Notes PMG Grades, Attributions & Reference Books

PMG attributes notes on the PMG certification label according to common industry reference catalogs. A list of the attributions and reference catalogs used by PMG is provided below.

US Notes

“Friedberg” refers to Paper Money of the United States by Arthur and Ira Friedberg.

• US Large Size Type — referenced to Friedberg
• US Small Size Type — referenced to Friedberg and Standard Guide to Small Size US Paper Money by John Schwartz and Scott Lindquist
• US Colonials — referenced to Friedberg and The Early Paper Money Of America by Eric Newman and Stuart Levine
• US Fractional — referenced to Friedberg, The Encyclopedia of United States Fractional & Postal Currency by Milton Friedberg and A Collector's Guide To Postage & Fractional Currency by Robert Kravitz
• US Military Payment Certificates (MPC) — referenced to Military Payment Certificates by Fred Schwan
• Confederate and State Currency — referenced to Friedberg, Confederate and Southern States Currency by Grover Criswell, Collecting Confederate Paper Money by Pierre Fricke, Southern States Currency by Hugh Shull, A Guide Book of Counterfeit Confederate Currency by George Tremmel and Comprehensive Catalog and History of Confederate Bonds by Douglas B. Ball, Ph.D.
• US Obsolete Currency — referenced to Standard Catalog of United States Obsolete Bank Notes 1782-1866 by James Haxby, as well as individual state books by various authors
• US Large Size Nationals — referenced to National Bank Notes by Don Kelly
• US Small Size Nationals — referenced to National Bank Notes by Don Kelly
• US Paper Money Errors — referenced to United States Paper Money Errors by Frederick J. Bart & US Error Note Encyclopedia by Stephen M. Sullivan

World Notes

“Pick” refers to the system developed by Albert Pick and described in Standard Catalog of World Paper Money edited by Tracy Schmidt.

• Australian Banknotes — referenced to Pick and Renniks Australian Coin and Banknote Values by Eddie Cummings
• Belgian Emergency Issues — referenced to Belgium's Monetary History of the Great War 1914-1918 by Alain Debelder
• Canadian Banknotes "Bank Of Canada" and "Dominion of Canada" — referenced to Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Government Paper Money edited by R. J. Graham
• Canadian Charter Banknotes — referenced to Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Bank Notes edited by R. J. Graham
• Chinese Banknotes — referenced to Pick and Chinese Banknotes by Ward Smith and Brian Matravers
• Cuba Banknotes — referenced to Pick and Cuba 1781–1898 Paper Money of the Spanish Colonial Period by Pavel Meleg
• Dominican Republic Banknotes — referenced to Pick and El Papel Moneda Dominicano by Isaac Rudman and Miguel Estrella
• Great Britain Banknotes — referenced to Pick and English Paper Money by Vincent Duggleby edited by Pam West
• Hong Kong, China & Macau, China Banknotes — referenced to Pick and Hong Kong, China & Macau, China Numismatic Reference 1846–2014 by K.N. Boon
• Indian Banknotes — referenced to Pick and The Revised Standard Reference Guide to Indian Paper Money by Kishore Jhunjihunwalla and Rezwan Razack
• Ireland Banknotes — referenced to Pick and Paper Money of Ireland by Bob Blake and Jonathan Callaway edited by Pam West
• Korean Banknotes — referenced to Pick, D&K and K&C
• Mexican Banknotes — referenced to Pick and Mexican Paper Money edited by Cory Frampton, Duane Douglas, Alberto Hidalgo and Elmer Powell
• Paraguayan Banknotes — referenced to Pick and Billetes del Paraguay by Miguel Ángel Pratt Mayans
• Paraguayan Banknotes — referenced to Pick and Tokens and Vouchers from Paraguay by Miguel Ángel Pratt Mayans
• Polish Banknotes — referenced to Pick and Catalogue of Polish Banknotes by Czeslaw Mitczak
• Sarawak, Malaysia, Straits Settlements, Malaya, Malaya & British Borneo, Singapore, Brunei — referenced to Pick and Malaysia, Brunei & Singapore Banknotes & Coins edited by K.N. Boon
• All other World Banknotes — referenced to Pick

Other Notes

PMG grades other types of paper collectibles, such as novelty currency, scrip, tickets and coupons.

• Satire Notes
• Fantasy Notes
• Any Park Money – Disney Dollars, Universal, Dollywood, Knott’s Berry Farm, etc.
• Expo Tickets – World’s Fair, Pan-Pac, etc.
• Political Convention Tickets – DNC, RNC, etc.
• Souvenir Cards
• Proprietary Proofs
• Camp Money – POW and Internment camp currency, primarily from World War I and World War II eras
• Provisional Banknotes of England and Wales
• Israeli Scrip – cataloged in Alexander Golberg’s Catalog of Paper Payment Tokens in Israel
• Dry Rubber Export Coupons – from Malaya, Ceylon and Netherlands East Indies
• City, County and Chamber of Commerce Monetary Instruments – cataloged in Les Billets des Chambres de Commerce 1914-25 by Jean Pirot
• Official French Colony Monetary Instruments – cataloged in Maurice Kolsky’s Les traités officielles aux Xviiième et Xixème et Xixème Siècles
• Interim Depository Receipts of the Confederate States of America
• Philippine Emergency and Guerrilla Currency
• Traveler’s Checks
• Stocks and Bonds

Some paper collectibles do not qualify for a numerical grade, but PMG will provide a descriptive label. These are assessed on a case-by-case basis and include:

• Artist’s Renditions – a handmade drawing of a note
• Watermarked Paper
• Vignettes

Important:

PMG attributes most world paper money according to "Pick" catalog numbers described in the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money. These catalogs are continually updated by Krause Publications and, on occasion, some catalog numbers are changed. As a result, some PMG-certified notes are encapsulated with a label that has an outdated Pick catalog number.

Changes to the Pick catalog numbers are completely outside of PMG's control and PMG therefore cannot be responsible for notes that are no longer correctly attributed on the PMG label due to a later Pick numbering change. When attributing notes, PMG will use the most current Pick catalog numbers in the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money. For PMG-certified notes that have a now-outdated Pick catalog number, PMG will discount its ReHolder rate to $5 to update the attribution. Similarly, PMG will offer this discounted ReHolder rate of $5 to update the label for notes that were previously encapsulated with a Pick Unlisted attribution and have since been assigned a specific Pick catalog number.

This list is not comprehensive and is periodically updated. If you have any questions, please contact Customer Service at 1-877-764-5570 or [email protected].

Updated August 11, 2020