or partial accepted design of note printed for propose
of checking some details.
Propaganda notes -usually facsimile notes printed with propaganda
message, mostly during war time.
Remainders -leftover original notes which were not put in to the
circulation. Usually without signatures, numbers or date.
Replacement notes -special run of notes printed by printer to
replace damaged notes during printing process.
Reprint -note printed from original plates, usually many years
later.
Russian occupation notes -Russian issued currency for several
occupied countries by Soviet "Red Army" during and after the World
War II.
Scripophily -study and collecting of stock certificates, bonds and
fiscal documents.
Short Snorter -banknote signed by soldiers(mostly during World War
II), very often several notes were taped together.
Siege notes -emergency money issued during a siege of city.
Specimens -samples of original banknotes distributed between banks
to familiarize with new designed banknotes, usually with overprints,
cancellation or special numbers. Sometimes issued for collector purpose.
Stamp Currency -semi-stamps, revenue or post stamps used as
emergency money, usually on cardboard or in protective casing.
Unfinished note -note only partially printed.
Validation -handstamp, adhesive stamp, perforation etc. added to
the note for new validation of currency.
Watermark -pattern in the paper created during manufacturing
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