About RealBanknotes.com

ORIGIN

Since a very early age I remember taking an interest in paper money. Not the type of interest one would expect of a child, but a keen interest in the depictions, designs, and histories of the banknotes that I both handled and owned. I do not remember the exact year, but I do remember the moment when I decided that one day I would collect paper money as a hobby: I was examining a handful of Canadian banknotes, which I was about to spend on some hockey cards, video games, and candy, and I carefully put a couple of two dollar bills into a side pocket, stowed away as the first banknotes of a future collection.

I no longer know where those two notes are, though I have seen them now and again when I do a spring cleaning of my house. However, since I started collecting paper money in the summer of 2006 I have amassed what I consider to be a beautiful collection (beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right?), and have spent a lot of my time writing about and collecting paper money. I have come to know a few very good people in the online paper money community and a lot of historical, economical, and geographical knowledge has piled up in my brain as a result of collecting paper money. I have found that this hobby can be profitable, as well as educational, and so I spend a lot of my time and money investing in paper money, as I learn about the world in the process.

I originally designed and programmed RealBanknotes.com as an image gallery and encyclopedia of paper money, based on the Krause series of Standard Catalog of World Paper Money (General and Modern Issues). But after many years of collecting I have tried to address the wants and needs of a seasoned collector in the design and functionality of RealBanknotes.com. After spending hundreds of hours per year upkeeping the website, I have undertaken the enormous project of building not simply a banknote website, but a paper money community where you get an opportunity to interact with, contribute to, and grow the website in size and scope.

ASPIRATION

The goal of this website, in a very general way, is to become the undeniable single most accurate and comprehensive website on paper money, and the hobby of collecting banknotes. It is a lofty goal for a single person, to be sure, to deal with a seemingly endless list of edits, additions, and modifications to be made. However, though the original project has grown in size and scope, so has the community and with it the reward. Each new member is cherished indeed. The steps required to approach this goal are, typically, quite self evident. Keep the website up to date, and provide members with functionality that will make their pursuit of the hobby easier and more enjoyable.

To the goal of keeping the website up to date: it is a constant pursuit to add new issues of paper money to the website listings and the digital universe is certainly best for this. Currently, and as always, the website lists many banknotes that have not yet made it to the print version of the SCWPM. Though this task seems endless as nations and banks print new variations every month, RealBanknotes.com does a great job in including the new notes in the listings, with as much accuracy as possible.

As per functionality, the development of the website is driven by not only passion for the hobby but also the experience of many, many years of banknote collecting, and the challenges of organizing and keeping a large collection as it continues to grow and expand. Functionality is the second part of the key to RealBanknotes.com, and the tools found within aim to assist collectors of all levels and from all walks of life in organizing their collections, assessing their banknotes, helping collectors grow and expand their collections, and allowing members to view their collections on the go.

There are great plans for RealBanknotes.com. As time permits the website will become an entire toolbox for banknote collectors. Join us for the ride.

- Proteus ( owner / programmer / designer )