Customer Reviews

Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: Modern Issues, 1961-Date (11th Edition)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I would say, - there is no other, better book, so we have to use this one. I have looked through some pages of it and I already found quite a few blunders. First of all there are quite a few misleading price valuations, I would even say many price manipulations. I haven't gone through every single page of it yet, but a quick look at the book reveals the following:

- Overall image quality got worse (much worse) in this year 2005 edition. Some photos have some white spots and cuts.

- Signature tables have disappeared in quite a few country listings. Instead of signature tables Krause website is advertised all across the pages. Question: why remove what already has been added over years?

- Most of the country letter code explanations and country names are gone from West African States listings.

- Signatures are numbered but not always displayed in signature tables.

- Catalogue numbers are changed and moved around to frequently confusing the collectors and especially addong tons of extra work for dealers.

- Many banknotes are valued way below market value. Some are valued below anytime exchange rate. Example: Latvian 100 Latu exchange rate always was over $160 but Krause values it in Uncirculated condition at $150.

- No ERRATA is being printed. Any self-respecting publisher prints errata pages and puts them in a book, or even sends Errata (corrections) pages to all their customers and book owners. The book was published carelessly. Some colourful images (not so important to a professional) were added, but what's most important is the text info and price valuations. This book is important to a beginner and as well to a professional. We still have to use it, cause there is no other catalogue for All World's Paper Money, but making so many errors and blunders shows that the publisher of this book does not care much about what the reader gets from it.

Good-bye Pick... hello Krause.

Most useful - but - there seem to be several errors in this catalogue. One of the most glaring is the complete omission of SOMALIA, despite the index refering the reader to page 772. These are, in fact, the entries for SOMALILAND from 1994. All entries for SOMALIA from 1962 to 1990 have disappeared.

This book is the third volume in a line series dedicated to paper money collecting. This one particularly concentrates on the banknotes issued by central banks all over the World from 1961 onwards. The book is "The reference" used by all collectors and dealers alike. Thus, it is a must in order to keep uptodate with market prices and with the current issues. Unfortunately, it has mistakes and sometimes it lacks continuity with its counterpart (vol. 2) which is not issued annualy like this one. Nevertheless, if you are involved in paper money collecting, owning this book is imperative in order to be able to refer properly to any moder banknote.
The book can be bought from many sources, starting with its Publisher (Krause), however, my advice is to get it from Amazon.com, since its discunts are unbeatable.

As always, the work and research to get the latest information available to the collector is presented to us in the catalog as best as possible. I would like to see a section that list countries whose names have changed. While the catalog is a tremedous effort to 'keep current' with the many changes going on while it is in the making, I long for the day when the CD comes out and changes are added electronically. Stamp collectors now have this and a virtual stamp collection. Thanks to all that work to get the latest information for a great hobby!

I would like to say I truly enjoy this,with World Paper Money Vol.2 10th Edition,anyone can find all the best and very useful imformation he or she needs to start and workon a collection,as for me I love Latin America,as I grew up in three places Colombia,Ecuador and Venezuela as a kid. Truly a great and interesting book,well worth the money for it.

Update: Jan 10 2006
*** There is no Somalia.*** This is a major flaw. I retract my 5 stars.

Original text:

This is THE BOOK for world banknote. Buyers and sellers use this book as a reference.

Things to be aware of:
* This is black and white
* There are two other volumes (pre-1960 and non-national)
* There is a new edition every year
* The catalog numbers (a.k.a. Pick numbers) are generally stable (if they can avoid re-numbering). However, newer notes issued in the past 1-2 years have higher chance of being re-numbered
* Although this is a 2005 edition, some of the latest notes are not included. Here are a partial example of what's included, and what's not.

Not listed
Burundi 10000 Franc (10/25/2004)
Canada 10 Dollars with strip (5/18/2005)
Hong Kong 20, 50, 1000 Dollars (10/11/2004)
North Korea 200 Won (2005)
Mexico 1000 Pesos 3/26/2002

Listed
Haiti 2004 Series (w/ images)
Hong Kong 100, 500 Dollars (12/15/2003)
Indonesia 20,000 100,000 Rupiah (2004, listed as expected new issue)

Despite all that, there is no other book for modern world paper money.