22.8.10

Last weekend we went up to Newcastle to stay with friends. We decided to fly up and they could do all the driving. We flew up in sunshine and arrived in the cold. The weekend continued with poor weather, fortunately, we had not brought our swimming costumes. We managed to buy some banknotes and some golly badges (yes, we collect all sorts of odd things). We went to two small antiques fairs, one in the grounds of Durham castle, which we were walking around and saw a placard announcing the show and the other held at a hotel elsewhere – the room was extremely dark – as we say – good for selling – no good for buying, but, it worked the same both ways! We flew back home to sunshine. Yes, I did go to the Metro centre – when the assistant at the Marks & Spencer café asked if she could help us in any way, I said “by making the queue shorter”! To be honest, I did not expect it to be hot and it was just as easy to see things in the cool weather – even saw Hadrian’s wall in a few places – some lovely countryside and we had a really enjoyable time. Saying that, our friends had one of those new toilet seat tops that lets itself down slowly, of course, visiting toilets after that you forget that the toilet top does not let itself down – oops, noisy.

So, this weekend saw us in St. Ives in Cornwall. We had been to Devon, but, Cornwall was a first for me. We started our journey by driving to Honiton from North London. We stayed at Home Farm Hotel where they could not do enough for you. They said they’d upgraded us and our room had a sofa and two tellies. In the morning they knocked on the door, I thought it must be an error and said it was not for us as Pete was in the shower (after me), then, they knocked again and asked if we had the shower curtain inside the bath– I said yes and she said the water was pouring down into the kitchen – we looked at the tiles and the mastic and saw that there was, indeed, a gap and pointed this out to her later – when we were dried and dressed. We popped into Honiton and visited the antiques shops. We bought a dog – no – not a real one, a wadeheath doggie and a golly badge.

We drove on to see Vincent Duggleby in Torquay, having some time to wander into the town – there was an extremely long high street and that evening drove to St. Agnes where we stayed at the Driftwood Spar hotel. It was raining and cloudy – actually, no different to Newcastle – the hotel seemed to be everything that you would have found in the 60’s, but, with a restaurant that was quite superb. The duvet was so heavy you had to be a weightlifter to get it off, obviously very apt for summertime weather! The water pipe rattled and we were sure it would wake others and tried to make sure we used the water sparingly according to the time of night. On our way down to breakfast someone was coming out of their room and a naked body could be seen sprawled across the bed, fortunately for me I did not have my contact lenses in, so, everything was shadowy!

We drove into Penzance for another meeting and having heard on the radio that Penzance and Cornwall was full, i.e, no hotels vacant, we decided to go on to St. Ives, where we managed to get a room at the Porthminster Hotel, they had only one room with limited sea view and thus, the price was that of a room without a sea view – the limited view was limited to nil – workers were working in the next room and at the front of our room – they worked hard – from 8am to 6pm – yes, more banging next door than usual, ha. I noticed many yummy mummies, lots of Kath Kitson bags/clothing and little girls that said “Please may I take my shoes off, mummy?” such well spoken little charges.

We dined one lunchtime at the Porthminster café on the beach – outstanding quality. Due to the rain, we went to see Toy Story 3 – we wanted to see it anyway- at least 8 people sat in the cinema with us – a lovely story. We had only booked in for two nights and I had hoped the weather would improve, but, I am sure it will be fantastic as we drive home as is usual. Of course, we missed the birth of Samantha Cameron’s baby and could have popped in to see her whilst in Cornwall, but, we wended our way back and home in time to pop into the office and check any late emails.

This week was so busy – IBNS club meeting on Thursday night, grading and valuing collections keeping us on the ball.

22.6.10

I am impressed with American Airlines. My flight to Chicago from Memphis on my return home was delayed and we got into Chicago with about 10 minutes before the flight to London was due to leave. Well, we all know that there is absolutely no chance of ever getting on a flight within a minimum of 35 minutes to take off, but, American Airlines, held the plane, knowing there were about 20 people due to arrive. Albeit, a bit late. I walked as fast as I could to the plane and everyone knew my name, i.e., I was the last one to board. A tall gentleman put my hand luggage up for me, which I then could not access throughout the flight (as I have to stand on the chair to reach the locker). Upon my arrival at Heathrow, I awaited patiently for my suitcase, after a fair amount of time, I decided to ask at the conveniently placed American Airlines desk by the luggage carousel what were the chances of my suitcase having reached the plane, considering it arrived late in Chicago and I more or less ran to catch the flight. He said not very high. So, obviously, for the first time (no, not really), I did not have a luggage tag or that big A4 sheet of paper with my name and address on it - he made me point out what my suitcase looked like and said I’d likely get it back that afternoon. Later in the day, They called to say they’d deliver. We went to the Pub quiz at 8pm and got back 11.15pm. At 11.30pm my suitcase arrived. All intact. Fabulous service. Very impressed.

However, if you are reading on, you will see a big gap! It is not as if nothing happened in the past month, but, I have been busy, luckily, slowing down a bit now, which means we can work on EPM 8th Edition (next year publishing, likely), sort the office out - have a spring clean, do some lists, etc. More than enough to do.

23.6.10

I’m doing my usual – I am sitting at an airport – on my way to Memphis to attend the Memphis International coin & paper money fair. So, now having safely arrived, am jotting down the blog. I flew American airlines. My screen did not work and they did offer to move me further back, but, as I knew I would sleep (read a John Grisham book instead), I stayed. The stewards/esses were great,but, the lady in front went straight into recline, which meant I had to recline to give me enough room to hold my book more than 3 inches from my face, which I think annoyed the person behind. Knee wise, no problem, but, if you know me, you know I don’t need a lot of leg room!

Memphis is renowned for its barbeque dry ribs and Butchers Block steaks, but, was overjoyed to go with a colleague, Phil Doudar to the only Sushi restaurant in town. Only a short walk from the hotel, refreshing, tasty, made in front of you and filling. No sake as work to do tomorrow.

The show opened at 12 noon on Thursday and my table was close to the loading bay area. The first half of the show was carpeted, but, not my area (the cheap stalls). Although it was 95degrees Fahrenheit outside, it was about 35 degrees Fahrenheit inside. So, tomorrow I am definitely taking my cardigan too. I went to the concession (coffee bar) for a coffee and asked if they had milk (instead of half and half), but, they did not have any milk, in fact, they did not have any coffee either! Maybe it will all be different tomorrow.

So, for once a continuation – was Friday different – well, I got bit quite badly by mosquitoes after going into town to the Rendezvous bbq with Arthur Morrowitz and co on Thursday night and had been advised to get some benedryl to help with the allergic reaction to the bites and my cold was getting hold. However, noone told me that the bnedryl would make me tired, I slept for 9 ½ hours and when I went to the show on Saturday I was like a Zombie. Fortunately, a good friend, Paul Walters sat at the table whilst I went back back to the hotel for a half hour nap!

On Saturday night whilst in a restaurant, I went outside to warm up as the AC was so cold and a chap asked if I had any cigarettes, when I replied in the negative, he said I did not look like I smoked. He asked another question and being polite I answered, then he asked if I thought he looked different, but, I said he looked like anyone else. He said he was homeless and asked if I had any money to help him buy food- I gave in, but, what I should have done was go back into the restaurant, which was a homely bbq place and purchased some food, but, we can all think the right thing too late.

On Sunday I saw Lynn Knight who was running the show (having bought it from the Memphis Coin Club) and he’d been rushed to hospital the night before and released after confirming he had Bell’s Palsy, which affected his face, but, he was still smiling.

My good friend Andrew Pinkley took me to the shopping mall – Levis had gone up to $32.99 and there were other nice items for Glen’s birthday. In one store the assistant said my accent was ‘awesome’. At least he did not say it was quaint, some other staff asked if I could speak some more! All extremely friendly and helpful.

On my last night I went with some friends back to the Sushi bar. It was about 98fahrenheit and along the route (Main street), there are some walk in fountains – spouts of water coming up from the ground and about 50 people/children were gathered getting absolutely soaking wet, running around in the heat. The homeless also gather here as the water cools the air a little.

One good thing at my hotel was that the previous occupant had used the telephone and it was locked onto the details entered, so, although I had bought a phone card (essential), I never used it and still managed to call home a few times for free.

We recently went to Israel to attend a wedding. We hired a car and things were going quite well, but, tanking up with petrol – a problem. We were on the motorway and stopped at the services late at night. Fortunately, the staff spoke English. Firstly, we picked up the hosepipe, but, nothing happened, I went to the kiosk and the man informed me that we could use an International credit card and get 9 shekels worth of petrol – equates to around £2 or pay him cash how much I thought would go in the tank. I gave him 200 shekels and tanked up, then rejoined the queue of people buying food/toys/cigarettes/coffees and waited for my refund of 125 shekels. Another night I stopped at a smaller petrol station, where noone spoke English. Same thing with the hosepipe, it would not start – the man in the kiosk did not want payment and kept pointing outside. After an eternity – 3 minutes we noticed a man with a bumbag filling a car – hidden previously behind a vehicle. He eventually came over and we tanked up. You learn something new everyday! The British Airways crew was made up of Co-pilots, office staff and some strike breakers and they’d even laid on a larger plane to accommodate those that had moved their flight – yes, we flew on a strike day. I know thousands of people were affected badly by the strike and we were offered the opportunity to cancel or re-book, but, we decided to stick to our original booking and got there and back without any major problems.

I popped into a café in London the other day. I was the only customer and although it was sunny, a cool breeze and the thought that a smoker might sit next to me outside I decided to sit inside. The two female staff were smiley and I was soon sat down with my sandwich and lovely coffee. One of the staff had a coffee break and decided to sit outside and have a cigarette, which, due to the breeze, blew back into the café and funnily enough, straight in my face. When she finished she dropped the butt onto the floor, trod on it and left ash on the table too. The other girl came by and asked if everything was okay and I asked her if they owned the café or just worked there. She said “we work for Andre”, so, I said no more. If they had owned the café I might have suggested that an ashtray would stop the litter, but, it was not their business, therefore, not mine to mention. I would always want to see entrepreneurs progress and offer great service and a nice environment. I’ll go back and use the café, but, be aware of where I sit!

28 5 2010

An elderly lady called me one day and said she had some notes for sale – included in the group was a Peppiatt £100 white note. I told her I’d pay a minimum of £1000 for the group of notes and she sounded pleased and went on to say that she’d advertised them in the local paper and a ‘collector’ came round and offered £50 stating that the £100 note was not worth anything.

We arranged a date and time to visit as she actually only lived about 35minutes away. She mentioned that she was receiving Chemotherapy in Sutton and we concurred that meeting on the day of return from the hospital would be awkward. Thus, I turned up at her door at the agreed day and time – she failed to mention that she lived in a house that was broken down into flats and had not given me her flat number. She was not in. The snowy weather had arrived and it lay all around. I had paid to park the car and thought ‘maybe she has popped out and will be back soon’, so, used the local facilities and enjoyed a nice cup of coffee and a sandwich in a freezing cold cafe. After an hour I realised she was not going to turn up, so returned home.

I eventually got her on the phone and she said she’d had an opportunity for an earlier appointment at the hospital and she had stayed in, continuing on stating she only had one leg and found it difficult to get around, but, insisted she always caught the bus to the hospital and to her daughter’s house. It seemed she’d also given a lot of money to her daughter – some £15,000.

I said we would make another appointment and so as not to be left ‘out in the cold’ I’d call the day earlier and confirm, which I did. She went on to mention that she’d won the lottery, some £56,000 and was putting it in the bank. It should have been a bigger clue! I duly arrived at the arranged time, rang her bell and guess what? She was not in, so, once again on this freezing cold morning, I popped along to the local café where their wonderful coffee was off as the machine was broke, but, had a cup of tea instead. An hour later I returned to her house and, of course, she was not in.

She had told me that the notes were in a shoebox and quite safe, but, I was beginning to have my doubts. I finally got back in touch with her and she said she’d given the notes to her daughter.

There was an old lady from Kew
She said she had banknotes – a few
Meeting after meeting in order to see
These rare notes that were never for me.
I kept turning up, hoping to view
A shoebox of goodies too good to be true.

So, is there a moral to the story – the answer is No. You can never tell what is real and what is not as subsequently an email led to a purchase of May £5 notes from the 1880’s. Maybe the thought of an elderly lady on chemotherapy with one leg, using the bus, winning the lottery might have given me a clue as to the reality of an elderly lady wanting someone to talk to. Do I believe these notes exist – definitely not.

I had an accident in the office the other day – I tripped and gouged a hole in my little finger. Glen put the plaster on my finger and the following day, the plaster came off and I thought ‘it does not matter’. I carried on working at my desk and suddenly saw blobs of blood – horrified that I might have bloodied some notes, realised that the gouge of skin had come loose – I was really lucky as I did not have any notes on the desk and any that were nearby were, of course, in archival wallets waiting to be listed.

Our road is going to have a ‘Big Lunch’ on the big lunch day July 18th. We only get back from York on the 17th and look forward to meeting the new families joining our road along with neighbours not yet met.

We’ve just had the greatest of weather weekend and finally a barbecue in warm weather. Of course, it is a Sunday and only done some work in the office today!

 22.4.10

Believe it or not I did type a blog, however I managed to leave it on the laptop so it will get up loaded along with this blog.

Spring has sprung and the trees are blossoming and of course due to volcanic ash there has been peace in the skies, except for the chirping of the birds. We even had a Bbq with our stranded American friends. Normally we would not have a Bbq at our home till about June (wishful thinking) but it was warm enough when the sun peaked out from the clouds and we even came first at the local pub quiz (with our American friends).

It has been a busy time lately, having attended Valkenburg paper money show, followed by attending auctions, so we will be getting around to producing some lists of new material, but as usual please bear with us. Though, Peter often loads new material onto the website.

As chairperson of the London branch of the IBNS I feel that is my duty to stand in if the speaker of the evening meeting cannot attend, so on the 29th of April I will be doing a little talk entitled “Not actually a bank note”, which is an article I have sent into the IBNS journal for future publication.

I saw in the paper today that someone is being sued on an internet auction site for posting a negative feedback. The claimant is stating that the negative feedback has produced a loss of earnings and earning potential, etc, but surely the saying “The truth often hurts” is apt in this particular instance.

Every year at one of the shows I attend a client regularly asks me for the same note. It is a specific date and he requires it in Unc. Every year I tell him I have the date, but, not in Unc. So last time, he said he’d just missed buying this specific note in an auction. I asked him how much he missed it by and he said 2 weeks! Not the answer I was expecting.

The other day a dealer phoned as they thought they had found a treasure – a £5 and £10 Bailey without a signature. I phoned in eager anticipation as I did not believe this was possible. He realised his mistake when he said “Oh, I did not realise they had moved the signatures”.

No sooner were we home than we finally made it to a holiday destination. Gran Canaria. How fortunate to arrive with the tail end of the hurricane that went through Tenerife – the next day even the planes had to land in Gran Canaria on route to Lanzarote due to the weather. A brand new hotel had it’s glass doors blow through as it was their main entrance everyone had to use a side door to enter and leave. We walked a lot and I even cycled – first time in many years – more memorable for the pain afterwards rather than the fabulous scenery. I know the sun is meant to be bad for you, but, how can it, when it makes you feel so good (yes, I know there is science behind it).

Once again, home, unpacked and repacked for the Dublin coin show and finally got my act together to be able to sit here and type this blog, which is probably two months late. A very good reason for not making New Year resolutions, which can be so easily broken.

1.2.10

Yes, the year went and for the first time in many years, we spent Christmas and the New Year at home. It meant we could do a lot of things in the office that we had been putting off. We installed new computers – having to buy a new printer as the old one would not work and new desks, which meant moving a lot of ‘stuff’ from the floors and shelves. It has taken some time, but, now the office is more the way we want it. So, Christmas was quiet and on Boxing day we went back into the office to work as there was nothing worth watching on the telly! New Year we celebrated in our local pub and walked back (obviously). The snow came and went and of course some services came to a standstill.

We were concerned that the York show might be impossible to reach, but, the snow stopped and the weather started to improve, so, we went up to York. I thought it seemed a bit slow to start with, but, that was because our first customer walked in before the doors officially opened.

We also visited the Berlin World Fair of Money, more a coin show with the world’s mints displaying their goods, along with manufacturers. Berlin was bitterly cold, with snow on the ground, but, the roads were in use and grit had been put down on the paths/pavements, though it was still a bit slippery. All services continued, whilst we were there it went down to minus 10, but, had been worse. Nice to see a City working and not at a standstill due to snow – must have been the right sort of snow.

  15th Nov 2009

We came back from a journey and decided last night to go to our favourite Italian restaurant. Not only was it closed – it had gone into liquidation. It had opened in boom time and was 3 shops wide. The take away pizza parlour opposite had proved too strong a competitor – it seems the newest eating out is, in fact, eating in. Take aways have done well in this recession. Restaurants are taking the brunt.

After all sorts of odd things happened in the past month, I can see why a daily blog almost makes sense. Something happens and you think, I must mention that, but, the day disappears, becomes a week (in my case, often a month) and the moment is lost.

I was on BBC Birmingham radio the other day – it seems I totally forgot (doh!) that it was 25 years since the demise of the £1 note. Well, I remember the notes and I know when it ceased to be legal tender. I also know the date of the last issue, but, funnily enough, none of these facts made it to 25 years. There must have been a date locked away somewhere that made it an anniversary.

The Dublin show went without a hitch. Our book – Paper Money of Ireland sold well and the doors were open into the next hall, which was holding an ‘Over 50’s show’, so, many more visitors than usual, some with interesting stories about notes they had at home – we will wait to see what turns up next show.

We took a table at the Numismata coin/banknote show in Frankfurt. We’d had a two hour delay on the tarmac on the first leg of the journey, fortunately, we were not in a hurry. The next day we walked everywhere, but, before we’d even left our block we met Mr Mellis from Israel on his travels. Amazing, being in a city for the first time and meeting a friend the first full day!

We heard recently that Tom Warburton, yes, Tom of the Warburton bakery family passed away. Tom was a ‘revived collector’, a real gentleman and sometimes would help me out at shows, it also gave him somewhere to sit! We once drove to Valkenburg and he acted as my map reader – in the days before satnav and he’d say “right, right, right – left, left, left” he used to do rally driving and it was what he would have said, we got there with his excellent map reading and speedily too! He will be sorely missed.

Glen, our son, passed his driving test and I bought a little run around that he now runs around in. It suits me for the short trips and we are now, once again, a two car family. When we went down to one car, we’d occasionally have to hire a car, but, no need to anymore.
08.10.09

Yes, Congress is over – I was absolutely wrecked. Days of auctions, followed by 2 days of show. Genuine collectors came to the show and although the Blackfriars tube station was closed for refurbishment, Temple and St. Paul’s are only a short walking distance away. As a London branch of the IBNS we often look for the best venue, remember it also has to be cost effective and finding a hall that suits our requirements is very difficult. We have re-booked the Mermaid for 2010, but, will endeavour to find a more sociable hall. We do feel that the Mermaid offers fabulous security as there is only one door in and out of the hall, a safety aspect that dealers appreciate. We also had 5 new dealers at the show for the first time. Organising a show is a thankless task and yet, we still do it! Voluntarily too.

Next week I am off to Dublin to the RDS Stampa show October 16/17/18. Michael Kelly takes the other half of the hall for coins and banknotes. He works like a Trojan and he certainly does not do it for the money. He does it because he believes in it. Obviously, the Irish economy is struggling as are so many others, but, it is nice to see clients that we otherwise would not manage to do in the UK.

22.09.09

An auspicious date has passed – 09.09.09.09.09 – you work it out!
We travelled yesterday, Sunday, to London on the underground as we found out that swathes of London were closed for cyclists only, plus the train does take the strain, but, have now renamed the Bakerloo line – the Bake you line – extremely hot, stuffy – not cramped, but, very uncomfortable. We quickly changed to the Northern line, which proved to be more comfortable. This was at 8pm in the evening – what is it like during the day!

Of course, now we are getting busy for Congress – it is hard to call it the ‘World Paper Money show’ when for 30 years you’ve called it ‘Congress’. It is the showcase for the best material and the best people attend – I do mean that in the best possible way. Dealers and Collectors from all over the world attend and it is a great social gathering.

I have just arrived at the Holiday Inn Express (the cheaper version of Holiday Inn – next building), in Glasgow, however, I am greatly impressed. Free wi-fi – he has given me the code – exceptionally clean – tea/coffee facilities. Although only 10.30am he let me check in. On entering my room, I noticed that the door frame with the chain attached was damaged, no problem, put the chain on, sat down to type this and suddenly, someone tried to enter – heart stopping moment, it was housekeeping – she thought I had checked in yesterday. Now I know why the frame is broken! A knock on the door might have prevented further damage.

Yes, I am here for the Clydesdale Bank Charity Auction. You will be able to read about the event in the IBNS World Paper Money Fair programme.

04.09.09

And yet more time has elapsed since I wrote the blog and not posted it on the website!

Now we are on the 2nd of September. I can see why daily blogs have their merit, I easily forget what happened yesterday, let alone, today. However, I cannot miss mentioning our new ‘baby’- the book entitled ‘Paper Money of Ireland’. Having first proofed this book many years ago, with Peter working hard on the computer and constant proof reading, we finally finished the book. Just as Peter sent the final PDF files to the Printer he suddenly said he felt ill – heavy limbs, aching – oh, oh, he had caught Swine flu. We got in touch with the doctors and within 3 hours he was on Tamiflu. As we caught it so early he was not too ill to go into the office daily. Of course, I was away the next day, but, he said not to cancel my appointments.

We went to Somerset for a short break with Glen and tried on line to book into a b&b in Shepton Mallet, but, as there were two weddings on, they were all full up, so, we stayed in a town called ‘Street’. We did stop in Shepton Mallet, but, as it was 5.30pm the shops were closed plus it was a Bank Holiday weekend. We went to a ‘flea market/collectors fair’ the next day with a promise of nice weather, of course, it rained from 9.30 in the morning, thus, we returned home at around 2pm. There wasn’t anything specific to visit in the rain on the way home, but, we viewed Stonehenge (which is easy as the traffic goes at 2mph). People tend to forget that the stones were re-arranged in the 20th century and believe them to have stood like this since time immemorial – sometimes, our memories are quite short! Wikipedia states that William Gowland oversaw the first major restoration of the monument in 1901 – the straightening and concrete setting of sarsen stone number 56 which was in danger of falling. In 1958 the stones were restored again, using concrete settings to re-erect three of the standing sarsens. The very last restoration was carried out in 1963 when stone 23 of the Sarsen Circle fell over and was once more re-erected

Just taking a break in our B&B in Great Yarmouth. Glen is away with the Scouts for a week, camping in Northamptonshire. Free wi-fi, Hurray. Does have its problems, but, generally, working well. We ate at Othello’s on the sea front last night and ate expensive seafood, but, it was really good quality. Tonight we are going to the Pier Theatre to see Joe Pasquale – the comedian. We have seen him live before and it was a good act. We went to Norwich today and the Tom Tom managed to send us down a street that had bollards in the centre, fortunately, we could turn round!

Someone recently said I should write funny things in the blog – but, It is hard to remember the funny things – I do remember going to Bewleys Hotel in Ballsbridge, Dublin and putting my stuff in the safe and coming across a set of car/house keys. I took them down to the Reception desk and said I am sure they have a car in their garage where the owner did not drive it away! You should always check under the little mat in the safe. Also, whilst I was in the Waldorf Astoria in New York, I accidentally locked myself out of my room, so the security guard let me in, but, said I had to show him some ID, so I gently put the chair inside the cupboard, took my shoes off and stood on the chair to open the safe, before I could show him any ID, he said, its okay. Of course, if I have the security code, it must be my room, doh!

 05.07.09

I just checked my emails whilst at Memphis airport. Unfortunately, the airport does not offer wireless internet, so, I logged on a machine by the telephones. It was hard work as the keyboard was metal and not all the keys were in the same place, but, I managed to get through some of the emails. Whilst I stayed at the Memphis Marriott I did pay for a day (noon to noon) of internet access, but, once again, no wireless paid for or free. Some hotels and certainly, some of the major airports do seem to offer wireless internet free, or some form of easy access.

However, I have been remiss, I have not written a blog for so long, I don’t actually have the last date to hand, plus, I am currently flying from Atlanta to London Gatwick and obviously do not have internet access whilst airborne.

I have just been to the Memphis coin club show, which I missed last year, but, have been attending for some years. The show has always been interesting for me and I have always enjoyed attending. When I first went to Memphis, I could not even walk down the street to Walgreens – the drugstore without a bottle of water (which you should not be without anyway). But, the weather this year was so hot – about 101 degrees Fahrenheit that it burnt off the humidity! I even managed to walk back from Beale street – the life and soul of Memphis.

On the last day of the show, Mike Crabb of the Memphis club, John Schwarz and myself went to Tunica, for an evening of gambling. We met Jan at the Casino. It is very specific, we obtain a free meal voucher, sit down for dinner – a buffet, gamble until midnight, then leave. The slot machines no longer spit coins out, which we used to place in plastic tumblers, they now produce a bar coded printed payout ticket, which can be cashed or re-used in another machine, Ingenious! We did notice a great many car park spaces and less people in the Casino, something we were not surprised about. These Casinos get rich whilst the poor get poorer – they provide an evening of entertainment (live music), but, can so easily become addictive. I admit to going annually!

On Saturday evening whilst at the show, I was invited to a dinner to celebrate the life of Simon Waksberg, an East Memphian who survived the holocaust. He’d never spoken about his life in the prison camps whilst his wife was alive, nor to his daughters, but, he did speak about it after Shindler’s list came out as he had Osker Shindler live in his home for three years after the war. Simon had written to Steven Speilberg and Speilberg had Simon interviewed over 6 hours, but, cannot show the detail or disclose the interview. Danny Spungen had organised the dinner and his efforts and talks about the holocaust may well become legendary as he sees it as his ambition to tell the true story to students in lectures – he also speaks of the prison camp Sachsenhausen and, in particular, about the forgeries.

However, here, I should try to catch up with my history. I tabled out at the Birmingham coin show on June 14th, the weather was warm and there was a Military show in the next hall, so, the car park was full.

At the end of May, I did a talk on Applegath & Cowper to the Nottingham branch of the IBNS. I popped into Mark Ray’s unique shop – full of interesting material, a mecca for any visitor to Nottingham – a detour to Nottingham would also be worthwhile. The sun shone for my drive and boy, was I glad to be driving up, not down, as there was a huge queue on the motorway! Upon my return home, Pete told me that Radio 5 had called and wanted me to speak about the new £50 Bank of England note, which I had only heard about that day. I was due to go live 30 minutes after getting home, but, they called to say it would be later, closer to 10pm. I did my bit, then went to bed! So much for fame, however, one collector, Simon, heard me and sent me a complimentary email, so, Radio 5 has one listener who is a notaphilist.

One day in May, I went down to Brighton. On the way, picking up a small English collection. Interestingly, in the collection there was a white £5 Nairne that I’d sold for £80 some 10 years ago, the grade was not so great as the collector had only bought lower grades, which were more affordable at the time. I had to pay more than £80 to get it back. While driving along the A22 I saw that there were many things to do/visit/go to just on the A22, in fact, you could almost take a holiday (staycation), just on the A22. So, next time I drive along the A22 I think I should add an extra day onto my journey just to see what I could go to.

We get quite a lot of emails where non collectors ask what the value of something is – here is one of them:

Hi,
I have a note just like one that sold on ………(internet) for £13, how much is my one worth?
Thanks

Dear?
I think you answered your own question.
Regards

Pam

Hi,
Yes, I did.
Thanks.

Some emails are a little more interesting.!

So, if you have read this far, you just need to know that we will be up at York in July and Glen will have his birthday on July 16th – he will be 17 – how time flies.

9. 4. 2009

In March we had ‘back to back’ shows. London Jurys Hotel on the Saturday and Birmingham coin fair on the Sunday. Both shows were busy for us and the Birmingham show was held in the large room. A long weekend with a fair amount of driving.

Not soon after returning home, Peter and I went to Malta, a country we had never visited. An historic view no matter where you went. I’d thoroughly recommend taking the bus tour and using the frequent bus service, which was extremely cheap.

Surprisingly no sooner had we arrived than we won a holiday. The Representative was jumping up and down – so excitedly and we only had to go with her to a hotel, funnily enough, about ¼ of a mile from our hotel. I told her as I had just walked 3 miles to get to this point, there was no way I was going back – she offered us a lift. Amazingly, she said I was mad to turn down this once in a lifetime win. Oh well, I must be mad! I don’t require a timeshare for 6 people!

M’dina – the original Capital is a must see – Valetta is captivating too. We met up with Remy Said, Director of the only collectors shop in Valetta. A charming gentleman. He works with his family and is carrying on the family tradition of offering a great service to collectors. The Publisher of paper money of Malta – the latter of which will become more collectibles as Malta now uses the Euro.

So, we unpacked, then packed again to go to Maastricht and the Valkenburg show. A pretty town and when the sun shone, throngs of cyclists and walkers visited the area. The restaurants offer wonderful food and although the euro is strong currently, the prices did not seem too dear. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the price of banknotes at the show.

Now we are at Easter and Glen is off for two weeks, five days at scout camp will do him good. Snowdownia is a place of great beauty. Just hope it does not snow.

 22. 3. 2009

I am writing this blog whilst sitting at the Dublin RDS coin show, which is fortunate as I was nearly run over yesterday. The Green man was lit, the traffic had stopped on the other side of the road, but, a bus was blocking the traffic light from the oncoming traffic (I was aware of the bus being badly parked, but, unaware of the sight restriction) thus, a car overtook me whilst I was crossing the road.

So, I suppose it is lucky that I am now able to sit here and write this. Things always happen in Dublin, but, I shan’t go into those – many are very funny.

The show is a little quiet today (Sunday) and yesterday was a good buying day. The regulars came round and going to shows gives me time to chat to clients.

Pete and I went to Gibraltar. We stayed at the Rock Hotel, which was built by the Marquis of Bute (I will come back to him later). We had our walking boots on and visited the tunnels – it seems there are more miles of tunnel than there are miles of roads on the Island. There are Siege Tunnels (1780’s), WWII tunnels – there are pedestrian tunnels, tunnels for vehicles, ie., more tunnels than you can shake a fist at (about 30 miles of them).

We fed the Apes – there are more apes than ever. The driver only asked if I would like a picture with an Ape on my shoulder and immediately a small Ape jumped up! I actually said No.

One Antique store in town had a 1914 Gibraltar 2/- note stuck on Hessian. I asked the price and was told “£600 it is a Museum piece”. So, I left it for a Museum to buy.

We even visited the cinema and saw Valkyrie – an interesting film about one of the plots to assassinate Adolf Hitler (some 9 months before he committed Suicide).

We also took the opportunity to cross the ‘Frontier’ and walked into mainland Spain. We spent time in Algeceiras, had lunch out, bought sunglasses and walked on a hot, sunny/cloudy day along the newly built seaside promenade, devoid of coffee bars.

So, the link – The Marquis of Bute was an inveterate collector and one of the Treasury Error notes in my error collection was once his.

At the end of February, Peter did a talk at the London Branch of the IBNS – his talk, entitled ‘Secret Banknote Collector’ – I think it was more a secret of what things he actually collected. However, we adjourned to the Bar afterwards, so, a nice end to a pleasant evening.

3.2.09

I realise Blogs are meant to be daily, but, I don’t think you would find my daily grind (working in the office) of great interest, but, also realise, it is a little lax of me to put the blog in on a monthly basis. Maybe I will speed it up, we’ll see.

Peter was good enough to collect me from the airport upon my return from New York and then said I should not get upset, but, although he’d said everything was alright with Glen whilst I was away, in fact, Glen had a fractured jaw from a thug who had tried to steal his bike from him whilst he was in Sutton (the evening we returned from the Dominican Republic). He’d been in hospital and had two titanium plates inserted into his jaw – for life. The Police took statements and scanned CCTV, but, we have heard nothing about his attacker. His face was like a balloon, but, has since gone down. He has three months of not chewing and no contact sport. He did not let the thug take the Bike (he has had two stolen), this was new and he was not letting go. It could have been worse. Am I thankful it was not – you bet your bottom dollar, but, why does it happen at all? We have said, just give them what they want, but, why should he believe he should give up something someone has worked hard for?

The next day, I went to Edinburgh as I had been invited by De la Rue to attend the Clydesdale Bank Press conference as an IBNS member. They wanted to have a coffee afterwards and discuss ‘IBNS Banknote of the Year’. It was a fabulous sunrise, a great view from Edinburgh Castle. My flight home was delayed, but, I made it home in time, which was lucky as I flew to Jersey on the Thursday. The trip to Jersey was a sad one as I attended Bob Blake’s funeral. I had known Bob for about 25 years. An avid collector of many things and one of the Authors of ‘Paper Money of Ireland’, which we will be publishing later in the year.

The Friday – we got up at about 3am and drove to York to attend the York coin show. The show flowed well and we were constantly busy. I am glad we did not miss it, but, I would not have missed the funeral for it. It is fortunate there were so many flights available.

Since then we have been to the Cinema to see: Slumdog Millionaire and The Wrestler, both of which we’d highly recommend.

We had the IBNS club meeting on 29th Jan. It was fairly well attended. Jonathan Callaway talked on Engravers of Scottish Notes – a fascinating subject. We decided to put off going for a meal until February when more of the Committee members would be available.

Last weekend we went to the first Southern England Magic convention at Lakeside Country Club in Ash, near Guildford. A lot of work goes into running a show. Some acts we had not seen before made it worthwhile.

Then, of course, the snow! Yes, we threw snowballs, built snowmen, pulled sleds with neighbour’s children, checked on elderly neighbours, pulled a car out of a hole (the road was closed and he drove into the barriers and went headlong into a hole). Pushed neighbours cars back into their drives and then came indoors for homemade tomato soup.

20. 1. 2009

I am sitting here at JFK airport , New York, typing this Blog. And, no, I don’t know where the time went since my last Blog. I just visited the New York International Coin Fair, held at the Waldorf Astoria. This show used to be held at the World Trade Centre December time, however, the organisers were successful in obtaining space at the Astoria, which is a fabulous hotel. I had a wonderful room, in fact, it was a suite – the bathroom was the size of a small room. It was even better when I worked out that there were blinds on the window and that the curtains remained open!

We’d only just got back from a holiday to the Dominican Republic, again, another fabulous place, wonderful people and a most relaxing time, before getting back into the swing of things. I shall only be home a couple of days before we whizz up the A1 to the York show.

Although we were away for Christmas we managed a Christmas pub quiz team dinner at the local curry restaurant – the crackers contained the following:

Why did the tightrope walker go the Bank? To check his balance
What Bank should dogs go to? Barklays (just a play on spelling) Mind you, some Banks are going to the dogs!

Glen (our son) also helped me out at the Birmingham coin show, which in December was held in two halls. It was fairly buzzy, but, I always feel that more collectors should get out and go to shows. We’d also attended the Jurys Coin Fair in London.

In November we, once again, visited Brighton. Glen had been invited to a party, so, we checked into the Griffin B&B, but, it was far more than a B&B and the owners even put a small bar of chocolate out with the towels. Of course, I did not get to eat my bar. Glen said the family had invited us to lunch on the Sunday to a pub called Whelans Lobster Pot. Upon arrival we found that they had not booked a table (for 11),but, were finally seated, however, it was not surprising they were being looked after as it turned out they owned the pub. We dined quite late for Sunday lunch, the food was really tasty, big, full plates and great choices.

I try to get my blog in more often. This is not a New Year’s resolution as I no longer make them – they get broken too easily.
 

 30.12.08

Where did 4 weeks go? Well I do know that at least one person read my Blog because they came round the house to do some research and told me so!

In fact someone else also visited to do some research, makes us sound like a museum, but, when you collect and keep information, the bookshelf expands and the collection grows.

We have had a couple of big events during the month, one of them was attending the inaugural meeting of our Resident’s Association – Peter is the Treasurer and I am the Secretary – funnily enough, people often used to say to me that they believed I was the Secretary of the IBNS meetings, when I never was – had lots of jobs with the IBNS, but, never Secretary.

Other events include going to see Joe Brown at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon – his last night of the tour – he had his son and daughter on stage with him, singing, playing all sorts of instruments. Great to hear Ukuleles – he really is a great Entertainer. Then last night a magic show at the Shaw Theatre – it was fabulous, the Compere was extremely funny and the show was enthralling.

We were pleased to attend a meeting where Glen received his Bronze Duke of Edinburgh award

Last Thursday was the club meeting and we learned something we never knew before – that the thread on the 1969 Bank of Scotland £20 actually reads Bank of Scotland in Morse code! We were astounded – I jokingly said they could have put SOS, which seems these days to be referred to as ‘Save our Savings’!

We did send out an Irish Listing (well, I am in Business). And I realised that any news on the list is now lost – so, I can reprint it here:

Great News… We are planning to publish THE book on Irish Banknotes written by Bob Blake and Jonathan Callaway by Mid March 2009. Expected price £35 plus post. If you would like to put your name down for a copy (send no money), then, just let us know on the order form or via email.

The Bank of Ireland issued a £5, £10 & £20 with “Old Bushmills” Distillery on the reverse to commemorate their 400th anniversary. All three denominations start with BD prefix.

The Northern Bank have now issued the £20 with a 2006 date.

The Ulster Bank have issued notes with the new RBS logo as of the 1st January 2007 £5, £10 & £20.

And on a last note – taken from ‘The Metro’In Germany a man settled a fine by stuffing 29,000 one cent coins in a court letterbox. He was fined 290 euro for smuggling a pal’s letters out of jail. The coins weighed 64kg and although the court was not obliged to accept them it was too costly to return them.

3.11.08

My first Blog.

Wow, I finally get to put pen to paper (type), my words of wisdom – is that what wow means?

I can now tell you about my banknote world. I don’t suppose it will be funny, but, saying that – here’s a joke that was in ‘The London Paper’.

What is the difference between a crazy rabbit and a counterfeit fiver?

One is a mad bunny and the other is bad money.

Now, that may not seem very funny, but, at the IBNS London branch club meeting on Thursday 30th October, there were two club members sitting at the table and in my usual opening gabble, I said the joke, then, two more people turned up, so I read the joke again, another person, etc, five times later it wasn’t funny at all!

At the meeting we discussed future talks etc, and have decided that one meeting next year we will have a film night – we showed ‘Counterfeiters’ recently – with popcorn and stuff. I was pleased to see so many for the film night, but, always hope we will get these high numbers when we have a talk!

Next meeting Thursday evening, November 27th, we will have Michael Brill speaking on ‘Interesting Scottish notes’. You don’t have to be a member of the IBNS to attend – you can check out our website:www.ibnslondon.org.uk

Anyway, other reasons for this blog? Sometimes I travel to shows and such and feel it would be good to share my life – banknotes are my life, we live, breathe, buy, sell, collect and generally are really lucky to have a great hobby as a job/life.

Pete and I went to Brighton on the weekend and managed to pick the sunniest of Sundays, which made it great for viewing the Veteran car rally – London to Brighton. Can’t believe I had ice cream - it was so warm! We had a great lunch in the TFI café – huge doorstep sandwiches with salad and crisps. For supper we went to Browns – staff very attentive, really happy, always smiling, food really nice and as it was the night before Pete’s birthday, we enjoyed a Kir Royale – champagne with crème de cassis.

We stayed at a lovely hotel in Regency square, just opposite the old Pier, you know, the one the Ship crashed into! Don’t know how he got so close to shore, let alone hitting an inanimate object – it was already an eyesore before he hit it though! Hotel Una is, in fact, two old houses with one central entrance. I had read that it had been renovated and we were pleasantly surprised as it must have been last week! The manager said they’d been renovating over the past three years. Our room was the Rhine – no boring numbers, but, as I did not know what floor the lift took us to, when I wanted to return (from the bar, obviously), I ended up too high up – rooms S-Z. However, a short walk down the stairs and I was back on track in time to see the final of Lewis Hamilton winning the Grand Prix. Great room, lots of stuff supplied, including bathrobes, substantial breakfast. Even offered to bring drinks up if we ordered from the bar, also had DVD’s available (no hire charge here). Hotel Una www.hotel-una.co.uk or email:reservation@hotal-una.co.uk
 

15th Nov 2009
We came back from a journey and decided last night to go to our favourite Italian restaurant. Not only was it closed – it had gone into liquidation. It had opened in boom time and was 3 shops wide. The take away pizza parlour opposite had proved too strong a competitor – it seems the newest eating out is, in fact, eating in. Take aways have done well in this recession. Restaurants are taking the brunt.

After all sorts of odd things happened in the past month, I can see why a daily blog almost makes sense. Something happens and you think, I must mention that, but, the day disappears, becomes a week (in my case, often a month) and the moment is lost.

I was on BBC Birmingham radio the other day – it seems I totally forgot (doh!) that it was 25 years since the demise of the £1 note. Well, I remember the notes and I know when it ceased to be legal tender. I also know the date of the last issue, but, funnily enough, none of these facts made it to 25 years. There must have been a date locked away somewhere that made it an anniversary.

The Dublin show went without a hitch. Our book – Paper Money of Ireland sold well and the doors were open into the next hall, which was holding an ‘Over 50’s show’, so, many more visitors than usual, some with interesting stories about notes they had at home – we will wait to see what turns up next show.

We took a table at the Numismata coin/banknote show in Frankfurt. We’d had a two hour delay on the tarmac on the first leg of the journey, fortunately, we were not in a hurry. The next day we walked everywhere, but, before we’d even left our block we met Mr Mellis from Israel on his travels. Amazing, being in a city for the first time and meeting a friend the first full day!

We heard recently that Tom Warburton, yes, Tom of the Warburton bakery family passed away. Tom was a ‘revived collector’, a real gentleman and sometimes would help me out at shows, it also gave him somewhere to sit! We once drove to Valkenburg and he acted as my map reader – in the days before satnav and he’d say “right, right, right – left, left, left” he used to do rally driving and it was what he would have said, we got there with his excellent map reading and speedily too! He will be sorely missed.

Glen, our son, passed his driving test and I bought a little run around that he now runs around in. It suits me for the short trips and we are now, once again, a two car family. When we went down to one car, we’d occasionally have to hire a car, but, no need to anymore.