An illustrated guide to collecting banknotes, providing expert advice and collecting tips for new and established collectors alike.

An attractive introduction to collecting paper money - a major hobby which has seen an increasing popularity in the last decade. It embraces art and can form a miniature art gallery involving the best engravers in the world and famous artists. For those who like research the field is wide open and new discoveries are being made all the time. Paper money is the history of the world, issued as war-time emergencies, often hand signed by famous men like General Gordon of Khartoum and printed by men who made history, like Benjamin Franklin. From its beginnings in China, hidden in the mists of time, the mulberry bark flying money which avoided transporting heavy cash coins, established paper money through the world. Wars sieges, inflation, forgeries were the breeding ground for paper money, and often help to prove historical events. There are very expensive notes - over a million has been paid for a note, but there are thousands of attractive notes from all over the world at 1-2 pounds or even less. This book sets out to introduce the new collector to the fascinating areas of the hobby.