Millionth Notes

A couple of days ago, I posted a few examples of some first notes printed. One of the comments I received was about millionth notes. In Jordan, all banknotes are printed with a six digit serial number. For each prefix, a million notes are printed. So how is this tackled with the 6-digit limitation? Well, upon reaching the highest 6-digit number, which is 999999, a note with serial number 100000 is printed, after which a 6th zero is appended by hand to the right and thus making it a million. This is not unique to Jordanian banknotes and has been known for other countries as well. Below are a few illustrations, the first is a note numbered 999999 while the remaining three are number 1000000. Note the rightmost zero and how it shows slight variations in size, shape, and position.

First Banknotes Printed

Since my primary area of specialty is Jordan, it is only fitting that my first blog post topic relates to that. Many collectors are intrigued by banknotes with special serial numbers: low numbers, repeating fancy numbers, numbers of special significance such as birth dates, and so on. Such banknotes can be exceptionally difficult to find.

I am interested in a particular kind of special numbers, namely the first banknote printed. Not every banknote with a serial number 000001 is a “first printed”; one has to also factor in the prefix seen next to the number itself. With every new issue, prefixes in Jordanian (and several other Arab countries’) banknotes usually start with أأ which translates to AA because أ is the first letter of the Arabic alphabet. The next prefix would be أب, followed by أج (translating to AB and AC, respectively) and so on.

Below are some examples of “first printed” Jordanian banknotes from my collection.