NUMISMATIC NEWS INTERVIEWS HOWARD DANIEL III

Q: What type of bank notes do you collect the most?

A: I first started collecting Viet Nam in 1964, then Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Burma and the rest of Southeast Asia. But I held on to my old collection until 1973. Within a few years, my Vietnamese collection grew to have the largest number of bank notes and related pieces, and I am still adding more pieces to it.

Q: What is the most interesting bank note you have encountered?

A: There exists a 5 Dong note printed from 1949 by the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam to circulate in the Mekong Delta during the First Indochina War. This note is D-62 (Pick-17) in my Democratic Republic of Viet Nam Coins & Currency catalog. I always try to include the numbers of notes printed for each type and variety. There are two block letters, one serial prefix letter and six serial numbers on the most common variety. I could not break the format into the numbers printed until I had bought over 2000 of them in about a ten-year period! At the time of my research, I could buy them for Cents each but now they sell for Dollars each. Its block letters, serial prefix letters and serial number format was also used on some other notes so after I solved it for the D-62 note, it also gave me the numbers printed for the other notes.

Q: What is the most memorable or noteworthy acquisition in your collection?

A: My most memorable purchase is a unique survivor note from Phan Boi Chau, famous for his attacks against the French in 1921. The note was in a Hong Kong auction and incorrectly identified as a local Chinese note with an estimate of about US$50. I was going to bid US$1000 for it but I asked Joseph E. Boling for his advice about my bid. Joe told me to make it something less than US$100 otherwise they would pull it from the auction to find out its real value. I think I bid US$85 and got it. I was going to have a heart attack if I did not get it! It is a priceless and one of two unique survivors of Vietnamese paper money! There is only one other earlier unique survivor Vietnamese note from the same issuer in 1915 and it is owned by a Vietnamese living in Europe. Both are cataloged in my French Southeast Asia Coins & Currency catalog.

To read the complete article, see:
Collecting Southeast Asian Notes with Howard Daniel, III (https://www.numismaticnews.net/paper-money/collecting-southeast-asian-notes-with-howard-daniel-iii)

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