If you have gone through my previous article, you would have looked at some banknotes a little more carefully and probably also explored the rich information it holds. I understand you are new to the game and have a pool of questions about where to start?
There are several ways of starting a collection, simplest of which is to start collecting banknotes which are currently in circulation in your country. That is how I started my collection some 15 year back. BUT that is just a head start to your collection. Many collectors start collecting banknotes without proper guidance and end up having a mindset that it is a financially demanding hobby. It is therefore always beneficial to well research an area that you wish to collect. You can get a pool of information readily available over the web.
An educated collector is one who has researched well about his area of interest and has gained capability of making buying decisions for building his collection.
There are many topics or areas of interest in banknotes collection. Some prefer to collect single denominations from around the world, some prefer to have thematic or regional banknote collections, some prefer to have single banknotes from every other country while some prefer to collect special serial number on banknotes. Variety of themes are displayed on banknotes like animals, fish, flowers, famous personalities, music , medicine, royalty, religious events, portraits, ships while some banknotes even have postage stamps on them. Each area is quite diverse and equally exciting.
Now having chosen your area of interest, the question is the step two. Step two is buying. Start with family first, call all the uncles you hate and politely ask them if their kids are doing okay and then dig to find if you can have a banknote of your dream lying in their dusty cupboard that is just not accepted for buying groceries. Step three is to jump to different online sites dedicated to collectors. There are few auction houses for the sale of banknotes. There are many professional banknote dealers who offer notes to collectors at a premium amount and several fairs are organised all over the world round the year for the display and sale of world paper money.
There are other important things you should know when collecting banknotes like proper storage of banknotes to retain their value over time. It is important to know the different grades of banknotes and which is most beneficial to collect. We will talk of each of them comprehensively in our later articles. Till then, let me know in comments your areas of interest in banknote collection. If it aligns with me, I am not selling but I can direct you to someone who is.