Old Ads: Jackie Chan & the Australian Nuggets

That's Jackie Chan, 25 years ago.

The ad title: In my job, I need good planning. And a little luck.
How true! If we all know gold will soar from a mere US$$400++ an oz to US$2,000 an oz at its peak in recent times, we would be sitting on a small fortune. But of course, you and I know for that to happen, its not "a little bit of luck"; its a ton of luck! And when you look back, gold took a quarter of a century to appreciate to today's value, its fair! The world has never been richer.

Most collectors would have made some money by selling their China lunar series gold coins, in recent times. I had a few; couldn't sell them for years (unless you want to sell at a loss), until the gold price starts to soar; and after I have sold, I realized I sold them too cheap! That's the irony of life.

I've never bought any bullion coins because of its "conservative nature and excessive numbers": an alternative investment, an exaggerated claim as a hedge against inflation and produced without birth control. But I should have bought the Australian Nuggets because they were among the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful bullion coins in the market at that time. And priced with a small premium over gold prices for such a nice piece, a shining piece.Of course you may argue there were also the China Panda and our very own Singapore Lions. Ok, they were also in my radar screen so let's talk about them another day. :-)

The English ad was half-page, dated 13 May 1987, The Straits Times.
The Chinese ad was half-page, dated 14 May 1987, Lianhe Zaobao.

Does Jackie Chan in 1987 look like Jackie Chan in 2012? Or does Jackie Chan's son, Fang Zhuming (Jaycee Chan), look more like the younger Jackie Chan ? Both young Jaycee and old Jackie should be pleased.

Old Ads: Singapore MAS $25 Commemorative Banknote

An old ad of the MAS $25 commemorative note.

This full-page ad was featured in The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao, on 11 May 1996. 

This $25 note is produced to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). This is the only second $25 note ever issued. The first $25 note is from the Orchid series. And coincidentally, this is also the second commemorative note issue; do you remember which is the first commemorative issue? :-)

There are two things that caught my attention about this note:
1. There's no prefix on the serial number; that's unique, very unique.
2. The location of the signature of Dr Hu Tze Tau. It was on the right-hand side of the note, on the "white" column where the water-mark can be found. Do you recall  any other note(s) that has this layout? :-) (Clue: typically the signature is located at the bottom centre-left or centre-right after the subject.)

Uncut Sheet of 20-in-1                       : S$822/- (3,000 sheets)
Single note in Cheque Book Packing   : S$36/-   (?)
Single Note in Folder Packing             : S$34/-   (?)

Total production of this commemorative issue: 300,000 notes.

As a collector I really hate this: the production numbers are too small for circulation, i.e. you never see one in circulation, so it's not for circulation; but it's too large for meaningful collection- 300,000 notes is not scarce, so it will be kept, hoarded, stuck!! Too precious to use, worthless to keep because it will never appreciate in value due to it's quantity!

You can still find Single Notes in Cheque Book or Folder packing still being put up for auction by a local auction house on behalf of MAS. Imagine 16 years later, they are still selling!! How much paper and opportunity costs lost??

Nevertheless, this is still a beautiful note worth collecting, for history sake and not for rarity. The premium of the issue price was only 64.4% for the uncut sheet and 44% for the single note in special packing.