Chapter 3

Buying Philippine Paper Money

Build your Philippine money collection

As we mentioned in Chapter 2, most Philippine paper money is worth $0.10 to $1, but some can be worth thousands. Knowing what your goal is with Philippine paper money, and what you want to buy is important before you get started.

Before you begin, you should have a budget in mind. If you have no budget, lucky you. You’ll be able to complete whatever Philippine paper money collection you desire.

If you don’t have an unlimited budget, you should figure out what you want. Do you want a lot of Philippine notes that are cheap? Or do you want to start buying decent Philippine notes that are worth $10 to $500 dollars or more, each?

Philippine Banknote Buying Guidelines

Basic principles:

• Educate yourself on Philippine Paper Money.
• Find a Paper Money Expert who can help track down rare notes for your collection.
• Know which series are most commonly counterfeited.
• Buy graded banknotes to assure authenticity. (Try a company like PMG)
• Avoid paying too much on platforms like eBay, where sellers NEED to ask for ridiculous amounts of money in order to combat the high seller fees.
• Find a trustworthy seller who has been in the industry for decades.

Things to avoid:

• Just like buying jewelry, you do not want to buy at full retail cost; find a reputable dealer who will give you their best deal.
• Rushing into buying an entire collection at once can demand a significant premium, take your time.
• Using tape or staples near your paper money. (NEVER do this)
• Improper storage of Philippine paper money can negatively impact the value later down the line. Consider

Before buying, learn

We’ve all heard the saying “knowledge is power” and there couldn’t be a truer statement with buying Philippine paper money. Some people don’t want to invest the time, that’s where a paper money expert comes in hand.

When I first started collecting coins and currency, I was fortunate to have numerous mentors for both World and U.S. numismatics. If you don’t readily have an expert, you can find one you deem trustworthy. They will guide you in the right direction when it comes to buying Philippine notes.

For example, we sell Philippine paper money but it’s not our main area of focus. We focus more on tracking down top end Philippine notes for clients, who are looking to buy four or five-figure banknotes. We travel around the country looking for these rarities. We’re fortunate to do what we do and we absolutely love every moment.

10 Peso Central Bank Overprint

Understand condition is King

Condition is King when it comes to the value of a Philippine banknote. Something like a simple corner fold can be the difference of hundreds of dollars. This is one variable, but arguably the biggest, when it comes to knowing the value of a banknote.

It’s sometimes difficult to determine a notes exact condition without physically holding the bill. That’s why when we are selling Philippine paper money, we make sure we’re giving the appropriate grade of the bill. If not, the majority of our paper money is third party graded, so there are no questions to our customers.

Ask for clear photos

If you aren’t selling your Philippine paper money to me, that’s OK. Just make sure you’re taking clear photos where ever you end up selling your paper money. Keep in mind walking into shops not only takes time, and gas money, these local Coin Shops, and Pawn Shops are oftentimes less educated on values of Philippine paper money.

Now don’t get me wrong, there are some shops that have some knowledge, but I guarantee to find a Philippine paper money expert will be extremely difficult.

Buy in person

Buying in person is probably the best thing you could do, since you’ll be able to see, touch, and know exactly what you’re getting. The only downside, as I said, is people trying to rip you off and make you pay too much. If you ever have a chance to go to a Coin or Paper Money Show and you’re looking to buy Philippine paper money, definitely go. They are not as popular as they once were 10, 20, 30 years ago, but there you will have the best chance to get a good deal on Philippine paper money. Avoid eBay unless you have the expertise or willingness to take a risk.

1936 500 Pesos Treasury Certificate

Start small and go from there

I’ve been doing this for over 25 years, and I’ve seen new Philippine paper money collectors get burned because they went too fast. My recommendation is to start slow and ease into things. There’s no reason to rush into buying Philippine banknotes and drop $10,000 in your first few weeks while you’re still learning.

A way to avoid that is to find someone like us who will help guide you and make sure you’re getting the exact notes and collection you want. We work on extremely small margins, but we move a lot of material. Our intention is to give the absolute best deal we can, while still being able to make a small living.

If it’s not liquid, get ready to sit

Either sit or lose a lot of money…

So you’ve been collections for a few years now, you have about $1,000 to $20,000 wrapped up in a Philippine paper money collection and you’re in need of money, like yesterday. There’s good news and bad news. The good news is we’ll be able to sell it quickly if you need the cash ASAP. The bad news is you’ll lose quite a bit of money this way, especially if the notes aren’t liquid. Liquid banknotes are ones that are in high demand and people are always wanting to buy. Philippine paper money is not the most liquid type of paper money.

For example, we deal mainly in High Denomination $500 and $1,000 United States bills simply because 1) we love them and 2) they’re extremely liquid.

So keep that in mind when collecting. Don’t spend too much on paper money if you can’t afford that. And that’s not me trying to be degrading or rude. I’ve simply seen it happen time and time again and it pains me when someone has to sell their collection quickly in order to make ends meet. Someone else ends up getting an incredible deal on the collection you’ve been spending months and years putting together. Trust me on this one and let me help you put together a collection of Philippine paper money that you’ll have in the family for generations to come.

Find a trustworthy dealer

There are plenty of trustworthy paper money dealers located around the world, you must find one to help you if you’re serious about buying Philippine paper money. If you want to just buy a few notes for a few dollars, hop on eBay and do some damage. Just keep in mind a lot of prices are hiked up or auctions are shilled in order to bring more money, and the reason is their fees are very high.

If you’re serious about buying Philippine paper money, first figure out what you want to buy, then reach out to us so we can help you put together the collection you’ve always wanted.

Now that you know how to buy old Philippine paper money, maybe you’re interested in selling Philippine paper money? Head to Chapter 2 (Buying Philippine Paper Money)!

Introduction

1  Philippine Banknotes 101

2  Selling Your Philippine Notes

3  Buying Philippine Paper money

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