I am currently acquiring a fairly large amount of Indonesian paper
money from Ebay. With some exceptions it is quite affordable, although
there are unfortunately some collectors with more money than sense
willing to pay huge amounts over the odds for the rare notes.

Apart from forgery, which is a major concern (certain notes are ALL
fake on ebay), the other problem is buying good quality notes, as
sellers sometimes do not disclose grade, and it can be difficult to
discern the quality of colour from the images shown.

Here is one note I recently purchased, a 1 July 1927 Netherlands
Indies 25 Gulden for $20

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=180228816008

This is is catalogued at $70 in XF, $14 in F, and $4.50 in G, so it
seemed like an OK buy.

The note is bright on its face, with a small dirt spot on the top left
of the border, a twice-folded top right corner, and minor dogears on
the other corners, a very small folded-over tear on the left (visible
in the photo). There is a hard centre crease that does not affect the
face. On the back, the note is much less attractive, possibly in part
because of its design. The central crease is suffering from heavy
rubbing with loss of the design in the crease area (this is less
noticeable in the picture but immediately so in handling)

How do I grade this? And how do I do so before buying?

I guess it is merely F grade, so it is not cheap at the price I paid.
Correct?

My main concern is that the notes I buy are bright and attractive.
Some of the 1950s Indonesian notes are quite beautiful.

For instance, the reverse of the 1952 100 rupiah has some colourful
birds and patterns:

http://bp3.blogger.com/_y8y_ZpVbpsk/...budayaan+6.JPG

(picture at top is genuine, bottom is counterfeit)

while the face is also quite nice: (again, the top note is genuine)

http://bp0.blogger.com/_y8y_ZpVbpsk/...budayaan+7.JPG

So when I see one on sale, I would like to add it to my collection.

But not if it does not retain its original beauty.

So how is one to judge something like this?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Indonesia-1952...QQcmdZViewItem

The seller does not give any grades for any of his notes, unless they
are UNC, merely saying that it is circulated. In this case there is
only one side of the note shown.

What grade would you say that it is? Disregarding the price is it a
nice piece? It is quite hard to tell from small pictures made from
scanners that do not necessarily reproduce colour accurately anyway.

It is quite hard to buy things when sellers do not describe them. I
would be surprised if anyone would pay $250 for this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Indonesia-1957...QQcmdZViewItem

without any statement on the condition (slight dirt I can see, but are
there folds, or is that a security thread I see?).