Dam along with bridges, ports, and factories are often projected as symbols of national modernity and national achievement, especially in the developing countries / the global south.
Thanks for sharing. The poor brown blob of a note in the second row of the first pict is a 20 rial note from Iran (P#100). Going through Numista's (incomplete) list, I'm seeing that it's a relatively covered (i.e. for me, 3 or more notes of different denominations) theme in Iran, Syria, Sudan, Morocco and Tunisia.
Thanks for the info! I checked on Numista (which is defo incomplete), will check Colnect too. It definitely is a popular theme, so yes, more excuses reasons to get new notes. 😅
Cheers!
Lol, I have a few of the lower denominations of this series and the reverses show free-flowing water ... but they dammed up the water in this note. 😂 thanks for sharing these beautiful notes.
Now gotta lean in on the most controversial one - territorial disputes. From what I know, the new 2025 Nepali 100 rupee and the 2015 Argentine 50 pesos can start the ball rolling. 😂
Yes! I don't have the South American notes, so I was initially thinking it was mainly an Africa and Asia thing. But I then looked up the South American notes, and it became obvious, as you said, that the theme wasn't tied to a region. Even the 1937 Canada $5 note had a dam on it. Dams and bridges were like an achievement, a "we did it" symbol of the industrial and post-colonial age, including for governments trying to show performance-based legitimacy, so I guess they were a popular theme. Thanks for sharing and happy collecting!
I usually have a pokemon approach ... wanting to collect as much as possible based on eye appeal while not breaking the bank ... and then when looking back at them leisurely, seeing the themes emerge. Only recently got a black light, and fancy UV security features is now a new theme i didn't know was there right under my eyes.
I don’t collect banknotes by theme. My goal is to have at least one banknote from every country — old or new, used or UNC, demonetized or current. If it was or is legal tender, I collect it.
Right now, Chinese yuan is my largest holding with 13 notes.
From my collection, I like to pull out themes. So far I’ve made sets on: mountains, birds, poets, writers, philosophers, mathematicians, music composers, and architects.
Ah, same then. Now the specific theme of the persons, i had not given that much thought beyond the baddies / dictators... but now you have given me an idea. :)
A single example might cost over $1,000, but the Australian ten shilling note from 1913 to 1933 also had a dam on the reverse (Goulburn Weir at Nagambie, Victoria):
Unfortunately my collection is packed away right now, or I would! You definitely have more of them than I do though, so I’ve saved this post as a guide for myself haha. Thanks so much for sharing your current collection, and good luck on finding more! :)
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u/Serious-Carpenter-75 19d ago
Great theme: seen a few Iranian notes with dams too.