the observatory

The entire Third Series was demonetized and declared invalid by the Kuwaiti government in September 1991 to prevent Iraq from weaponizing the looted currency.  2 August 1990 - Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces looted the Central Bank of Kuwait during their invasion and occupation.  By 7 September 1990, Kuwaiti officials reported that approximately US$1 billion in banknotes and US$400 million in gold had been stolen.  As usual, me - a fan of conflict, geopolitic mess and civil war, took some "time" hunting down these as each has their own specific prefix number to qualify under the "stolen" category.  As usual sellers here couldnt be bothered. Few ones who are aware hiked up their prices.  While me - learning how to identify numbers in arabic at 3am. The hardest one is the 10 dinar.  Imagine the Iraqi forces dancing with joy, blowing endless bullets, blasting music and painting the town red spending the money in Kuwait - before bringing another billions back hom...

  The British Malaya 1-Cent bronze coin issued under the reign of King George VI. Normally i dont collect this but its an exception when i found out there are counterstamps punched directly into the coin: The stamped Japanese characters on the coin read 大日本 (Dai Nippon, meaning "Great Japan"). A little bit digging using ChatGPT.  Historical Context: During the Japanese occupation of Malaya and Singapore in World War II (1942–1945), the occupying military administration banned British coinage and issued paper money ("Banana Money").  Possessing British colonial currency carried severe penalties. To bypass these restrictions, some local merchants and residents countermarked existing British coins with Japanese authority stamps or private markings (such as Shou Zhang or Dai Nippon), attempting to repurpose or justify holding the metal legally or covertly. More articles https://theobservatoryanderson78.blogspot.com/2026/10/liberia-civil-war.html https://theobservatoryan...

 

The two different versions of the Liberian 5-dollar note exist because of the First Liberian War ( 1989 - 1997 ) The conflict split the country into two economic regions, as rebels stormed the central bank, forcing the central government to quickly alter the design of its money to protect its economy.

 

DC did something right finally, starting off wobbling with Man Of Tommorow, hospitalized again with Supergirl, i took a deep breath before jumping into HBO's Lanterns. man.....seriously i dont know why there are sl many haters out there. True Detectives with a fucking ring.  cmon DC - go all out.   “In brightest day, in darkest night, I'll embrace my fear. I'll do what's right. I choose this ring, I choose this fight, in service to this lantern's light.”