Please Help ; i Love coins and BANKNOTES but is graded better esp for NOTES ?

you opinions mean much to me,

modern world banknote or one back to 1950's

better to buy a 70 for US $ 150

or three diffrent 69's at fifty dollars each , 

my aim is not profit but to simply hold my invested value !!!

opinions ???????????????????????????????

A 70, or three different 69 notes – I think it depends on the banknote, what country it is from, on how many 70-graded examples there are. 

I would say it also depends on which grading company has done the grading.

what would consider the top tier graded banknote grades ???

67, 68, 69, 70 ? what should grade cut-off be for modern banknotes  ?

Again, it depends on the banknote.

For example, specific Irish banknotes, £50 & £100 notes dated 1977; and £100 notes dated 1996, the cut off is 65 EPQ. 65 EPQ and above does well in auction, 64 EPQ and below does not do well for these specific notes.

Another point is that the grade must include EPQ or equivalent.

If you are buying graded notes, do not buy notes which do not have EPQ mark, regardless of the grade number.

Every time I read a post about collecting banknotes (or coins) & the idea of investing in the same sentence, I think the person who's asking needs to stop collecting (or discontinue being influenced by social media).  Somebody has been watching too many misleading Youtube videos or some other social media hype.  None of these SM gurus back any of their exaggerated claims.

Collecting banknotes & investing in banknotes are 2 completely different activities IMO.   Collecting is a hobby where one appreciates the sets one assembles for various aesthetic (historical, cultural, etc) reasons. 

The second activity is speculating how a note may increase in value so he/she can flip it (or the notes) and (hopefully) make a profit.   While there may be slight gains in the second activity you would be much better off to invest in some other commodity (or exchange house).  Gains in the book value of a banknote are typically quite slow because they're determined by a pricing panel. This has changed as the hobby has changed (like SM enticing young collectors to buy the 100B Zimbabwe inflation note).  But if you're thinking of “banknotes as an investment” you need to exercise a great deal of caution.  The reason for this is that there are far fewer banknote collectors than there are world investors in other commodity/exchanges/investment vehicles.  You also have to remember that if you are expecting to flip a note that you need to factor in the cost to sell each note (which keeps increasing). The cost to exchange other investments is typically far cheaper (with less chances of things going south like postal theft).

Grading a banknote only helps the note become more liquid (easier to sell). 

Again, it depends on the banknote.

This is so true b/c grading a common note may make it easier to sell but the final result can still be very disappointing (especially if its common modern note). All that needs to happen is another war to break out and you'll find the bidding frenzies to quickly become a thing of the past.  That's why the Grade rarity collectors remain very fringe.  They're betting everything on the TPG subjective decision to award a note a lofty # and its a risk I wouldn't be too hasty to take. They're also banking on the stability of world markets, that no world events will impact them negatively. Even everyday events (like inflation or global warming in the news) can cool markets fast. Grade rarity collectors are solely relying on one thing: demand (not necessarily rarity). 

Even a bidding frenzy on an Irish £100 note dated 1977 (graded UNC 69) is much more risky (IMO) then one on a Seychelles 50 Rupees graded 67 or an AU50 EPQ Educational $2.00. There will always be a large number of core collectors willing to spend more for the older, more established rarities (unshakable demand).  If you remember that certification only allow the note to be sold easier down the road (make it liquid) than you will further appreciate why a correctly graded note can add to the integrity of your collection.  Collecting banknotes is a pretty expensive hobby.  Buying a graded note may mean that you'll get more money back from your collection in the future (or that your heirs may be able to dispose of your collection with less money lost).

a TPG banknote lets my kids or myself lookup its value if i “ say EF or GD ” its MY opinion but if PMG says it is a 67 you can tell the buyer they are scam artists if they dispute the grade.

$20 today is NOT $20 from 2005 , i DO NOT expect my banknotes that i buy in 2023 for $99 to be valued at $75 in 2037 …

grading protects my notes ; proves authenticity and removes disputes over grading  . . .

sure make more gold in stock exchange , but i HOLD hundred year old banknotes ; NO ONE gets excited about their computer monitor readout of balances , but how they are going to utilize that money !!!

collecting is NOT investing but other wise better take your money to the casino or track, i just am seeeking the lowest graded grade worth buying ………………………………………….

greggles

you opinions mean much to me,

 

To be honest, if you're just trying to hold the value of your investment, you're probably better off looking at other investment opportunities.

Vintage banknotes, like virtually all other collectibles, are ultimately susceptible to market forces. A banknote today valued at say $100 has no guarantee that it'll still be worth the (buying power equivalent of) $100 in the future. It depends on whether anyone wants to buy it and what those collector's are ultimately willing to pay for it. If there's an economic depression, then fewer people will have the disposable income to spend on collectibles. If there's an economic boom, then you might get more collectors - but there's no guarantee they'll want to collect what you have!

If you invest in high quality US notes, that's not much good if the collector market is interested in, say, high quality Canadian notes.
 

There's every chance that the vintage banknote market could be a bubble burst, and then your investment could be substantially lower than what you paid - leaving you with either the option of holding it for longer in the hopes of recovery OR taking the loss. Of course, if you sold the right item at the right moment, you could also make a lot of money too.
But collectible bubbles do happen frequently. Look at the comic book bubble burst in the mid 90s, the beanie babies in the early 2000s, or more recently with cryptocurrencies & NFTs.

My point is that coins & banknotes are a relatively risky market, and if your interest is in stability rather than gambling for profit, I'd say you're taking undue risk.

If you're going to invest in things simply to retain value, you're probably better looking at Government backed things like bonds & gilts, or bond (or bond-like, e.g. ISAs) things from commercial banks. You'll probably still lose a little value as the rates they offer are rarely higher than the rate of interest [Though there can be exceptions!], but you can be fairly re-assured of some fairly comparable future value if they're operating in a fairly stable nation.

Of course, these are usually for fixed-term lengths so aren't particularly useful as liquid assets.

Or if you wish to invest in physical items, look at precious metal bullion (E.g. Silver or gold). I'd personally go for things that are purely designed as bullion rather than precious metal items - I.e. I'd buy silver bars rather than silver coins. Most dealers will only offer you the spot value. Coins are usually charged to you at a premium - assumedly for the artistic value. So, you need the spot value to spike more significantly to make your coins bought at a premium worth more than the future spot value.

Again, it's a speculative market but at least precious metals have an actual intrinsic value, compared to -essentially- a pretty piece of paper.

But at least bullion you can sell all day every day, so it's a fairly liquid asset. Buyers won't care whether it's bullion created by the UK's Royal Mint, or the US Mint. So long as it's provably bullion, they'll buy it.

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Anything you spend on your hobby of collecting you should be, mentally, prepared to write-off as a total loss [or at least, for coins/banknotes loss down to face value]. If you need to sell it, then any money recouped is simply a bonus.

Don't collect banknotes as an investment.

Maybe collect gold coins. Sovereigns bought at bullion value would be a possibility, and they are nice coins, lots of dates to go for. 

Gold has tended to hold its value over the years, long term. It is a bit high now though.

wonderful write-up

 thank you   

But i collect because i am a collector ; so i am what i am . . .

but that does not mean i should not try and advance my knowlege , as i am doing herein …

You people have decades of experience ; all i am trying to do is plunder some of that knowledge    LLLOOOLLL  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

as a teenager with no discretionary money i collected chocolate bar wrappers. ( hey ; they were FREE ) LoL ;)

lost and made a lot of money on trading cards :)

today it is ONLY about QUALITY . . .

high grade quarter ounce gold coins and banknotes ! ! !

Oh, I fully understand the desire to want to collect things, and like most collectors, you want to have the best item in your collection. I think it's more drawing a distinction between your hobby and your investments. If you try to join them together, you can end up seriously out of pocket as you may not want to sell your collection, or your collection might end up “worthless”.

It's like how people say don't make your hobby your job - you'll only end up hating your hobby. Pretty much same principle here.

With your hobby, I think it's wiser to decide what amount of money you're prepared to “lose” for the satisfaction of having that item. If a particular banknote is worth $150 to you, then feel free to spend that $150. But don't go in with the expectation of having $150's buying equivalent when you come to sell it.

As I said earlier, it's simply a speculative market which could have booms or busts. Maybe that banknote might skyrocket & be worth $1,000, but it's also possible it'll plummet and only be worth $20. There's a lot of risk involved with collectibles, so you're gambling in a high risk/high reward area. Same as your trading cards experience. Some times you win, sometimes you lose.

For stable investment, look at other options. There are a lot of low risk/low return options out there.

Even if you decide to collect bullion, such as the gold sovereigns, some years are more valuable than others. But the quick-sell value will only ever be the spot price for gold. So if you want to complete it as a collection, you'll almost certainly end up spending more than the actual intrinsic value. E.g. Buying a 2023 sovereign is simple & you'll get it probably around market value. Buying a 1917 sovereign can be much more expensive. Going at it from a hobby perspective, maybe you'll be happy to pay the premium to own such a rare piece. From an investor's perspective, it may be too risky.