? At Banknote world we have thousands of beautiful banknotes at our fingertips, we finally thought it’d be neat give you guys the inside scoop on them being a blog series called “Banknote of the day”. In this series, we’ll highlight a specific banknote that we’d like to showcase, surprise days of the week.
So, with it being the launch of our new series, and Disney’s Disney+ being released this week, we’d LOVE to take the opportunity to focus on the happiest place on Earth, or in this case, the marvelous Novelty Disney dollars! As if this week couldn’t get any more magical!
From an Idea to a Collector’s DREAM
The idea of the infamous Novelty “Disney Dollars” first started when Harry Brice, a silhouette cutter on Main Street in Disneyland park, was visiting a Disney Collectors Convention. Mr. Brice stated,
I couldn’t believe that people were paying, money for — anything with Disney on it. So I began to wonder, ‘why couldn’t Disney make something just for the collector?’ So I came up with the idea to make a souvenir item, which would be sold in the park, that looked like money.” (Clark & Cahill, 1987, 4)
Mr. Brice discussed his ideas with other associates, and the road to the famous Novelty Disney dollars were set into motion! The first series of Novelty notes were printed on May 5th, 1987 and were a generic banknote that could be used as “Disney tender” at either the Anaheim park or Disneyworld in Florida. The official “A” series, was printed September 9, 1987 for Disneyland in Anaheim. Not long after, the “D” series were printed and were used at Disneyworld in Orlando, FL. Both series were accepted at each location, the “A” stood for the Anaheim location and the “D” Disneyworld.
The Design of Disney Dollars
Each Disney Dollar has a different serial number as well as different lettering to differentiate the bills from one another. Lastly, each bill is different in comparison to previous years. The design of each bill usually go with a particular theme, such as the one listed above, was part of Disney’s 50th anniversary series! The last series Disney released of the character currency was the “Mountain series” which celebrated all of the mountain rides in the park, such as: Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and who can forget about Big Thunder Mountain! Lastly, Disney dollars came in 4 denominations: $1.00, $5.00, $10.00, $50.00. They could be used as a form of tender at either of the parks and other places including: The Disney Stores, Disney Resort Hotels, and check this out, at one time specific parts of Castaway Cay, the Disney cruise-line’s private island. WOW.
Security Features
As with several types of currencies, Disney dollars come with a distinct list of security features to prevent fraudulent use, re-printing and recycling of fake bills. To keep it simple, according to Disney dollars information’s page, the authors suggest the main security features to look out for are:
- Micro-printing can be found on the front of the $10 bill since 1990.
- Reflective materials have been jused since 1996
- Serial number are included on each bill the differenciate them from one another and to keep track of available numbers
- The “A” or “D” letter to show where the bill was printed
- Fine print can be found on the back of Disney dollars since 1996
- The “Intaglio” printing method gives the bills a distinct texture
Retirement of Disney Dollars
It came as a big shock when Disney released they would stop the making of Disney Dollars and officially retired them Saturday May 14th, 2016. Although Disney dollars can no longer be used as form of tender within Disney, they still make amazing collectables! But who knows, maybe Disney will bring them back, visit banknote world’s novelty section and stock up while you can!
