What do you have to lose?
Collecting world currency is a pretty new hobby folks. I'm not talking about buying bulk envelopes stuffed with defunct denominations that are nearly worthless these days. I'm concerned with what collectors are collecting. When I joined 3 different Coin forums with WORLD Paper Money threads two years ago, I was hoping to find some experts who could help mentor my ambitions. However, what I discovered was more coin collectors who dabbled in world paper. Of these I would say 50% collect circulated ( & worse) type specimens (so nothing special). Naturally, the big "whale" collectors would prefer anonymity. I get that. But every big online coin/paper money dealer seems to agree on the same thing: it's pretty new territory folks.
A lot has been happening in the past 2-3 decades (& since Krause started publishing the SCWPM (Standard Catalog of World Paper Money) but none of it is earth-shattering new to anyone who has collected currency in the past. The same principals one would apply collecting one's nation applies to world, except a few minor differences:
Less emphasis* on replacements and more emphasis on YEAR/Signature change-overs
Less emphasis* on errors, special serial numbers but more emphasis on certain odd short-lived designs such as CDN "Devil's Face" or Seychelles' 'SEX' & 'SCUM' series.
the above means opportunity for those who seek replacements, errors and the like
Brisk demand for TPG UNC and cooler demand for RAW (ungraded) banknotes
Collectors of condition rarities: who seek super Gems such as PMG UNC68* STAR or higher (so beware getting into a 'bidding war' with these folks!)
Brisk demand on small island nations, Commonwealth, fractional & odd denominations
Brisk demand on nations which lose currency issuing privileges such as pre-Euro, Ecuador, El Salvador, Straits Settlements, Ceylon, British/French Africa, Belgian Congo, etc (or have had a national name change such as British Honduras)
Opportunity, opportunity to acquire high grade uncommon banknotes & make decent collector's investment for those who research what is "hot" on eBay (& what is NOT). Why? Because the market for world/national rare currency fluctuates with the stock market (& state of world economic affairs). So when things cool down- its the time to buy folks. But beware of this too- because, since there's been a pandemic, and everyone has more time on their hands, there's been a shrinkage of sellers & growth in the number people entering the hobby. Know when to back off when bidding!
*I believe that many world collector have either one of three agendas: a) either to acquire a banknote from each country of the world; b) acquire only the best grades of certain regions/focus or c) collect by the note's design (women, ships, birds, etc). This is another reason why collecting world banknotes offers exciting opportunities. Many participants from CPMF, Numista, CCF or Colnect have found cheap replacements because dealers had no idea they had a replacement (especially common for banknotes from Great Britain with the various letter-prefix signification for replacement function). I've seen many coin collectors post questions about repeaters, radars and other special serial numbers (such as what is a low #)? This lack of info on the world collectors' part again offers opportunities for those seeking such specimens.
Now, go ahead and take the quiz! What are you waiting for?