2026 - Your Goals & Aims

I thought it might be a fun idea to write down the goals that we would like to set for ourselves for 2026, and ~December, come back and review ourselves.

So without further ado, please share your goals for 2026!

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All are to obtain, unless marked as (Upgrade)

I would like to:

Complete my English notes:

Series A 10/- Prewar Unthreaded

Series A 10/- Wartime Emergency

Series B £5 [White variant]

Series B £5 [Blue variant] (Upgrade)

Series C £5 (Upgrade)

Series E £5 Amended

Near Complete UK Treasury notes

3rd Series 10/- (Upgrade)

3rd Series 10/- “Northern Ireland”

3rd Series £1 “Northern Ireland”

As a stretch goal for total completion:

1st Series 10/-

Bank of Scotland

1st Decimal Series, except £100.

£1 Uncoded

£5 Encoded 

£5 Uncoded 

£10

£20

£5 Reduced size

£10 Reduced size

£20 Reduced Size

2nd Decimal Series “Tercentenary”

£50

3rd Decimal Series (Polymer Variant - Current)

£20 

£50

£100 (Stretch goal)

Commemorative

£20 Queensferry

Royal Bank of Scotland

Castle Series - Either the “Limited” (1972-1981) or “PLC” (1982 - 1986) run as the design otherwise doesn't change much. Probably go for the later “PLC” variants as likely cheaper

£1

£5

£10

£20

Fabric of Nature Series (Current)

£50

Commemorative 

£5 Ryder Cup

Clydesdale Bank

Their 8th Series ran from 1971 to 2007. It's usually broken down into 3 sets, some of which contain sub-variations. I reckon there to be 24 distinct notes of which I only possess 4. I'd like to have one of each value & any major design changes. That should only be 5 notes & I'm not too fussy which specific ones.

9th Series

£100 (Stretch goal)

Not going to bother with commemoratives. I'm missing all but the 4 Bicentenary of Burns' death. Don't fancy hunting the other 10 notes this year.

Other Scottish notes

From 1900 until decimalisation, a few other issuers existed (I think all stopped because of mergers). I'd like to possess at least one note from all of them. At the moment I only have one (British Linen). I'm not fussy on specific notes, but I want examples from

Union Bank of Scotland

Commercial Bank of Scotland 

National Bank of Scotland

National Commercial Bank of Scotland 

North of Scotland Bank 

Northern Ireland notes

To be honest, my current collection is a pretty poor showing. But no targets this year, maybe 2027 🤷‍♂️

Coins

No specific targets this year. Ideally find my missing 3:

2002 £2 Commonwealth Games (NI)

2009 50p Kew Gardens*

2023 50p Charles III Salmon*

*I do own BUNCs but I'd like a circulation ones to put with the rest. The gaps annoy me 😅

Other

I'd really like to push my earliest provincial note back into the 1700s. Current oldest is 1802

Obtain some coins and/or notes from all of the UK possessions. E.g. Bermuda of which I don't own any of either.

Make or find something to use as unusual dividers between the banknote issuers.

I'm aiming to add one coin per week to my collection (or 2 coins per fortnight, since I get paid fortnightly).  It might be tricky because I only collect silver coins. And silver is crazy high at the moment.

I don't really do stuff like new year resolutions (kinda pointless in my experience). But I probably, like every year try to get all the circulating German 2 Euro coins and the 2026 Japanese coin set with an additional set of the new Bulgarian Euros for this year.

Interesting to see your target for those banknotes from Scotland. I have most of the notes issued since 1999 and those £100 paper notes are my favourite. I miss 4 or 5 of the BoS for those early 2000s notes as it was a bit too much for me to get them (for all 3 banks), and of course, I am regretting it since then. In those days, I can get them from the bank directly.

You mentioned the £5 Ryder Cup commemorative note. I have 5 pieces and back then it was made available by the Bank via on their site.

The 1995 Tercentenary series, I also managed to acquire a full set, only the first issue - 1995 prints. Of all the notes issued, this is truly my favourite. You don't find them designing notes like this anymore. I believe this note is no longer legal tender since 29/09/2023. Therefore, I am now just holding a piece of colourfull small paper 🤣 

This guy, the signature on the note - Stuart Grimshaw, he used to work in the same office as me, before he was transferred to the Bank as CEO. I believe only 2 notes issued with his signature on it. Both are commemorative. The other one is the £50. I only have one each unfortunately, but with matching serial number.

Time has changed and collecting them in UNC is getting harder and harder now.

I wish you good luck. 

My collection goals for this year are much more heavily Russia and USSR focused than they have been in the past.

Russian Empire

I would like to get one of these beauties in VF or better; it’s my favorite design of the series: N#225219.

Obtain an XF or better of one of each of the last series of Imperial notes

RSFSR

Expand and improve my collection of the 1918 series

I would also like to continue working on improving this section of the catalog more, especially over the summer while I’m on break from my studies.

USSR

Build a complete set of UNC 1961 and 1991 series

Snag a few XF+ 1937 chervontev and 1934/38 rubles

Russian Federation

Focus on the first ruble (pre-1997) and get the more reasonably priced ones in UNC

Post-Soviet States

Grab what catches my eye at a good price, especially pieces from Central Asia

Lebanon

Work on completing the 1990s and 2000s series in UNC

USA

Get the alleged new $10 both for myself and to swap abroad at FV

Stock up on a few of the current $10 design to hold onto

Collection Organization

I want to work on finding a better way to organize my albums of banknotes, especially with labelling sections and picking up a few new binders.

Finding a better place for the few sentimental coins I have, as right now they’re just in coin flips in a drawer at my numismatics desk

That about sums up what my goals are for the coming year, at least numismatic-wise.

Daniel

Neilithicman - I hear you there. I was considering expanding on my silver crowns & getting all dates (think 6?) of the unpopular double florin (4/-). So that's on hold until silver calms down or I get a pay rise! 🤣

But hopefully you'll be able to snag some nice bargains. 🤞

Idolenz - I don't do resolutions either, I'm very much of the opinion if you're going to do something, start now instead of waiting to the new year. But I thought it would be fun to see what people would like to try and hunt down next year. We all have pieces we'd love to have, gaps to fill, series to maintain.

An interesting mix there, Germany, Japan, & Bulgaria. Good luck with them all 🙂

Ahkai - Well, I do have a soft spot for Scotland. Hardly surprising I suppose being born there & living most of my life about an hour south of the border in England. I think it's been a while in progress. Initially I just wanted all post-decimal coins. Then as that neared completion, I went into post-decimal notes. And it's been a bit haphazardly collected since for English, Scottish, & NI notes.

As my English series is more or less complete, I thought I'd really like to fill in a lot of my Scottish gaps so I thought I'd make a more serious effort on them - which gave me the idea for the thread 😀

As you've said, there's a lot of gorgeous designs out there. I've got 4 different £100s including the non-commemmorative version of the one you showed. They don't need to be UNC, I can do with fair+.

Nice story too! 😀

To be fair, I think in Scotland, no notes are technically legal tender. Some weird quirk in the law. But I get what you mean 🙂 Still the banks will still honour them at face value.

Voided_Username - A very interesting area of collecting. Lots of inter-related (Russian Empire→ USSR → Post-USSR). So a very neat historical run. There are some absolute stunners from ~1890 - ~1910. Quite large too if memory serves. Look forward to seeing them on the monthly additions thread 😉

Lebanon seems like an oddly thrown in one, but why not? 😀

Adding more to my British Empire & British Commonwealth collection.

Hopefully, more of King Charles III's coins will come my way.

Aidan.

Maybe not in 2026, but I’m looking forward to having a coin minted from metals or minerals extracted from the moon. Hopefully in the 2030s - probably going to be a Chinese coin, as I have heard a rumour ESA is going to tell NASA to get lost on the Artemis IV and beyond service modules (due to Trumps developing aggressive stance towards the EU) dooming Orion.

But still a coin made from the moon would be so cool. 

A Collector

Voided_Username - A very interesting area of collecting. Lots of inter-related (Russian Empire→ USSR → Post-USSR). So a very neat historical run. There are some absolute stunners from ~1890 - ~1910. Quite large too if memory serves. Look forward to seeing them on the monthly additions thread 😉

Yes, the notes are quite large, with the 100 and 500 each taking up a full page by themselves. I collect lots of Russian—and post-USSR money—because of how beautiful the designs are to my eye and because I have learned so much about the intricate history around the notes themselves and the circumstances in which the were printed. I also use it as a way to work on learning Russian, reading catalogs and articles with the help of translation.

Lebanon seems like an oddly thrown in one, but why not? 😀

I quite like Levantine and Arab world notes, and Lebanon is one of the most affordable—and beautiful, in my opinion—examples of this.

2025 has been an excellent collection year for me. Both in terms of bank roll finds, and gifted coins from friends and family who travel the world and are willing to keep their eye out for specific dates or interesting coins. Here are a few goals of mine!

Q1 2026 - Identify and inventory all of my current coins, including re-counting my current collection. Data will be entered into open numismat software with photos and information. Each coin then goes into a coin flip and boxed. My United States coins may go into flips then into binders so I can look at them more often, though to do that with world coins would take up far too much space. 

Q2 2026 - Expand my US Quarter and Penny collection to include 1900's and 1910's (Currently 1920+). Also start into collecting banknotes. Will be adding many circulated US 1, 5, 10 dollar bills and circulating them in and out of my collection as I acquire better quality bills. 

Q3 2026 - Check back on the price of silver, possibly purchase a few rounds. Also Acquire a few coins from the Germania Mint, the 2025 witchcraft herbalist and  Ragnarok series has been catching my eye for longer than I would like to admit.

Q4 - Expand, Expand, Expand. Here is where I reassess my collection and see if I can build some storage shelving for all of my boxed coins. I would love a design that will allow me to stack 2x2x9" coin boxes 3 tall, OR remove the shelf to fit an entire binder. That should give me enough wiggle room if I decide to binder a bunch of stuff, or extra space if I decide to keep in boxes.

These are my rough goals, some of this may happen all at once, and some may not happen at all. Shelving in particular I am worried about most, though I am giving myself plenty of time to think about it. 

I've copied & pasted my reply from last year:

My collector goals really haven't changed much: I want to downsize my World collection (sell or trade some of my banknote doubles) which is a goal I set back in 2022 (for 2023).  I also wish to fill some gaps in my Bank of Canada collection (specific denominations for my 1935 & 1954 Devil's Face sets).

 

I asked the same question back on this 2022 thread.

 

In retrospect:

I wanted to attend at least one coin show in 2023.   A year later, I got around to doing that at the beginning of this month (December 2nd).  Two friends went "along for the ride" but we didn't get there till a bit late in the day (& they weren't into banknotes but more into stamps/other collectibles). It was a small (& bit disappointing) bourse but at least I went & saw what was being offered.  I also updated my Canadian Charlton catalogue guide (which I typically do once every 5 or more years).   

 

Happy New Year to all those collectors!

I have not downsized but have expanded my World collection (so that part of my old goal was definitely a bust). I did however sell some of my Canadian collection so that was good.  I was also doing great not buying anything until May when I won a 1935 English $10 in VF30. It is Legacy graded (not my favourite TPG) but the note is original, perfectly centred & has nice eye appeal.  I was very pleased with the price I paid (essentially what one would have paid 10-11 years ago). I did not expect to win from my low-ball bid but it came after Trump made more of his Tariff announcements.   I took advantage of the fact that Charlton has never acknowledged the greater demand for 1935 (nor how tough they are to find in original condition) plus a pretty grim feeling most Canadians have about North American free trade.  The best thing about that win is that it completed my 1935 set & I now need to find some high grade “Devil Face” notes from 1954. I just need a TPG $20.00 in high grade (I don't care about the signature combo either) that has ample eye appeal. This was my goal years ago.

After my 1935 auction win, I started a buying frenzy of World notes right into the summer (mostly from Noteshobby & Kate Bouvier's shop/very little from eBay). Only Kate notified me that she didn't have what I was looking for & gave me a chance to adjust my order. The rest of the sellers would send me my incomplete order & refund me after I contacted them & pointed out that they shorted me on my order!

2026 Goals adjusted:

I found sellers shorting my order quite offensive & it is one of the reasons I'd like to “shut it down” for a year (take a break from the acquiring trap).  

I have 6 outstanding nations I'd like to get a “Q” note from (VF30 or higher). Any denomination will do & they are:

British Caribbean (EF or better)

Cyprus (VF or better)

East Africa (AU or better)

Malaya & British Borneo (AU or better)

Rhodesia & Nyasaland (VF or better)

Southern Rhodesia (VF or better)

I have QEII notes from every nation other than the 6 above. I know they'll be expensive so they'll all probably be low denominations (& the most common variety) but I need to raise some funds so I can pick up these (& cross them off my list).

Re: shows

I am doubtful I will attend a show this year. I would like to attend the FUN show in Florida or the big World Fair of Paper money in the US sometime in the future.  There's also a big show in Europe that I would like to check out one of these days but I don't think I will attend another coin show in Toronto for some time. 

Re: Collector goals

I think it's great to see other collectors' goals.  I believe it helps us try to set limits (add a little discipline to our approach) which is essential in this expensive hobby.  Thanks for starting this thread again @A Collector! I wish everyone the best, & at least some success, in reaching your goals in 2026!

My goal is to acquire a gold coin, preferably a half sovereign.

Continue what I am doing, a consolidation phase as the big buy ins of the past 3 years are toning down.

1. Liquidate most of my gold into cash.

2. Liquidate some of my spare silver into cash.

3. Move to a more salubrious and less ghetto area.

4. Get a fulfilling and quality full time job

5. Fill in missing dates for my British coins like shillings, halfcrowns etc.

The party is starting to end basically, I turn 50 this year and need to start planning for my sunset years. As far as life goes for me, its 3pm in the afternoon or seasonwise, the trees are orange and losing leaves.