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About Myself
Hi, my name is Tom Chao. Here's a little about myself. I was born in Fuzhou,
China, and came to the United States with my family when I was eleven years old.
I was raised and educated in the New York City school system, receiving a
Bachelor's degree from the City College of New York.
I have been retired for 13 years. Before that, I worked as an electronics
engineer at Naval Undersea Warfare Center, a sonar R&D facility, for 34 years.
I have two sons. One is a senior software engineer at a major aerospace company in Burlington, Massachusetts.
He and his wife have a four year old boy and a two year old girl. The
other son is not married. He is a cosmetic and hair transplant surgeon in
Beverly Hills, California. My wife and I live in Connecticut. My hobby is
collecting paper money from different countries of the world. I like
to surf on the net, work on my web pages, read modern thrillers and travel
occasionally.
About My Collection
How I got started collecting banknotes? Well, I was looking for a hobby to
keep myself busy in retirement. I used to collect stamps in my junior high
school days, but lost interest. Coins never appeal to me. They are so bulky.
I find banknotes much more interesting, attractive, and colorful. I bought a
package of 50 uncirculated world paper money to start my collection. Later on I
added more notes, always looking for those selling for under a dollar each.
Eventually as I become a more advanced collector, I got rid of most of those
"penny" banknotes. Where did I get my paper money? I bought them mostly from
online dealers and auctions.
Read about my interview on the ephemera blog
Talking Turkey with Paper Money Collector Tom Chao.
About My Websites
This paper money website was first created on August 6, 1997. Over the years,
it has been continuously updated and expanded. Currently this site has 1196
pages and over 4300 pictures. Many visitors left nice comments and
encouragements in my guestbook. They inspire me to further advance my collection
and improve this website.
My new blog,
Some Interesting Facts About Paper Money, offers timely articles and
commentaries on paper money related topics.
2009 Annual Statistics:
93,193 unique visitors
135,132 number of visits
444,837 pages viewed
3,659,658 hits
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