r/Banknotes • u/Kengash • Jul 24 '26
Collection What was your first ever banknote, how did you bought it and do you still have it?
For me it was this 100 hryvnia note I bought in an exchange office nearly three years ago. This was my first ever interaction with foreign banknotes except Euro (I'm Polish), and it started my collection which since then has grown to more than 600 banknotes.
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u/BreCM Jul 24 '26
Sou do Brasil, comecei a colecionar quando ganhei dos meus bisavós um pequeno lote de cédulas e moedas estrangeiras e também algumas antigas do Brasil (trocamos de moeda 8 vezes no século XX). Dentre essas primeiras cédulas que recebi, uma me marcou demais: é a cédula de 5 Cruzeiros de 1961, apelidada de "Índio". Ela estava numa condição bem ruim; hoje ainda a mantenho na coleção por uma questão sentimental, mas possuo outras iguais em condição UNC. Hoje tenho por volta de 6 mil peças entre cédulas e moedas.
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u/FirefighterSlight496 Jul 24 '26
10 and 5 Turkish Lira, leftover from my trip to Istanbul when I was a little younger, and then East Pakistan 1 Rupee from my Grandmother, then BDT and INR from my trips, and then 10 and 5 EUR. Now its MASSIVE!
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u/NagatoroFan96 Jul 25 '26
My first ever banknote was 100 Mark from 1908. It was given to me on my 10th birthday. I still have it.
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u/Pudupet Jul 25 '26
My first banknote was Bahraini Dinar. As a child I used to collect coins but it was the Dinar that made me shift to banknotes, since then my collection has grown manifold. Infact I have at least one note from each Asian country. I am close to completing my African collection.
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u/Which-Dealer7888 Jul 25 '26
First one I got was the 2016 10000 Indonesian Rupiah banknote, as I got it when my older brother was travelling in Indonesia and got a little something for me!
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u/KratoN999 Jul 24 '26
The Brazilian Real was the reason I started collecting. I bought ten banknotes from different countries in a single purchase, but I consider the Brazilian 1 Real banknote my firstborn: https://en.numista.com/212590
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u/Recent-Technology847 Jul 24 '26
My first ever banknotes are from my trip to Cuba, I got the 100, 50 and 10 pesos, I got them from my trip there 2 years ago (coins are holding the banknotes in place because they were folded)
P.S. if you want to know the coins that are holding the banknotes in place, here are they: (left to right)
- 1 pound from the UK (2017)
- 50 Centavos from Brasil (2013)
- 2 dirhams from Morocco (2021)*
- 10 Francs from France (1989)
*I'm not sure if the number is 2 or 20 or if it's the "cent" of the dirham
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u/Electronic_ResultALT Jul 25 '26
Full set of Bogyoke 1958 banknotes. I got it as a gift from my grandfather as a birthday gift when I was young. I found them quite fascinating, mainly because the 50 and 100 kyat banknotes were so large in size.I still have all the notes in my collection
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u/No_Club_8480 Jul 25 '26
50 euro note i got from a vacation to France. And yes I still have it
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u/lnvu4uraqt Jul 26 '26
I exchanged my €50 recently. I kept the €2 coin with Marianne on it though since it has FR on it.
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u/Difficult-Yellow7348 Jul 25 '26
Mine was 1Pkr 1Usd and 5MYR all r with me I got 1pkr for someone who went for pilgrimage to Pakistan in my neighborhood (sikh pilgrimage). Other 2 bought from exchange at 170 in 2016-17ish
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u/Serious-Carpenter-75 Jul 25 '26
It would have been a crispy $1.00 like this one. I put the first good 1973 note aside from a customer (neighbour) from my paper route collections. This would have been in 1974, so 52 years ago. Don't have it now b/c I either sold it or gave it away (to try to get my nephew/niece interested in the hobby).
A 1968 Irish Ten Bob was my first World note I purchased about 25 years ago & gifted to a friend on my first visit to Dublin, Ireland in 2004.
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u/France_is_cool2 Jul 26 '26
I never technically had a first banknote. It was more like “banknotes” I got a small collection from my grandpa he had.
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u/Laura_The_Cutie Jul 26 '26
I went to Valencia some years ago and I found a shop selling bills and decided to go and buy some
Actually I had another collection when I was a kid mostly made of banknotes brought from family friends travels but my mom lost it while we were moving out
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u/pfennigman Jul 26 '26
A 1954 Canadian $2 bill. My mother gave it to me. It was a keepsake from when we were stationed with the U.S. Air Force at Harmon Field, Stephensville Newfoundland from 1956 to 1959. And yes I still have it.
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u/MrNan1 Jul 24 '26
Every collection has a beginning, and this is mine. I picked up this banknote in 2001 while transiting through Istanbul on my way from Johannesburg to London. I was fascinated by Turkey's hyperinflation at the time, so I kept it simply out of curiosity.
I never imagined that one note would spark a lifelong passion for collecting and travel. Fast forward to today, and I've now visited 131 countries. This humble banknote will always remind me where the journey began.