The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 51, December 4, 2005, Article 17

VIETNAMESE BANKNOTE MISTAKES AND COUNTERFEITS

Howard A. Daniel III  writes: "I am sitting in my home
office here in Ho Chi Minh City with the latest edition
of your "The E-Sylum" and saw your request for information
about other recalled bank notes.

The one that immediately comes to mind here in Viet Nam
is the 10,000 Dong 1990 Pick-109 note that was issued
in mid-1992.  The image of Ho Chi Minh on the right
makes him appear to be sick, but it took several months
for anyone high enough in the government to notice and
take action.

A new 10,000 Dong note was ordered with the same exact
design except for a date of 1993 and Ho's image.  It
was issued in late 1994 and the 1990-dated notes were
pulled from circulation and became scarce, especially
in Uncirculated condition, before most of the dealers
and collectors here realized what was happening.

This was also a time when counterfeiting in South China
of Vietnamese notes started rolling and they were being
smuggled into northern Viet Nam, so counterfeits of both
notes exist.  For those of you who collect counterfeits,
these two notes are very, very difficult to acquire as
counterfeits, as my old friend and collector of
counterfeits, Joe Boling, can confirm.

I buy all counterfeits presented to me and I have
purchased none in more than a year.  The government
is doing a much better job of grabbing the smugglers
just after crossing the border and destroying all of
them.  And the banks and money exchanges are getting
better at detecting them and turning them in to the
police.  I can hear Joe complaining now."

[Can anyone locate an image of this note for us?
-Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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