Participation

Not every athlete who enters the Commonwealth Games can go home with a gold, silver or bronze medal. But that doesn’t mean they have to go home empty handed. For some time athletes at the games have been issued with a commemorative medallion to remember their time at the event.

The obverse of each medal features information about the event, the host city and the year it was held. The reverse features a design reflective of the host nation’s culture. For example, the medal from the 74 games in Christchurch NZ features Mauri figures and tribal art while the 54 medal from Vancouver depicts athletes performing around a totem pole.

Prefixes

A recent examination of $5 notes has pointed out something interesting about their serial numbers. Apparently, since the introduction of the Year Dated System there have been no notes issued for circulation with the AA and AB prefixes.

This is due to the fact that under the old Consecutive Numerical Prefix system these prefixes have already been printed and to use them again would result in two notes in circulation with the same serial numbers. The first prefixes for all new notes is always BA.

However, there are some exceptions to this rule. The 2001 Federation notes have the A prefixes but vary in appearance enough from the normal notes for the serial numbers not to matter.

The other example is the first sheet of $5 notes with the new signatures obtained by Mark Duff of Strand Coins. The sheet features notes with the A prefixes, making it a specimen sheet not issued for circulation.

Not using the A prefixes only applies to the $5 note.

Real or Fake?

Collecting antique cast-iron money boxes is quickly becoming a very popular hobby. Unfortunately, given this rise in popularity the market has been flooded with fakes and “replicas.” So, how do you tell the real ones from the fakes?

Firstly, it is worth assessing whether you care if the item is fake or not. The fakes are often very interesting and given their price make very appealing collectibles. If you are buying for an investment it is important to be able to tell if it is the genuine article or not.

So, how do you tell if the cast-iron money box you have is real or not? The first factor to consider is price. Real ones are worth many hundreds, even thousands of dollars while fakes are worth around $50. However, you shouldn’t just go by price alone as many fakes are overpriced to trick consumers.

The second factor is age. Just because something looks old doesn’t mean it is. Real old cast-iron banks tend to look it while the fakes have been artificially aged, usually by being poorly painted and then buried or exposed to the elements. Originals can be over 100 years old, so if the piece in your hand looks like it has no real age then it is a fake.

Closer examination of the piece can often reveal some clues as to whether it is real or not. Many of the fakes are held together by screws that are quite clearly modern. If you can look inside the bank you can often see just how new they are. Looking at the base is another important factor as the base of old cast-iron banks will have sustained considerable damage from sitting around for 100 years.

As a side note, one of the most commonly faked cast-iron banks is the Jolly Blackman bank. Recent forgeries feature a screw/rivet through the wrist holding the coin, offering yet another way to tell real from fake.

Collecting cast-iron money boxes can be a rewarding and interesting hobby. However, if you are looking into it from an investment point of view it pays to know what you’re buying.