World's Most Expensive Stamp

New York, 4th October 2008 - A stamp issued by the U.S. post office in 1868 sold for $1,035,000 in an auction at Siegel Auction Galleries in New York City. The amount includes a 15% buyer's premium. The stamp was purchased by a collector who bid anonymously over the telephone.

The million-dollar price was paid for a 3-cent "B Grill" stamp, which was printed in 1868 with an embossed pattern in the paper. Collectors are said to prize these "grilled" stamps and only four copies of the "B Grill" are known. The stamp was sold during a three-day auction of more than 1,100 stamps owned by Perry B. Hansen, a mid-western banker.

"Collectors who want rare stamps don't seem fazed by the chaos in the financial markets. We had four bidders on the B Grill over $600,000, and the stamp has a current book value of only $250,000," said Scott R. Trepel, president of Siegel Auction Galleries.

Last year a rare Inverted "Jenny" stamp was sold at Siegel Auction Galleries for $977,500.00.

China's Olympics Currency Notes

I got a lot of currency notes from China but the one that I wanted was a modern one - the 10 yuan Olympics souvenir. I could not get that note. I found out that only 6,000,000 was printed and you would have thought that would be plenty. Apparently not. Distributed nationwide, each city only get a few thousand pieces. In Nanjing, only 3,000 pieces were released there. So there is no way I could get it unless I want to pay big money for it. It cost at least US$300 each.

The AP said when it first released the news, only the Olympics could bump Mao Zedong, the founding leader of communist China, off a Chinese banknote. To commemorate the Beijing Olympics, China's central bank is issuing a new 10-yuan note, according to a report by Monday's official Xinhua News Agency. The note is worth $1.45, the starting price for a taxi ride in the capital. Mao is gone from the note, replaced by a sketch of the new National Stadium — the Bird's Nest — and the emblem of the Beijing Games, according to the report. Both are set against the backdrop of the Temple of Heaven, one of Beijing's iconic sites. The back of the note features a statue of a Greek discus-thrower and the year 2008 written in Arabic script. The bank said it will issue 6 million notes beginning Tuesday, a tiny distribution meant almost as a souvenir. The new note is slightly larger than the ordinary 10-yuan note, which will continue to circulate.

I did manage the get the next best which are the Hong Kong $20 and Macao 20 Patacas issued by the Bank of China.

China's New Millennium Note 2000

This was the newest issued noted of China for the new 21st century. This was issued on 28th Novembe 2000. It is a polymer note. On the front can be seen a rising dragon of the nine dragon wall in Beijing, a laser mark on the right and a transparent window with the logo of Temple of Heaven. On the reverse is the China Century Temple.

I managed to get this note for 360 Yuan when I was in China. I don't know what the market value is really but I thought 360 was a reasonable figure. That works out to be around B$75.

What I really wanted to get was the Olympics 10 Yuan. On ebay that is currently traded at about US$300 which I thought was a little steep.

Philippines 500 Peso English Series

Another note which cost me a bit when I was in Manila was this 500 Peso note. I don't have my catalogue with me to say what year this was but I remembered that this one was issued a few years after the end of the Second World War.

This was an unusual series called the 'English' series as all the writings on the notes are in English unlike today's which is purely in Tagalog. This particular fine note cost me 3,000 Peso which is around B$100.00 which actually is quite expensive. I would have to wait for a Filipino to comment on the photograph and features of the currency note.

Philippines 20 Peso 1921

When I was in Manila recently, I came across a shop in San Juan selling Philippines currency notes. At first I just wanted to have a look but when the lady started taking out all her notes, I could not help but just had to buy everything she had on Philippines. Over the next few weeks, I will highlight those that I bought.

One of the more expensive note which I bought was this 1921 note. The original price for this note was 17,000 Peso which is far from what I am willing to pay. But after negotiation plus the fact that my total purchase have already exceeded four figures, I decided to purchase this one for around 10,000 Peso which is roughly around B$300 which is again much more than I should spending on this.

But it is 1921 and it is one of the more rare notes so I guess I should not regret this. I managed to get all the modern currencies as well as the various bank notes issued during the war by the various regions. Those were interesting. I am still following up a few of the Philippines Currency notes which I do not have in my posession.

SOAS Mosque $50 stamp

Last month, 26th September 2008, was the 50th anniversary of Masjid Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien. The Postal Services issued a set of new stamps to commemorate the event plus two miniature sheets. The first miniature sheet is shown above which is the high value miniature sheet with a $50 stamp.

This $50 stamp is not the first $50 stamp for Brunei. The first $50 stamp was issued in 1996 for His Majesty's 50th Birthday. In fact five $50 stamps were produced especially for that and the miniature sheet sold for $250 (it is about $800 on the market now). A $60 stamp was issued for His Majesty's 60th Birthday and a $40 stamp was issued for His Majesty's 40th Coronation earlier this year. This high value stamp is certainly an interesting marketing strategy for Brunei's Postal Services as not that many people will be using this $50 stamp. I would say a used one would probably cost more than an unused one.

Back in the 1970s, most people did not know that the mosque was also a school. In those days, Madrasah, the building next to the mosque was the only school that provided sekolah ugama in the morning in the whole of Brunei, I think. Most of us who attended the Brunei Preparatory Schools would be going to school in the afternoon. So the only way to go get sekolah ugama would be going to madrasah. Madrasah classes were overflowing. I remembered there were about 50+ of us in each class. The classes were not even partitioned properly except with standing wooden partition. You can hear the classes next to you.

We were like that for a few months before they started using the balconies overlooking the main prayer hall at SOAS Mosque. Every day we would be dragging up a standing blackboard up to the balcony. The balcony is not very visible from the main prayer hall but every Thursday I would remember looking down at the workers laying the carpets for the next day Friday prayers. I think in those days, the carpets were not permanently placed on the floors. So on the balcony, there would be two or three classes, one on both ends and one in the middle. This went out for a few months before we got moved to the classes at BPS Bandar at today's SOAS College padang. That's another interesting story in itself.

I remembered SOAS Mosque. I am probably one of a few people in Brunei who can say I studied there.

Brunei's New One Cent Coin

The Brunei Currency and Monetary Board (BCMB) issued new one-cent coins yesterday. The new coins will be in circulation alongside present one-cent coins and both would remain as legal tender in Brunei Darussalam and countries that accept them.

The announcement was made by Sainin bin Hari Mohammad, manager of the Brunei Currency and Monetary Board (BCMB) currency operation, who spoke on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer during a press conference at the BCMB building yesterday.

The difference between the new and present one-cent coin is that new one-cent coin is made from a composition of copper and zinc metals and is yellowish in color, while the present one-cent coin is made up of only copper metal and is brownish in color.

However, the new one-cent coin still retains some of the present one-cent coin features. The weight of the new and present coin is around 1.780 to 1.8010 grams per unit and has a diameter of 17.610 to 17.660 millimeters.

According to the BCMB official, the selection of copper and zinc metals in producing the new coins was to save production cost, thus, justifying the face value of the coin.