Book cover.

From left to right: the authors of the book (Chee, Eu, Chiew) and Stane Štraus in Hong Kong in September 2005.

The 1st edition of World Polymer Banknotes is an excellent resource for polymer bank note collectors. It is also the first comprehensive polymer notes resource that has been printed on paper, as opposed to WWW resources. Peter Eu, Ben Chiew and Julian Chee have done an outstanding job in presenting the world of polymer bank notes. They have made an extensive use of www.polymernotes.org, the world's leading reference on polymer bank notes, and by compiling additional data from other sources, produced an informative and comprehensive reference that offers a wealth of information, including high-resolution scans depicting every bank note.

Technically, the book is superbly designed and it comes in full colour. The design of the book surpasses most endeavours seen so far in the area of numismatic reference books and catalogues.

Following a brief introduction of polymer bank notes, every polymer-issuing country is presented in the order of its first polymer issue, starting with the Tyvek® issues of Haiti, Costa Rica and the Isle of Man, continuing with the 23 Guardian®-issuing countries from Australia to Chile. The listing for each country shows all the bank note issues for that particular country, first in order of denomination, then in order of issue date. The basic characteristics of each bank note are given, then brief descriptions of the front and back side of each bank note accompany the appropriate front and back scans. The last and very helpful section of the book lists most of the varieties of polymer bank notes and their prices. The book also includes tips on collecting, a brief history of bank notes and other information.

In my opinion, certain bank note varieties presently listed in this edition would need to be reconsidered for the second edition. Perhaps some varieties should be deleted from the general listing and kept only in the last part of the book; certain varieties will need to be added. This can also be attributed to the fact that polymer bank notes constitute a complex area of issues and different authorities sometimes disagree on what constitutes a separate issue and what designation to ascribe to it. The book also attemps to list the Australian collectors' issues, which is an extensive and demanding tasks and with all the subvarieties numbering in hundreds—a task yet to be accomplished. The book correctly leaves out the Chatham Islands Dollars and other privately-commissioned prints. Also left out are American Bank Note Company Tyvek® promotional notes, which are rare and of interest to the highly-specialised connoiseurs of polymer bank notes only.

The main weakness of this reference is its cataloguing or reference system. A complicated reference system is far from intuitive and is difficult to use. It will also change every time a new edition of the book is made as the numbering follows first the country, then the issues of that particular country. For instance, a new issue for Australia, which is at the beginning of polymer issues, would shift or change all the subsequent references (22 countries and all their issues).

For those already advanced in their polymer knowledge or for those only starting their polymer collection, this book is a must-have. Even general bank note collectors that so far had no specific interest in polymer bank notes would find this book a great idea for a new and exciting field of collecting. With more and more countries converting to polymer every year, this is an excellent opportunity to start riding the polymer wave.