WHERE'S WILLY?

John Regitko of Toronto, Canada writes:

There is quite a collector group that is wondering: Where’s Willy?

I first came across an overstamped $5 note when Peter Becker paid me for a medal that I was selling. I have never been big in collecting intentionally damaged money other than colourized love tokens, trench art coins and Hobby nickels.

When I enquired why a staunch collector would “deface” a perfectly good note, he gave me a rundown on two of his other hobbies, namely, treasure cacheing and tracing the whereabouts of notes that he has passed on to others.

Before he spends a note, he rubber stamps it, inviting people to go to www.whereswilly.com and enter information about its whereabouts.

If you wonder where that paper money in your pocket has been, or where it will go next, www.whereswilly.com is the website to find out. All that is necessary is to enter the serial number of any Canadian banknote, and your current postal code (or zip code) and the site will tell you where the note has been if it was previously registered.

According to the website, over 5 million notes have been listed. Even I have entered information on the notes that Peter has given me over the years. Although the notes that were given to me are intended to be circulated, I have kept a couple in my collection as souvenirs.

Since one of the guidelines is to acquire, register and spend the note, and there is a provision to have the listing removed if the guidelines are not adhered to, I wonder if my admission that I have not passed on all of Peter’s notes will have my entries delisted?

Is it legal to deface your Canadian notes? The website states: “Where’s Willy? does not encourage the defacement of your currency. We cannot locate any Canadian statutes that prohibit writing on currency.”

Peter Becker, a frequent participant (or “defacer,” depending on your point of view) in Where’s Willy? banknotes, e-mailed me: “There is no specific ruling regarding the illegality of stamping bills. The Bank of Canada is aware of the website. Often you will find telephone numbers, grocery lists, messages and coffee orders written on Canadian paper money.”

Peter also points out the benefits of playing the game: learning geography, how money circulates, life span of paper currency, and participating in numerous forums. He states: “Think of it as releasing hundreds of balloons each with a note attached and one being discovered and you getting a letter back saying where it landed, who found it, etc.”

“Another positive benefit is that such markings get people looking more closely at their money,” he adds.

I wondered if stamping the new series of polymer notes and keeping the ink from rubbing off would be a problem. Peter answered it at a recent meeting of the Waterloo Coin Society when he handed me a $20 note for payment of a catalogue. He must be using some great ink, because no matter how hard I rubbed, I could not smudge it.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: AUGUST 20, 2017 : Where's George (http://www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n34a28.html)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web