Collecting banknotes for fun, knowledge and historical value

Like many kids growing up, I too was a collector of sorts (focusing primarily on comic books, baseball cards and Bazooka Joe comic strips). As the years faded by, so did those collections. That said, never did I envision becoming a world paper currency collector, something that stuck with me for over 30 years now. So how did it all begin?

It all goes back to my father and the various jobs he held throughout his life. One of which was a concierge desk position at a New York City hotel in midtown Manhattan. During his stint there, he often times received tips from guests in their own currencies. Without any use for the funny money he always passed the notes to me, which ultimately sparked my interest in them. From there, the rest as they say, is history.

Like many other collections (comics, cards, stamps), there’s really no wrong way to go about starting one. You can start with old notes or new, circulated or uncirculated, domestic or foreign, paper or plastic, or a combination of all those things. With so many ways in, collecting paper money can make for a really fun lifelong journey.