Congrats on the 50 country milestone.
+1 @RobertTGM!
I got started in 1973 (50 years ago) when I took over my brother's paper route. Our grandpa gave my brother some amazing silver dollars, half dollars, quarters, dimes, nickels & even some Canadian large cents. The RCM had dropped silver content from their coins 5 years prior but these were what I was after. Every time I collected from my customers, I would only get new nickel like these 1973 Mountie quarters. I almost never found any silver so it was frustrating trying to collect coins. Small change was all I really could afford to tuck away too. And then this 1973 $1.00 appeared & I put aside one that was nice and crispy (probably AU). It seemed like a $100 back then but I managed to hold onto it for a long time. My brother had hauled out his suitcase full of mouthwatering rarities & showed them off to my dad. I knew I'd never be able to compete against his extensive collection of silver so I quietly turned to paper!
I never told anyone about my small, growing collection of $1.00, $2.00 & $5.00 notes because I thought nobody collected paper. I was like an uber-nerd & didn't want anyone to know! Plus I often had to dip into my collection as I was always broke. The next time I started to add to my meagre signature sets was when I started a p/t job at a downtown carwash in 1978. I went through so much cash that I often came across the 1954 $20 (even though it was the first denomination to be replaced in 1969, it was such a popular denomination that it was easy to come across them 9 years later). I never found a Devil's Face note though! The next year, I put aside a few crisp 1979 $5.00 notes but I'm sure I spent a few that were EF! I had no idea why they moved the serial number to the back (I preferred the 1972 notes!). I also had no idea what the serials meant whereas the other ones sometimes had * before their serial number & I was pretty certain these were special.
I then forgot about my collection & only dabbled once in a blue moon. About ten years after I moved out, my mother found my binder of banknotes & told me I better hang onto them or she would spend them. That was probably about the same time I went to our central library & discovered a Charlton Catalogue which I poured through for hours. It was probably the 4 or 5th edition & I recall wondering if I spent any replacement 1979 $5's or a 1954 $2.00 Test note. Likely not as the odds of getting one were slim to 0. I even photocopied a lot of the latest BIRDS series pricing panels so I could start hunting for TWOS, FIVES & TWENTIES. I believe I put a few of the best ones I could find in my collection, but again, I would ocassionally extract a note (or 2) for a concert or some such expense. Money was always tight so my collection suffered for it.
I didn't start collecting avidly until 2001, after my dad passed away. I helped clean up our house & we had a massive garage sale. I remembered taking in almost a bundle (100) of these 2000 Journey Tens, most of which were in terrible (ragged) condition. I recall thinking that the inks/paper wore out too easily & that it would be easy to photocopy. Sure enough I started reading articles that in fact the TENS & FIVES were being copied by desktop colour printers left & right. So, I went to the bank & asked for new ones & started tucking the best (& special serial numbers/tough prefixes) away.
I went out & bought my first Charlton, joined eBay & started upgrading the notes I had (for replacements, change overs & special numbers). I also started to go to the odd coin show & met some other like minded currency collectors. We started swapping & exchanging observations about what to look out for, where the hobby was headed, etc.
My mother had given me a ½ Dollar from Bahamas but my passion for World currency didn't catch on until after a trip to Europe. So I've been learning about world notes for about 10-15 years & that's been a fun “rabbit hole” to explore!
