Purchasing notes from Singapore.

[fishermanspocket]

Let me start by telling you that I am not an expert in coins and notes. I am but a mere humble collector and do sell occasionally.

The reason I am here do this is I purchased a couple of notes from Singapore which arrived in good time considering the had been sent from overseas. I had to do a trip to Brisbane for personal reasons, not being an expert I thought I would take advantage of this to get my note collection professionally graded. I did this and found that the notes purchased from Singapore had been washed and pressed.

These notes were advertised at a lot higher grade than what they really are, who ever did this really new what they were doing.

 The notes I purchased were advertised on ebay as being EF or better and aUNC and was quite happy when I received this items and left good feedback the seller. I live in a very remote area and only travel to the cities for the likes of Brisbane once or twice a year. so these notes have been sitting in my collection for a number of months.

After having the notes professionally graded the outcome was these notes would more than likely to have been in F or aVF condition. I guess for those in my position be very careful when grading your notes through photo's.

I sent this message share my experience spark discussions about this.

Fishermanspocket.

[lyndal1838]

You would probably be better taking this to the Coins and Collectibles board where there are some experts in the field of coins and banknotes.

We are more about helping with ebay and paypal problems rather than the items that are listed.

[kopenhagen5]

It is and always will be a problem buying over the internet.

Firstly one doesn't see the item with the naked eye and secondly many are sellers are selling from home, not qualified to grade.

Even grading differences occur amongst professionals as it's subjective, however is usually in the same ball park and not as your unfortunate incident.

Some sellers interpret the grading incorrectly and some are simply deceptive.

All I can suggest is to only purchase lower priced items over the internet and should you wish to purchase higher priced items, do so only from long standing reputable sellers. IBNS website has lots of useful information.

If you want any specific info, don't hesitate to personal message me through here. It's also a hobby of mine.

[heiner2929]

cooee Lyndal - this is the Coins, Stamps, Collectables and Antiques board isn't it????  lol

[kopenhagen5]

I think the thread has been moved from answer centre to here.

[numismatichemist]

As for the OP's comments: yes, it is fairly widely known amongst banknote collectors.

As a general rule of thumb, on eBay and off: don't buy expensive coins from China, and don't buy expensive notes from Singapore. The coins are likely to be fake and the notes are likely to be doctored.

There are people based in Singapore who buy cheap, low-grade examples of scarce early notes, including Australian notes. They then clean them, iron them, dunk them in bleach and otherwise horribly abuse them to try to improve how they look on-camera. Then they sell them on eBay for far more than what they paid for them.

With a bt of research, it's sometimes possible to track down where they got the note from originally; just look for low-grade notes in places like the Nobles auction catalogue, and watch for the same serial numbers cropping up for sale from Singapore. The old eBay coin and stamp forum (now deleted) had several such examples posted in it, as I recall.

[fishermanspocket]

Thanks for your response. I have taken on all your advise and I have decided that as a general rule from now on when buying online I will no longer purchase coins or notes regardless of grade from either Singapore of china.

Cheers, I wish I could buy you all a beer.