u/FanDeLaU69

So... I started chasing large size notes. These are the top 5 largest bank notes in my collection (so far)...

Pics 1,2

* Russia 500 Rubles 1912 (Pick #P-14), 272 × 127 mm — "Petrushka"

* Germany 10,000 Mark 1922 (Pick #P-72), 210 × 124 mm — "The Vampire Note"

Pics 3,4

* Austria 1,000 Kronen 1902 with 1919 Overprint (Pick #P-59), 193 × 129 mm — "The Blue Note"

* Germany 100,000 Mark 1923 (Pick #P-83),190 × 115 mm — "The Purple Prince"

* Germany 100 Mark 1910 (Pick #P-43), 207 × 102 mm — "The Battleship Note"

I finally got the 1989 1000 Francs note from Cameroon!

Featuring Paul Biya on the obverse, I got this note as part of my dictator/authoritarian/Dear Leader rush back in February. He's been the second president of Cameroon since 1983. Today he's 93 years old, and he holds the dubbious title of the oldest serving president in the world.

Soooo... as I mentioned I won this note on February 9th. The eBay seller had Turkey as their location. He/she mentioned that due to a holiday for the post office, the note wouldn't be shipped for a couple of weeks, which seemed odd, but I appreciated the heads up. Then the tracking number comes on February 24, and oh surprise, it is being shipped from Vietnam, which seemed like a red flag. After a VERY slow trip it made it to NY where it spent 2 weeks in customs. Then it spent 2 weeks in the Jamaica, NY international distribution center. I went to my post office, and they said that it seemed like the package didn't have a recipient address. What?!? At this point I wanted to get my money back, but oh surprise, I was just past the time to request it from eBay. Nasty review ensues... Hey, I'm furious. I decided to open a lost mail request in hopes the note could make it here. Lo and behold, 2 weeks later, it shows up at my mail box. The seller placed my name and address where the sender address normally goes (top left corner) and the sender name and address on the bottom right corner.

Moral of the story: cut sellers some slack, but don't wait until the last minute to request your money back from eBay.

Second moral of the story: DO NOT buy anything from Vietnam during the Lunar New Year celebration in February. As I read, mail is back logged until the end of February.

Ultimately, it made it into my collection. The one missing from the dictator/authoritarian/Dear Leader collection is the rare and very expensive Bokassa note from the Central African Republic/Empire.