I'm managing my collection of banknotes in a spreadsheet. I'm sure many of you do the same.
In this regard, I'd be interested to know if you could share with everyone your tips and tricks about how to successfully manage a collection in a spreadsheet?
- do you organize the information inside a table? what are the benefits of NOT using a table? I'm a big fan of using a table, however, I'd be interested to learn if there's another way to do it better.
- how do you make a quick search of a specific banknote? CTRL+F is too basic. Do you use slicers to further filter your date?
- has anyone come of with his/her own way of numbering banknotes in his/her collection? Krause is very good; however, it's basic and limited for many people who go into the details (series, years, paper types, signatures, security features, etc.). This is the most challenging thing for me, taking into account that the collection constantly grows and new non-catalogued banknotes emerge in my collection.
- online databases. I understand that there are different ones, depending on the country you collect. What are the ones you find useful inserting into the spreadsheet?
There are many questions that I can ask; however, let's pause here and see if you have anything to comment.
I'm using Excel, which is the easiest since you can just add new lines whenever your collection is expanding.
At top I have fixed columns, so I always can see them no matter how far down the sheet I am, and these categories are:
Country
Currency
Denomination
Year of Issue
Other important information
Signatures
Condition
Catalogue number
Pieces
Catalogue value
Serial number
Price paid (five different currencies; SEK, USD, GBP, EUR, AUD)
And may I ask why CTRL+F is "too basic" to make a search? I usually just search for the country, since I have 1800+ banknotes.
I don't really care much about catalogue numbers, though. Since I have it all in my spread sheet, I can simply go down to Mozambique and find what I'm looking for.
Quote: "ngdawa"I'm using Excel, which is the easiest since you can just add new lines whenever your collection is expanding.
At top I have fixed columns, so I always can see them no matter how far down the sheet I am, and these categories are:
And may I ask why CTRL+F is "too basic" to make a search? I usually just search for the country, since I have 1800+ banknotes.
I don't really care much about catalogue numbers, though. Since I have it all in my spread sheet, I can simply go down to Mozambique and find what I'm looking for.
Thank you for your reply.
I have all the columns you mention. The only difference is that I indicate the price paid only in 1 currency - USD. Even if I buy something in Euro or Yen, I still convert it into USD with the exchange rate of the day of purchase.
As regards CTRL+F, of course you can find everything with this basic function. But imagine having a country, let's say Australia, having 100 entries in your collection. Searching for "Australia" through CTRL+F and then scanning each entry could be time consuming. Instead, it's better to use filters (I highly recommend this).
Strangely enough, I've also come to understand that while catalogue numbers can be helpful in many ways in identifying a certain banknote, overall they are not always useful )))
I also use Excel
I have split the countries in to sections, which lettered from A-M (I do not use I)
So, Englang, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are under A, with an individual number after the letter. e.i. A1, A2 ect
B is Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey
The other letters are for countries that I have split according to a map of the world, so M is N & S America, Australia and New Zealand
Each banknote will then have the following information on each line
My ref number (as above)
Country
Face Value
Banknote number
Catalogue number
Obverse description
Reverse description (if blank, space within the Excel spreadsheet is left empty
Addition note
'D' is solely used for Germany as I have so many German Notgeld banknotes
By using Excel, it has a great search system to find an exact banknote by using my headings listed above
When I get a new banknote, it is added to the Excel spreadsheet, by adding a new line immediately after the last entry under that capital letter system, so all banknotes starting with A are shown together.
Each of these Alphabet sections are kept in different folders, again, in numerical order.
Sorry to waffle on a bit, but it seems easier to do, than to explain in words
Huge coin lists are not really that suitable for a programs like excel (not what they were made for) that's what a database is for (like Numista or Access) so no wonder it's more versatile.
So being Sarcastic to someone is Helpful when Replying to a question I know ACCESS is better than XL as its 3 dimensional but maybe some Numista Members don't have the Knowledge on how it Operates and its advantages over XL.
No sarcasm anywhere just a fact
Also Access is quite easy to learn, no one has to code their own database backbone or is kept from reading/watching a guide.
Fact true but Sarcasm yes as my mother would say Sarcasm is the lowest form of whit I will reiterate there are some people who do not have the expertise and knpwlage of Access and any help and guidance is beneficial to them to understand its functions and attributes.
To me Excel is more than enough. I can add all kind of information I want, and it's easy to browse. It's a learning by doing programme, and you really don't need any fancy codes to make it usable.
Access is another Microsoft Program that you can Manipulate and Import/Export Data but if XL works for you and it Does what you want and your happy with it it is doing is function for you and I would carry on using it.
Quote: "COINMAN1"I also use Excel
I have split the countries in to sections, which lettered from A-M (I do not use I)
So, Englang, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are under A, with an individual number after the letter. e.i. A1, A2 ect
B is Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey
The other letters are for countries that I have split according to a map of the world, so M is N & S America, Australia and New Zealand
Each banknote will then have the following information on each line
My ref number (as above)
Country
Face Value
Banknote number
Catalogue number
Obverse description
Reverse description (if blank, space within the Excel spreadsheet is left empty
Addition note
'D' is solely used for Germany as I have so many German Notgeld banknotes
By using Excel, it has a great search system to find an exact banknote by using my headings listed above
When I get a new banknote, it is added to the Excel spreadsheet, by adding a new line immediately after the last entry under that capital letter system, so all banknotes starting with A are shown together.
Each of these Alphabet sections are kept in different folders, again, in numerical order.
Sorry to waffle on a bit, but it seems easier to do, than to explain in words
Hi there, I've carefully read and re-read your comment, it's very interesting for me and I have few questions for you :))
First, I could not understand why you "split the countries into sections" and how your reference system works. Do you think you can share a screenshot of it? Of course, you can hide or obscure your data. I'm really curious how it looks like.
Second, I am not sure what you mean by "banknote number". Do you mean your banknote's serial number?
Third, I am very interested to understand how your reference system allows "to find an exact banknote by using [your] headings listed above"? This is the problem that I have and I can't figure out a way to find quickly the specific banknote I am looking for. The way that I search is by using filters. I have few filters (dates, catalogue number, denomination, etc.) and I keep filtering the data until I find the banknote(S) that I need.
Fourth, this comment is another mystery for me "Each of these Alphabet sections are kept in different folders, again, in numerical order." Can I ask you to elaborate more on this ?
I'd be very thankful if you could share with me more information (or maybe a screenshot) of how it all works and look like.
Quote: "COINMAN1"I also use Excel
I have split the countries in to sections, which lettered from A-M (I do not use I)
So, Englang, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are under A, with an individual number after the letter. e.i. A1, A2 ect
B is Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey
The other letters are for countries that I have split according to a map of the world, so M is N & S America, Australia and New Zealand
Each banknote will then have the following information on each line
My ref number (as above)
Country
Face Value
Banknote number
Catalogue number
Obverse description
Reverse description (if blank, space within the Excel spreadsheet is left empty
Addition note
'D' is solely used for Germany as I have so many German Notgeld banknotes
By using Excel, it has a great search system to find an exact banknote by using my headings listed above
When I get a new banknote, it is added to the Excel spreadsheet, by adding a new line immediately after the last entry under that capital letter system, so all banknotes starting with A are shown together.
Each of these Alphabet sections are kept in different folders, again, in numerical order.
Sorry to waffle on a bit, but it seems easier to do, than to explain in words
Ok. This is the best way I can show you how I do it.
Above is a photograph on the left showing my very first two banknotes. If you look in the bottom l/h corner of each banknote, you can see a little white label. On this label will be:- Ref No., Country and face value
The r/h photograph shows the first 12 of 23 different albums. I have another larger album for the banknotes that are too big for these pages.
Now for the spreadsheet explanation. I am going to search to England 1 Pound banknotes
This is part of my spreadsheet. My reference numbers are in the l/h column 'A'
At the top of the page you see various words. Click on 'data'-'more filters-standard filter' (in drop down box) and you get photograph below
On my spreadsheet, column 'B' equates to Country. In the 'value' box, use the drop down menu and find England
Under 'operator' click the arrow for another drop down box and select 'AND'
In the 'value' box, using the drop down menu, find '1 POUND'. Click OK
The search reveals that I have 5 England banknotes with a face value of 1 Pound, with my reference numbers in the l/h column 'A', so I can easily find them in my album.
To return to the complete spreadsheet, click on 'data'-'more filters'-reset filter'
And that is how I do it. Hope this helps, even a little. I find it a very useful tool, as you can search right down to a single banknote or a complete country.
Quote: "COINMAN1"Ok. This is the best way I can show you how I do it.
Above is a photograph on the left showing my very first two banknotes. If you look in the bottom l/h corner of each banknote, you can see a little white label. On this label will be:- Ref No., Country and face value
The r/h photograph shows the first 12 of 23 different albums. I have another larger album for the banknotes that are too big for these pages.
Now for the spreadsheet explanation. I am going to search to England 1 Pound banknotes
This is part of my spreadsheet. My reference numbers are in the l/h column 'A'
At the top of the page you see various words. Click on 'data'-'more filters-standard filter' (in drop down box) and you get photograph below
On my spreadsheet, column 'B' equates to Country. In the 'value' box, use the drop down menu and find England
Under 'operator' click the arrow for another drop down box and select 'AND'
In the 'value' box, using the drop down menu, find '1 POUND'. Click OK
The search reveals that I have 5 England banknotes with a face value of 1 Pound, with my reference numbers in the l/h column 'A', so I can easily find them in my album.
To return to the complete spreadsheet, click on 'data'-'more filters'-reset filter'
And that is how I do it. Hope this helps, even a little. I find it a very useful tool, as you can search right down to a single banknote or a complete country.
Now I understand how it all works for you. Thank you very much for explaining it! It's very good!
My system works slightly differently. I do not have the personal reference number that you do. I organize my banknotes by historical periods of issue, then Pick number. So, I always know that in my album, let's say, the banknote issued in 1909 is before the banknote issued in 1912.
As regards the spreadsheet, I have more data which helps me find almost the exact banknote I am looking for. For example, if in your case a search for 1 English pound would show you, let's say, 5 results, then in my case I can further filter it down and find the exact banknote by its issue date or series number. My search system is like your, i.e. using filters. However, in my case I've created Excelslicers as it is much faster and more comfortable to search via slicers > all you have to do is click without choosing any item from drop-down menu.
Having said that, I have 1 question for you: why do you keep a record of the exact serial number of the banknotes? What purpose it serves for? This is simply out of curiosity!
I have no idea why I added the serial number of each banknote. It seemed relevant at the time of creating the spreadsheet, so just stuck with it.
I expect there are many other variations, but I created my lists as I deemed them correct for what I need, and use it regularly.
Quote: "COINMAN1"I have no idea why I added the serial number of each banknote. It seemed relevant at the time of creating the spreadsheet, so just stuck with it.
I expect there are many other variations, but I created my lists as I deemed them correct for what I need, and use it regularly.
Perfect! Thank you for all your feedback and good luck in your collection endeavours!
Ian PSo being Sarcastic to someone is Helpful when Replying to a question I know ACCESS is better than XL as its 3 dimensional but maybe some Numista Members don't have the Knowledge on how it Operates and its advantages over XL.
Two different purposes, Access and Excel.
Each are capable of creating fancy applications that only the author can drive, but they have lots of fun doing it.
I use Google sheets to store my currency notes collection. Using Google sheets, allows me to access it anywhere in the world - I find that very useful.
Here are my columns:
Country Era Denomination Year Width Height Qty in hand Signatories Graded? To Be Graded? Visual Grade Grading Company Grade Grade Attribute Grade Certificate Number Serial Number Pick No Pick Variant Notes Image Front Image Back Source Purchased Status Unit Cost "GST+ Delivery" Total Total (USD) Current Value (USD) For PMG Grading / Regrading? PMG Service
Frankly its becoming a bit too unwieldy given the large number of columns. I am thinking of exporting this to Microsoft Access so that I can normalise the database and make it more efficient to sort/find information and easier to maintain.
If I keep quiet & walk away, it simply means..your stupidity isn't worth any more of my time.
