I came across this article from Hong Kong about Hong Kong collectors views on their collection.
As I personally collect these special serial number banknotes, I have to agree with what have been written in this Hong Kong article. The above banknote is one of my Hong Kong collected solid number banknote in my world collection.
The article is written by Stephanie Tong dated Monday, February 26, 2007
In fact, banknotes are an affordable path to wealth accumulation for every Hong Kong person as the amount to be invested can be as low as HK$100, or even less.
Karim Alamdin, 35, a life member of the Hong Kong Numismatic Society, started investing in Hong Kong banknotes four years back. "Unlike paintings and antiques, banknotes are a safe investment as the chance of getting fake money is very small," he says.
"The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, with the advancement in technology, is able to ensure dollar notes circulating in the market are real. "In addition, even if the value of this investment drops, we can still use the note in our hands. After all, what we invest in is actual money circulating in the market." Before investing in banknotes, one should know that the investment value of dollar notes largely depends on the combination of the serial number, which includes two parts: the alphabetic letters and the six numeric digits. The alphabetic part usually consists of two letters, running from AA, AB, AC, AD and so on, to ZZ, representing the different editions of banknotes in the same year. For each edition, the number of dollar notes printed will be one million. Use HK$10 notes printed in 2005 as an example: its first edition notes will have serial numbers from AA000001 to AA1000000. The second edition serial numbers will run from AB000001 to AB1000000. Cheung Tak-shing, owner of Hong Kong Coin Co, suggested four popular serial number combinations. "People at present like to collect dollar notes with lucky numbers," he says. "Serial numbers with `8' is the most popular one as its Cantonese pronunciation - baht - is similar to faht - the pronunciation of a Chinese word meaning 'going to get rich.' " Cheung adds: "The second most popular type is serial numbers with consecutive number arrangements, such as AA123456, AA654321 and AA345678. People like to have this arrangement as it is similar to `straight flush' - five cards in sequence and in the same suit - in card game Big Two (called `Choh Dai Di' in Cantonese).
"Another popular serial number grouping is collecting the first and the last dollar notes of an edition. "For example, AA000001, AA1000000, AB000001 and AB1000000. However, investors should note that the quality of these two types is usually worse than the others, as they are the first and the last dollar note to be printed in one edition. Chances to have defects in the appearance of dollar notes will be higher." Cheung says these three kinds of combinations - deemed to be the blue chips - are more coveted by most numismatic investors. Yet, investors can also invent their own combination. For instance, some investors collect banknotes with serial number showing their birth dates.
In addition to the different kinds of serial number combination, values of banknotes are also determined by the year of printing (the older the better), the edition (the earlier the better, AA is better than AB) and the currency value (HK$50 and HK$1,000 notes are more valuable as the number of bills in circulation is less than that of HK$20 and HK$100 notes). The last factor would be the appearance of the dollar note. "Dollar notes should be straight, not creased, without stains, and the four corners of the note should be sharp," Alamdin says. He adds this is very crucial as the investment value of a dollar note will be halved if there are flaws. "I have a HK$10 note printed in 1970. It is worth HK$1,000 at present as there are creases on the note. If it was a straight dollar note, the value of it would be at least HK$5,000," Alamdin says. Alamdin has a collection of banknotes with lucky number 3: MF000003, MF000033, MF000333, MF003333, TS033333 and VT333333. He says although this set is not of the same edition, MF, the value of the collection is at least HK$2,000. In Cheung's coin company, there is a set of $10 note that is worth HK$18,800. The set was printed in 1988 and of the same edition: PU000001, PU111111, PU222222, PU333333, PU444444, PU555555, PU666666, PU777777, PU888888, PU999999 and PU1000000.
"Unlike other investments, diversification is not encouraged when investin in banknotes, as this will hinder investors to form a collection of banknotes with similar interesting serial numbers," Alamdin advises. Currently, most banknotes are traded through Yahoo Auction. Alamdin said this method is the most popular one as the admission fee involved is little - only a few dollars are charged for each trading item - and the Internet can bring together most of the collectors of banknotes. Another place of transaction would be coin shops like the one owned by Cheung. Most of the coin shops are located in the Willy Commercial Building on Wing Kut Street in Sheung Wan and Portland Street in Mongkok. "For newcomers in the market, they are advised to focus on banknotes of lower value first," Alamdin says. "Do not sell your collection unless the return is at least 15 to 20 percent."
