What is the purpose of RealBanknotes.com?
This website was borne of the love of paper money collecting, and everything that goes with it. The website serves two purposes: first, to provide visitors with a virtual encyclopedia of world paper money and, second, to provide collectors with a free digital platform and community for the growth and expansion of their paper money collections as well as their peer group. Both these purposes are met by tackling a continuous list of tasks to keep the website current and to grow its list of features.
What are the public features of this website?
At the visitor (public) level, the website offers a variety of ways of viewing, identifying, and learning about world paper money. Our banknote gallery is an extremely large and well curated gallery of banknotes, and our banknote search feature allows visitors to identify a banknote, and view information about it. We also have a banknote forum where visitors can view posts and members can post stories, questions, and comments related to paper money collecting.
What are the members features of this website?
At the member level, there is a long and growing list of features including the ability to upload gallery images, create wishlists and favourite banknote lists, and finally to create banknote collections with the ability to specify and summarize information about each bankote in a collection, as well as to view banknote sales histories, catalog values, and the approximate banknote and collection values. Membership is your gateway to a fantastic set of banknote collection tools. Care to register?
How much does membership cost?
Membership is absolutely FREE and this is the perpetual goal. Anyone is welcome to create an account, and to either begin or expand their banknote collecting hobby. Revenue is currently generated through eBay advertising and through private donations to the site. Interested? Register here for a free account of your own.
Are all members accounts the same?
The membership structure of RealBanknotes.com is multi-leveled. There are currently five levels of membership and as our members achieve new levels they are granted additional functionality and their account limits are raised. That having been said, initial account limits are very generous and increasing them can be a fun collecting challenge.
What are membership points all about?
In a previous version of the website our members ability to add banknotes to their collections was based on points. As it stands, although the collection size limit is no longer pased on points we still track points for the purpose of earning badges, with more intentions and plans for points in the future. At present points may be earned in the following ways: uploading appropriate and quality images to our public banknote gallery (1 to 3 points depending on resolution and quality), by authoring articles for RealBanknotes.com (200 points per article), and by simply logging in (1 point per login per day). Badges that can be earned via points: "Site Contributor", "Top 10 Monthly Member", and "Top Monthly Member".
What are membership badges?
Membership badges are landmark achievements available to our members. Earning these badges allows members to increase their membership level, and thereby unlock additional features in their accounts. The following are the badges we currently have:
  • Article Author Badge
    Article Author: Paper money articles are a key to the banknote collectors community. These articles educate, inform, and entertain. They facilitate our learning not only about paper money, but related subjects such as geography, politics, history, economics and others. To earn this badge members must have 3 or more published articles.
  • Cash Donor Badge
    Cash Donor: This badge has been created in recognition of members who have donated money to the website. The website has operational costs such as website hosting and domain renewal, but also has additional costs such as data entry and programming costs. These donations go towards these expenses, among others. Contributions totaling $50 are required to earn this badge; contributions can be made in smaller increments over time.
  • Frequent Visitor Badge
    Frequent Visitor: Our website is based on community involvement. As such we take great pleasure in having our members visit our website frequently, whether to browse through our gallery, read our articles, or contribute to the website. This badge is in recognition of active members who take an active part in our online paper money community. To earn this badge, members must have visited the website and logged into their account on 200 different days.
  • Gallery Uploader Badge
    Gallery Uploader: Our paper money gallery is second to none. Over time our members have made contributions that have resulted in the most complete and highest quality paper money gallery on the internet. It is the pride of RealBanknotes.com, and this badge has been created to recognize those members who have taken the time to collect images, edit them as per our standards, and upload them to the site. To earn this badge a member must have uploaded 200 or more approved images to our gallery.
  • Long Standing Member Badge
    Long Standing Member: To earn this badge, one must be an active member of RealBanknotes.com for 2+ years. Such members have proven themselves to be contributors through their comments, uploads, and other activity. We strive to create a close-knit community, and long standing members are at the core of our website.
  • Major Collector Badge
    Major Collector: The Major Collector badge recognizes those members who have taken the time to collect and organize their banknotes using our website. Members must have 200 or more banknotes listed in their collection, with at least 100 of those having corresponding images uploaded.
  • Site Contributor Badge
    Site Contributor: The RealBanknotes.com points system allows us to gauge the contribution and activity of our members, who are the backbone of the community. To earn this badge, a member must have earned 1000 or more points.
  • Top 10 Monthly Member Badge
    Top 10 Monthly Member: In order to earn this badge a member must be in the top 10 members, by points, at the end of any given month. Points are earned with contributions which help the website and its members grow.
  • Top Monthly Member Badge
    Top Monthly Member: To achieve the Top Monthly Member badge, a member must be the top member, by points, at the end of any given month. Points can be earned in a variety of ways, all of which help to make the RealBanknotes.com website the most thorough and informative paper money website on the internet.
  • Social Butterfly Badge
    Social Butterfly: Realbanknotes.com is intended to be, among other things, a community for banknote collectors and paper money enthusiasts. To earn this badge simply 'friend' eight or more members on this website using our friends feature.
  • Verified Member Badge
    Verified Member: In order to take full advantage of present and future functions on our website, it is important that our members are verified. To earn this badge members must accomplish three tasks: upload a profile picture (does not have to be a photo of the member), verify your PayPal email address using our verification process, and verify your mailing address using our verification process.
More badges, with a wider variety of achievement methods will be created as RealBanknotes.com continues to grow.
What membership levels exist?
Currently, there are five membership levels available to our members. They are as follows:
Level Collections Notes Faves/Wish Make PDF's
1 3 250 24 / 24 2
2 5 500 36 / 36 3
3 8 1000 48 / 48 5
4 10 1500 60 / 60 8
5 20 5000 60 / 60 12
How do I upgrade my membership level?
To increase your membership level, and thereby unlock additional features of RealBanknotes.com you have to earn membership badges. At present the following is required to achieve the different levels of membership:
  • Level 1: 0 Badges Required
  • Level 2: 3 Badges Required
  • Level 3: 5 Badges Required
  • Level 4: 8 Badges Required
  • Level 5: 10 Badges Required
How do I make a content contribution to RealBanknotes.com?
There are several options for those wishing to contribute content to the website. Creating content is time consuming, and general upkeep and quality control is ongoing and time consuming as well. Content contributions can be made by members by writing articles for RealBanknotes.com and uploading images to our gallery; error checking is appreciated as well. While we re-write the news authoring functions of the website, please feel free to send articles to us via the contact form. Should you need to provide images with your article, please provide that information in the message, and we will let you know how to get the images to us.
How do I make a financial contribution to RealBanknotes.com?

Though RealBanknotes.com is a labor of love, there are expenses associated with the venture, as well as bills to be paid ( we have to justify the time put into the website too! ). Furthermore, creating content is time consuming, and general upkeep and quality control is ongoing and time consuming as well. With that in mind, contributions and be made via content for the site or as a financial contribution. Content contributions can be made by members by writing articles for RealBanknotes.com and uploading images to our gallery; error checking is appreciated as well. Financial contributions can be made through PayPal, or to one of our cryptocurrency wallets.

If you are a registered member at RealBanknotes.com, include your username to receive credit towards your "Cash Donor" membership badge.

  • $10 USD PayPal Contribution

    $20 USD PayPal Contribution

    $50 USD PayPal Contribution

Can I make a cryptocurrency contribution to RealBanknotes.com?
Absolutely! The following are the wallets and QR codes for our Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Litecoin (LTC) donations. If you message us with your donation details and account username we would be more than happy to credit your account. Crypto donations do count towards the "Cash Donor" badge.
  • BitCoin Wallet: 3BaoDBRZhq2UKxtZHoZs2qWquNUaJFp9W1
    realbanknotes.com bitcoin btc contributions
  • LiteCoin Wallet: MKd3WYphj3KuwWnfA4L137pNvKwJA33Luz
    realbanknotes.com litecoin ltc contributions
  • Etherium Wallet: 0xeecaee29e4b18d1c900e90e6666bccabc7c420ed
    realbanknotes.com ethereum eth contributions
How do I buy banknotes from RealBanknotes.com?
We do not sell banknotes on our website. RealBanknotes.com is an online encyclopedia of world paper money, and an online tool for banknote collectors. We also try to provide a thriving community of paper money collectors. However, if you are in the market for paper money, please consider using our Buy Banknotes tool to find something new for your collection.
How do I sell my banknotes on RealBanknotes.com?
We neither sell nor buy banknotes on this website. Furthermore, we discourage selling banknotes online directly to our members. We do not bear any responsibility for any sales and purchases negotiated on or through our website, or by our members. Messages indicating banknotes for sale will typically be ignored.
Who owns the banknotes featured in the gallery?
While quite a few of the banknote images featured in our paper money gallery are owned by members of the site, a portion has been attained by third party contributions of scans, as well as scowering the internet for samples to include in our gallery. Please do not contact us about purchasing a banknote that is featured in our gallery.
What is the privacy policy? What are the Terms of Use?
Our complete Privacy Policy can be viewed here, and our Terms of Use can be viewed here. We do not sell any of your information to anyone, nor will we ever do so. We also aim to provide security for our website and your data, but ultimately we accept no liability or responsibility for any of the information stored on our website, or the use thereof.
Make new friends

Registered members can create friendships on this website. Once registered you can Add Friends which will enable additional features including fast access to their profile page, direct messaging capabilities, an activities feed, as well as the possibility of unlocking the "Social Butterfly" badge.

banknote collectors activity feed friends
How do I upload banknotes images to the gallery?

To upload images to the gallery you must be logged in. If you are logged in, simply navigate to the banknote for which you wish to upload gallery images. If the banknote does not have a gallery image you will need to click the "Contribute Gallery Images" button as below:

how to upload gallery image

If the banknote currently has an image, you may still be able to upload new images, assuming that the images you are offering to upload are better quality than the current gallery images (an administrator will make this decision after you upload your images). In this case you need to click the "Upload Better Images" button as below:

how to upload better gallery images

If neither of these buttons exists and you are logged in, then the current gallery images for the banknote are deemed extremely good and are locked; this disables the ability to change gallery images for the note.

How do I create a new collection?

In order to create a new collection you must be a registered member and logged in to your account. If you are logged in, and assuming your account level allows you to create an additiona collection you will see the following image/button/link near the bottom of your members page:

how to create a new collection

Click this link to enter information about your new collection, and to finally create it. Keep in mind that you do not have to create a collection for a single country, as collections are divided by country. If your account level dictates that you have reached the maximum number of collections then you will see the following image near the bottom of your members page, at the end of your list of collection:

maximum collections created

If you wish to create more collections, you will need to earn more badges to improve your account level. Currently the highest account level, Level 5, allows for up to 20 collections.

How do I edit one of my existing collections?

In order to edit one of your collections you must be logged in to your account. If you are logged in, follow the link to the collection you wish to edit that is located near the bottom of your members page / dashboard. Once you are looking at the details page of the collection, locate and click on the "Edit This Collection" button as shown below:

how to edit your collection
How do I add banknotes to my collection?

In order to add a banknote to your collections you must be logged in to your account. If you are logged in find the banknote you wish to add to your collection (either by navigating our gallery or using our banknote search) and go to the banknote details page. Once you are looking at the details page for the banknote you wish to add, locate and click on the "Add to Collection" button as shown below:

how to add a banknote to your collection

If you cannot locate this button on the banknote details page then either you are not logged in, or you have reached the maximum number of banknotes allowed for your account level. Earn badges to increase your membership level, and your collection/banknote quota.

How do I edit / delete banknotes in my collection?

In order to edit a banknote in your collections you must be logged in to your account. If you are logged in then navigate to the collection where the note is, and click the name of the country to which the banknote belongs. This will bring you to a gallery list of banknotes from that country and in that particular collection. Just below the generic banknote description you will find the buttons that allow you to make changes to your collection on the banknote level. Click "Edit This Banknote" to enter, change, or delete specific information for your banknote, or to upload images. Click on "Delete This Banknote" to remove this particular banknote from your collection. Button are shown below:

how to edit or delete a banknote to your collection

Any information you enter for the note (ie. cost, serial number, etc) will show up in your collection information. You have the option of making your comments and purchase price public on a collection-by-collection basis. By default neither the purchase price nor any comments you enter are displayed publicly. You can select the option to make them public either at the time you create a collection, or by editing your collection. These settings can be changed anytime.

How do I add friends to my account?

Adding friends to your account is very easy. To add members to your friends list, navigate to their profile page, and click the "Add Friend" button, as shown below:

how to add a new friend

Once this is done, the button will disappear. The other member must then accept your friend request from his members page / dashboard. Members are free to decline friend requests, or to unfriend their friends following the same procedure, except clicking on the "Unfriend" button that will show up in the same space.

How do I edit my account settings?

Once you are logged in, navigate to the dashboard and click on the "Settings" link, as shown below:

how to edit your account settings

Once you are on the Account Settings page you will be able to update your mailing address, disable messaging from non-friend members, change your password, change your account photo, and even close your account.

How do I close my account?

Closing your account ( *sad face* ) is a permanent, irriversible, but simple two step process. To begin click on the "Settings" link in your dashboard, as shown below:

how to edit your account settings

Once you are on the Account Settings page scroll down to the bottom to find the "Close Your Account" section; read the information carefully. If you wish to follow through with closing your account click on the "Close My Account" button, which will take you to the second step of the process. This second step looks like this:

enter password to finalize account deletion

Once you are here, enter your account password and click the "Close My Account Permanently" button. Again, this action is final and irreversible. All your collections will be deleted, your scans will be deleted, and your account information will be delete -- and you will be missed.