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Flea market finds ✨
Five world banknotes, five countries, five stories.
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan – 200 Som (1997 issue)

This is from Uzbekistan’s early post-Soviet period, when the country was still defining its monetary identity after independence (1991).

Why it’s interesting

• Transitional design language: Soviet engraving discipline + new national symbols
• Short-lived low-denomination era before inflation kicked in
• Visually elegant, very “1990s Central Asia”

🇲🇷 Mauritania – 1,000 Ouguiya (Banque Centrale de Mauritanie)

Mauritania uses one of the world’s non-decimal currencies, which already gives it collector brownie points.

Why it’s interesting

• Arabic-only design aesthetics
• Symbolic imagery tied to agriculture and tradition
• From the pre-redenomination Ouguiya era (before 2018 split)

🇸🇾 Syria – 500 Syrian Pounds

historical punch.

Why it’s interesting

• Issued before the full economic collapse
• Features ancient Mesopotamian cultural imagery
• Increasingly hard to find clean due to prolonged instability

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🇬🇾 Guyana – 20 Dollars (Ship / Kaieteur Falls types)

Classic Commonwealth-era engraving vibes.

Why it’s interesting

• Industrial + natural heritage themes
• Two-sided storytelling (ship / waterfall)
• Popular among Caribbean & ex-British colony collectors

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🇿🇦 Zaire – 5 Zaires (1977) – Mobutu Era

Mobutu Sese Seko, monetary chaos, and dramatic design.

Why it’s interesting

• Mobutu portrait + African wildlife motifs
• A favorite among collectors of failed currencies

Till next time, adios.

Latest add to our collection of collectibles, these added yesterday via a good ( collector) friend:

TIME Special Edition – The Simpsons, 36 Iconic Years (2025)
Both CGC graded, both white pages, both instantly nostalgic.

🟦 Bart Simpson cover – the eternal rebel, skateboard parked, attitude intact.
🟦 Simpsons Family cover – chaos, love, and Springfield energy in one frame.

What I liked about this release is that it isn’t just a magazine—it’s pop culture being formally archived. When TIME does a “Special Edition” and CGC slabs it, the intent is clear: this one’s meant to last.

There’s been some chatter about multiple covers, variants, numbers, etc. Bottom line: these two form the core, recognized pair of the 2025 release—and together, they tell the full story.

Waiting to get the balance 2 as well- much more rare.. and one from 1990.

During World War II, battles were not fought only with guns and tanks… but also with printing presses.

This humble One Rupee note was issued by the Japanese Government between 1942 and 1945, after Japan occupied large parts of Southeast Asia, replacing British rule and British currency.

Known today as Japanese Invasion Money or Occupation Currency, these notes were printed quickly, in massive quantities, and backed by nothing more than authority and fear.

The design shows traditional Asian temple architecture and tropical scenery – a visual attempt to make the new rulers appear familiar and legitimate.

But history had other plans.

When Japan surrendered in 1945, this money collapsed instantly. Entire life savings became paper souvenirs overnight. In some places, people used bundles of these notes as toys, wallpaper, or even fuel.

Today, this piece survives not for its monetary value, but for its story.

Two rare notes.

1 Livre – Banque de Syrie et du Liban, Issued 1st September 1939 (yes, that September 1939… WWII vibes already).

Bottom: LIBAN – issued at Beirut

Top: SYRIE – issued at Damascus

Historical context :

• Syria & Lebanon were under French Mandate (1920–1946)
• The same currency circulated in both regions
• Issued literally as WWII began — which makes 1939 notes especially collectible
• Post-independence, both countries created their own central banks and currencies

Design highlights (aka why this note slaps)

• Baalbek Roman ruins on the left
• Trilingual text:
  • French (administration)
  • Arabic (local use)
  • English numerals influence

Two rare notes.

1 Livre – Banque de Syrie et du Liban, Issued 1st September 1939 (yes, that September 1939… WWII vibes already).

Bottom: LIBAN – issued at Beirut

Top: SYRIE – issued at Damascus

Historical context :

• Syria & Lebanon were under French Mandate (1920–1946)
• The same currency circulated in both regions
• Issued literally as WWII began — which makes 1939 notes especially collectible
• Post-independence, both countries created their own central banks and currencies

Design highlights

• Baalbek Roman ruins on the left
• Trilingual text:
  • French (administration)
  • Arabic (local use)
  • English numerals influence

Coins: Two coins. One story.

Of reform, resilience, and runaway inflation.

“From a time when a loaf of bread cost millions — this 10k marks 1923 Westphalia Notgeld coin wasn’t about spending, but surviving. The galloping horse symbolized courage through economic chaos.”

“In 1923, Westphalia’s Notgeld told a story of survival through numbers that lost meaning. From 10,000 to 50 million marks in just weeks — coins like these became artful witnesses to financial madness.”

Coin 1: Provinz Westfalen – 10,000 Mark, 1923

Notgeld Issue | Heinrich vom Stein | The Reformer’s Calm Amid Chaos

Coin 2: Provinz Westfalen – 50 Millionen Mark, 1923

Emergency Money | The Galloping Horse of Resilience

Probable thought back in 1923: When your coin says ‘50 Million Mark’ and still can’t buy breakfast — you know history’s teaching you a lesson in humility.

From socialist Europe to war-scarred Asia, from African pride to Latin American heritage — every currency note tells a story far richer than its printed value.

Here’s a glimpse into five countries, their art, their ideals, and their histories —all found together in a flea-market. 🪙🌍

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🇦🇫 Afghanistan | 1970s – 1990s | 10 to 10 000 Afghanis

From tranquil valleys to the mosques of Herat and the Buzkashi fields —
four decades of art, resilience, and upheaval bound together by calligraphy and faith.

“A nation’s spirit, surviving revolutions, regimes, and time itself.”

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🇭🇳 Honduras | 2019 | 1 Lempira

Lempira, the warrior who resisted conquest, faces the ruins of Copán —
a dialogue between courage and civilization in crimson hues.

“The warrior and the ruins — Honduras tells its story in one Lempira.”

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🇭🇺 Hungary | 1975 | 20 Forint

György Dózsa, the peasant rebel who defied an empire, immortalized in Cold-War engraving.
Socialist design meets Renaissance drama — rebellion captured in ink.

“From rebellion to revolution — 20 Forints that spoke louder than speeches.”

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🇸🇴 Somalia | 1991 | 50 Shilin

A weaver at her loom on one side, a herder with his cattle on the other —
a nation’s industry and identity before the silence of civil war.

“The final unified voice of Somalia — woven in thread, ink, and memory.”

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🇨🇩 Zaire | 1977 | 5 Zaires

Mobutu Sese Seko, the self-styled Leopard King, stares from the front.
Behind him, a dam and a dream of progress. Power politics printed in green.

“The Leopard King’s currency — where pride and propaganda shared the same frame.”

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A compact chronicle of modern Canadian $2 commemoratives (“Toonies”) spanning the final years of Queen Elizabeth II into the early reign of King Charles III.

2020 WWII – 75th Anniversary of the End of WWII

2022 Summit Series – 50th Anniversary of the Summit Series

2023 Riopelle – 100 Years Birth of Jean Paul Riopelle

2023 Riopelle – 100 Years Birth of Jean Paul Riopelle

2023 National Indigenous Peoples Day

2024 Nunangat – Celebration of the Inuit Homeland

Numismatics continues to fascinate.

Known as “D-Day” (not the Normandy one, the money one 😅), this was the day the UK officially scrapped the old pounds–shillings–pence system and switched to decimal currency.

The old system: 1 pound (£) = 20 shillings = 240 pennies.

The new system: 1 pound (£) = 100 new pence (100p).

This made calculations way easier and brought the UK in line with most of the modern world.

½ Penny (½p) – Bronze. The smallest coin in circulation, often called the “tiddler.” Withdrawn in 1984 because inflation made it nearly useless.

1 Penny (1p) – Bronze. Design: Portcullis with chains (a heraldic badge of Henry VII, later a symbol of Parliament).

2 Pence (2p) – Bronze. Design: Prince of Wales’ feathers with coronet.

5 Pence (5p) – Cupro-nickel. Design: Crowned thistle of Scotland. Same size as the old shilling, so people could use both coins interchangeably during the transition.

10 Pence (10p) – Cupro-nickel. Design: Crowned lion, passant guardant (lion walking, head facing you). Same size as the old florin (2 shillings).

Matchbox labels: Japan:

1. Sheet 1 and 2: The “Warabe Uta” Series:

• “Warabe Uta” literally means children’s traditional songs or nursery ditties. These were printed with sweet illustrations of kids at play — jumping rope, catching fireflies, festival games, etc.

• The artwork is very 1950s–1960s Japan: round-faced kids, simple pastel backgrounds, and scenes of everyday innocence.

• These were produced by different match companies (like 日本燐寸, Nihon Rinsutsu Co., “Japan Match Co.”, and ダイアトー, Daiatō), each printing its own variations.
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2. Sheet 3: Fishing Series

• Labels show fishermen at work (shore fishing, casting nets), alongside detailed images of fish species: イサキ (grunt fish), キス (whiting), ヘラブナ (crucian carp), メジナ (blackfish), etc.

• Each matchbox was sold for 5円 (5 yen) — a clue that these date to the mid-1960s to early 1970s, before the oil crisis pushed up printing costs.

• For collectors, the fish series is popular because it blends natural history illustrations with everyday life. In Japan, fishing was (and still is) a huge pastime, so these labels doubled as mini educational cards.

Till the next post, adieu.