Malaysia 2011 $100 ZE Replacement Banknote Series

***I thought the recently released RM100 ZD Replacement would be the last of the Mohicans for the RM100 Replacement series as after all, all the so-called local "Pakar Numismatik Malaysia" that I have met told me that the current Malaysian banknotes' series would be soon replaced with a new series bearing fresh new design.

In fact, these new banknotes with new design has been the talk of the town for quite sometime now & would be so until these new notes see the light of the day.

As such, I was rather surprised to discover the existence of the ZE Prefix for the RM100 banknote as I watched it sneakily sliding out of the ATM machine of a well-known local bank in the Chow Kit Road area.

With the current banknotes series soon coming to an end, would this ZE Replacement be a new star in Replacement banknotes collecting in months to come as after all, it would be a very short-lived issue too?

Would this banknote surprise everyone via a strong spike in its price in time to come or rather in months to come, honestly, I would not know, as I do not really know how to read the crystal ball, just like I do not know how to read nor write in French and/or German either, you know.

Wouldn't it be great if there is a ZF Replacement for the current RM100 series?

Why stop there? Why not have a ZAC, ZG & ZD Replacement for the RM1, RM10 & RM50 series respectively?!

Malaya 1961 $10 Big A Buffalo Banknote

***This is another banknote that I have managed to recently acquire from Mr Dollah from the infamous Shah Alam's Pasar Pagi (Morning Market/Bazaar).

A very nice banknote with very firm & crisp exceptional paper quality.

A note that I would grade as a Good VF but of course, many parties who love overgrading banknotes as hobby would gleefully grade this note as "About EF" or even an EF.

And who knows this note might be even graded as an AU50 by PMG as after all, it seems to be en vogue nowadays to get banknotes "slabbed" so as to 'create value.'

I bought this banknote from Dollah at a freaking good price of just RM365, after as usual some haggling.

How he can sell this cheap to me is a question I wish not pose to him?

Maybe he thought this is the Small A variety or maybe he bought this note many donkey years ago for just RM150, who knows.

Or maybe the act by yours truly to share a few sticks of kretek with him made him do the fraternal unthinkable thing, I know not.

In fact, he has 2 more pieces of the Smaller A variety Buffalo notes for sale in his album, only asking for a mere RM200 each. But I let them pass as in the first place, these are very tired looking Buffalo notes and secondly, I am not the type who will grab/buy everything no matter how cheap they are on offer for I practise the 1 million-yr-old Confucian philosophy of leaving some for the next bloke, if you know what I mean.

Maybe these 2 notes are still with Dollah if you were to pay him a visit these few days.

Malaysia Nilai Murni Virtues Stamps Issued 13th Day Of June, 2011, Withdrawn 17th Day Of June, 2011.

***On the 13th day of June, 2011, recently, a new set of Malaysian stamps was issued with the Nilai Murni/Virtues theme.
And on the 17th day of July, 2011, that means that very same week, the very same set of stamps was officially withdrawn by the Malaysian postal authority.
Apparently, the "Indian" wordings on the stamps were in Hindi & not Tamil.
I don't really know what 'withdrawn' means but certainly, those who bought these stamps are not going to return them to the post offices, that's for sure.
And a new set of similar stamps will be issued & this time it will have the 'correct' Indian words in Tamil & not in Hindi.
Whether this so-called 'error' stamps will increase in price in the foreseeable future is left to be seen.

Malaysia 1985 $25 Silver Proof Coin United Nations Decade For Women

***I was having breakfast with my girlfriend yesterday in Shah Alam & she suggested why don't I drop by at the nearby Pasar Pagi located at the Shah Alam's Stadium as there are a few stalls selling numismatic items there.

My girlfriend should know better as she was born, bred & still lives in Shah Alam.

The stall operated by a very affable guy named Dollah has the most numismatic items, from the usual banknotes to Malaysian error coins and other curios.

Among the items he was selling was this 1985 $25 Silver Proof Coin commemorating the, then, United Nations Decade For Women.

Apparently, including Malaysia, a total of 24 countries issued a similar coin that year with a potpourri of different countries involved, ranging from the, then, Iron Curtain police state of Bulgaria to banana republics like Sudan, then Marxist Ethiopia & Yemen.
I bought this coin from Dollah for RM350. He has 4 sets & has encouraged me to buy them all as he claimed that RM350 was very cheap.

But according to the now world-famous & highly respected Steven Tan's current up-to-date numismatic catalogue, this coin is catalogued at only a lowly RM300.

The catalogue price as per Steven Tan's catalogue should be the correct current market price as this is the definitive Malaysian numismatic reference book & has been so for so many years now & will be so for a long, long time to come.

Luckily, I did not buy all the 4 boxes, otherwise, I would have overpaid RM50 for each box.

Apparently, this Pasar Pagi is open everyday/morning.

Malaysia 1986 $100 ZX0090433 Thomas De La Rue

***This $100 banknote issued about 25 years ago signed by, then, Central Bank Governor, Jaffar Hussein, bearing the Serial NOs ZX 0090433 and printed by Thomas De La Rue is a note that I still do not have in my miserable collection.
The banknote featured here is on loan from local numismatic leader, Datuk Raymond Chang.

Datuk Raymond wants to sell this banknote for RM400, which I feel is just too high for this $100 banknote signed by Jaffar Hussein, because my maximum budget for this said note is just RM200. Furthermore, Datuk Raymond claims this banknote is in EF condition, but it looks more like Fine+ to me. Whatever grade it is, RM400 is still just too much for me.

I don't print banknotes at the backyard of my 4-storey bungalow okay, so RM200 is all I could afford.

If anyone of you out there have this same banknote, meaning the same prefix and printed by the same printer, I am willing to buy it in whatever shape & condition at RM200 each, no questions asked.

And I am willing to buy more than a copy. Please don't hesitate to contact me. Our transaction will be kept in the strictest confidence possible.

In the meantime, you can try contacting Datuk Raymond and see if the featured banknote is still for sale at RM400 or has already been sold. I wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole even at RM250.

Malaysia 2010 $1 ZAA Replacements 1 Stack = 100 Pieces

***Are you skeptics now convinced that the RM1 ZAA Replacements are scarce? Can you get them for Rm10 each today?

Outside the 1st, 2nd & 3rd Series RM1 Replacements, the RM1 ZAA Replacement could be considered as the most expensive RM1 Replacement today, as you just have to fork out around RM50 to get hold of a piece today & I foresee the price surging way past the RM100 mark by next year, something not very far away from now as you all should know by now how fast time flies.

Some loud mouths have fun making fun of this banknote, creating unfounded rumors of big quantities being available, wherelse those few in-the-know knew that only less than 1,000 pieces of this issue exist and try as you may, very unlikely you can buy 100 consecutive pieces of this banknote today.

And the best thing is that even our local numismatic leader, Datuk Raymond Chang, doesn't even have a stack of these notes!

Malaysia $5 Polymer Banknotes 1 Brick = 1,000 Pieces

***Boys & girls, have any of you seen an entire brick of the Malaysian RM5 Polymer banknotes before?

Lucky you, you have! But I have never seen one before until today.

A very big 'Thank You' to our very gracious & humble local numismatic leader, Datuk Raymond Chang, for being kind enough to open his personal vault & for allowing me to put my big head inside & wallow in all the unbelievable stuff found therein that he has & also, to let me handle, caress & sniff at the mountains of bricks of these RM5 Polymer notes of various prefixes that he has.

And I am profusedly touched that he allowed me to take this brick home to have its pictures taken & to be posted here to be shared by the entire numismatic fraternity, near & far. Of course, I have to return this particular brick which bears the all-desired Prefix of XX to him tomorrow at the Amcorp Mall.

Anyway, Datuk, thanks for being so willing to sell me 2 stacks at the face value of RM500 per stack. They will sure become handy when during the coming festivals for Ang Pow purposes.

By the way, I am very supportive of moves to finally confer you with the title of "Pakar Numis Malaysia", something you truly deserve & this long wait sure must have been worth your while.

Congratulations & may all the glittering dough in this world be with you, you lucky devil!

Malaysia 30-in-1 Uncut $1 Banknotes

***These RM1 30 Uncut notes have debunked the talk that uncut notes do not appreciate in price as collectors don't prefer to keep them due their sizes, etc, as this uncut issue was issued at less than a hundred ringgit 20 years ago & yet, the last I heard, it's openly selling at RM650 each.

I never kept even a single roll of this uncut issue until recently when our local numismatic market leader, Datuk Raymond Chang, urged me to get a roll as he foresee more uptick for this uncut issue.

And as Datuk Raymond was kind enough to sell to me at a fraternal price of RM350 each, I bought 3 rolls. But shockingly, Datuk Raymond still has about 60 rolls with him and I am sure he bought these many donkey years ago at rock bottom prices.

But not surprising that Datuk Raymond has such foresight & is very sharp mentally as after all, he was a graduate of the infamous London School Of Economics & tell me, how many of us have even used the toilets of the LSE, let alone spending 4 years there gaining invaluable knowledge.

Anyway, besides the venerable Datuk Raymond who has taught me so much in all things numismatic, I also would like to thank well-known & respected numismatic dealers like the evergreen Tony Lye, 'Pakar Numis' Steven Tan, KN Boon & Kok Mann Sun of KL, Uncle Chai Chang of Seremban & Mr Tan Eng Wan of Penang and many others for having contributed in some way or another towards the building up of my collection, & may I add, a collection that I can gloat about.

And also a big thank you to present President of the Malaysian Numismatic Society, Mr Thenakaran Nadarajah, for having so unselfishly expended his time in going through my huge Straits Settlements' coins collection , giving me so many valuable & priceless pointers. You do possess a sea of knowledge that I envy.

And, yes, I still have the very beautiful 50sen 1889 Straits Settlements coin that you sold me 10 years ago.

Malaysia $1,000 Banknote Ahmad Don ZY9654103

***An elusive banknote that has been eluding me for so many years now and I finally managed to get hold of this $1,000 banknote issued around 20 years back & this one bearing the Serial NOs of ZY9654103.

And I wish to thank my penpal, Mr Harjeeeet Singh of Kulim, Kedah, for having sold this banknote to me and thus, allowing me to gloat for a second or two, knowing that not many folks out there have this banknote.
Anyway, Datuk Raymond Chang also wants this note & as such, it's better to pass this note to him so that he can display it at his numismatic outlet rather than me putting it next to the aquarium at my crampy joint and above all, as you all should know by now, whatever Datuk Raymond wants, Datuk Raymond gets. Heard from grapevine that he is the next numismatic candidate who will be conferred the all-desirable title of 'Pakar Numis Malaysia."

But at least, I have to thank Datuk Raymond as he has managed to get a Sa-Ribu banknote for me & that too at a fraternal price of RM3,500.

Apparently, it's from his personal collection & he bought it many moonlight years ago for just RM500. Otherwise, how can he sell this banknote to me at the above fraternal price, after all, friend is friend but business is strictly business?

By the way, Datuk, can I join you during your coming trip to Danok, Thailand? I heard the fried chicken there is much more finger licking good than the world famous Kentucky Fried Chicken.

China 2011 Mini Sheet Stamps "Ancient Calligraphy"

***Stamps from China had a strong bull run last year and thereafter, anything similar that came from behind the Bamboo Curtain was selling at a hefty premium.
This mini-sheet commemorating some sort of Chinese Ancient Calligraphy was issued in April recently and is already selling at a premium if one cares to refer to eBay whereby it's going for around 12 Yankee Dollars.
I am not into all these Chinese stamps stuff but I was pestered into getting 10 sheets of these when I was at the flea market at Amcorp Mall this Sunday morning & now, I don't even know why I bought them just now. Perhaps, I was high on something just now.
They were offered to me at RM22/7 Yankee Dollars each. But honestly, I don't really know what to do with these.
Apparently, this mini-sheet was printed on rice paper according to the Vendor. I wonder what rice paper is? Next time, they will print these on toilet paper, perhaps?!
After having pushed shares & properties' prices thru the roof in China, it seems that the affluent & the syndicates in China had to look for other 'targets' to push & they targeted the Chinese banknotes & later, the Chinese stamps.
How long can this so-called bull run last? Will it rise & rise & rise like no tomorrow? The utopists believe the Chinese bull will never die & that it is immortal!
But believe me, when this thing is thru & when the over-inflated Chinese economy slumps & goes into recession, all these speculative runs would have run their course and all these immortal bulls will surely turn into raging bears & one then can see such total speculative runs collapse into a big dump heap & many folks would be losing their pants and perhaps, may, then, flush the hundreds of sheets of Chinese stamp in their possession with the initial intended long-term 'investment' into the crapper.
Until that costly lesson has been learnt, I guess the bulls will outrun the bears as far as Chinese stamps are concerned, at least for the time being.

Malaya 1942 $1,000

***Among the positive vestiges left by the colonialisation of Malaya by the British must be the various banknotes printed for use in the then British Malaya & among many, one of those that stood out & continue to stand out will be the so-called King Of The Kings, the $1,000 banknote dated 1942 with the vignette of KGVI.

How many pieces of this note actually still exist today? Some said there are 30 pieces & some said there are 50 but who cares about all these coffee-shop talk?

How many of you in Malaysia have actually seen this banknote, held it, gawked at it and wishing at that moment to have something that you can't even dream of dreaming?

For those who have this gigantic piece of numismatic history, they fall into the so-called exclusive gloating club for they can crow & crow about this King Of The Kings & for the rest, having this note is just a fantasy play, it's no different compared to your childhood fantasy of lusting over your local newly crowned beauty queen.

And the best part with this particular piece of banknote is that even in the World Headquarters For Banknotes Washing & Pressing, the many numismatic scums based there do not bother to chemically clean & wash this banknote for I suppose they still do possess a little bit of gray matter inside their thick skulls.

These scums who can never stop chemically cleaning low grade notes & then, selling them at 'higher grades' are actually contributing towards the killing of this hobby, but, by now, many folks know the modus operandi of these numismatic scums and even a 6-yr-old kid can give you the correct answer if you were to ask him where the World Headquarters Of The Banknotes Washing & Pressing is located at?

Malaysia 2011 $50 ZC Replacements. Have They Been Released?

***Withdrawing some cash from the ATM machine yesterday was one of the best things that I have done this entire week.

I withdrew a sum of RM2,000 from Citibank's ATM machine yesterday and surprise, surprise, among the notes that were churned out were 11 pieces of the RM50 note with the prefix of ZC and as a bonus, they were the low numbered ones with 4 zeroes.

It pays to have a sharp eye and also pays to have some arse luck, I suppose!

Does that mean that ATM machines are going to flood us with these ZC Replacements?

My good fellow collector buddy has offered me RM70 for each piece and seeing no sense in keeping too many, 4 pieces were passed on to him, 1 each for him, his wife & his parents, I suppose.

5 more pieces have been sold to Datuk Raymond Chang at the fraternal price of RM65 because he told me he wants to keep them for posterity and that he would like to display them at his now famous numismatic outlet at the Maju Junction Mall in downtown KL.

By the way, I went back to the same ATM machine today hoping to be 2nd time lucky, but I guess I have run out of my arse luck.

Malaysia $1 1 Brick 1,000 Pieces

***The first 1,000 pieces of the Malaysian RM1 series will be the most affordable to get hold of to the extent that one can have 'as many bricks as possible' as compared to trying to get the first 1,000 pieces for the RM10 and, esp. the RM100 series whereby the total amount forked out for the latter will be RM100K, a sum to heavy to shoulder for a layman like yours truly.

And there is nothing to gloat about for this brick of RM1 notes as by now, many would have owned many bricks, if not at least one.

But these are interesting times for the Malaysian numismatic scene due to the impending issue of new banknotes to replace current ones, and as such, there is no harm to keep 1 brick of this RM1 series bearing the 1,000 pieces for posterity.

As, after all, you will never know if the brick that you are having might turn out to be the all desirable Last Prefix of the entire series. If it does, then, it sure will be something very, very gloatable.

Anyway, if this brick turns out to be the Last Prefix, it will definitely go to the safe hands of The Venerable Datuk Raymond Chang as a vow has been made to sell this brick to him, provided this brick turns out to be the Last Prefix, if not, this brick will be opened & the money spent & thats what these banknotes are meant to be - to be spent & not to be hoarded.

And knowing the respected numismatic market leader in Datuk Raymond Chang, he will keep his word & likewise, I would. Datuk Raymond is not like some mother-fucking imbecile who will sell out just because of a few extra pieces of silver being offered/enticed.

To such lowly numismatic scums, you can go hang.

Sarawak 1940 $1 Banknote RARE

***The widely abused 4-letter-word 'rare' by mostly amateurish collectors would be most apt if applied to this seldom-seen $1 Sarawakian banknote dated 1940.

How often does one see this key-date note being offered for sale online, even if it is a washed & processed one?

This $1 1940 note featured here is an original, unwashed and unpressed piece, with fresh excellent conifer color & firm, lively paper.

It grades a Good VF and that itself is considered a very high grade for this issue. Don't bother looking an authentic EF or AU piece!

The highest grade mentioned for this banknote in the Standard Catalogue Of World Paper Money is just EF.

How many of you Malaysians have this 1940 piece in your collection?

How can you gloat if you don't have this 1940 piece in your Sarawak collection?

This is what a 'rare' banknote is all about.