Note

A Note is a piece of paper that represents an item or stack items of the same type. It is equivalent to actual items, but cannot be used physically until exchanged for an object, for example in a bank. They are an initiative of RuneScape Certifications LLP.

Player can use the Low Level Alchemy and High Level Alchemy spells on notes, and the number of coins given will be equivalent to that of the actual item.

This concept replaced bank certificates in RuneScape Classic, and was introduced to the new RuneScape in the update of the 10th February 2004.

Stacking notes
Notes are stackable items, though a separate stack (and therefore a separate slot in the inventory) will be needed for each type of item. Each stack can hold 2,147,483,647 items, and bears an image on it that indicates the type of item it represents.

Items must be exactly identical to be in the same stack. For example, an antipoison potion with 2 doses will be separate from one with 3 doses, and a ring of duelling with 8 charges is different from one with 7.

They are most used for trading as the items stacked cannot be used.

Swapping notes for items
Players can deposit notes in the bank, offer them for sale in the Grand Exchange, or sell them to a general store. Doing any of these will swap the note for the item it represents.

If you have a Player Owned House and have the required Construction level, you may hire a servant who will un-note noted items, excluding bones and demonic ashes. To use the services of your servant, right click on them and select "Un-cert".

Swapping items for notes
The Tool Leprechaun, located near most farming patches will exchange the crops you harvest for banknotes. He will exchange grimy herbs and clean herbs. The one exception to this is the leprechaun at South Falador allotment, who will refuse to exchange cabbages, claiming that the whole farm stinks of them. Nightshade is one form of produce that cannot be exchanged for banknotes as it is an untradeable item. To convert your produce to bank notes, use them on the leprechaun.

Stiles is an NPC located on southern shore of Musa Point, west of the bar. He will exchange raw and cooked lobster, tuna and swordfish. He will not exchange burnt fish. To convert your fish to banknotes, use them on Stiles.

From the bank
Players can withdraw most items from their bank as notes ("noting" the items) by selecting the "Withdraw as: Note" button at the bottom of the bank interface window before withdrawing the items (see below for exceptions). The effect lasts until the player selects the "Withdraw as: Item" button, or until they close the bank interface window (the bank switches back to "Withdraw as: Item" by default). As of October 2008, this has changed so the bank will remember which option you have chosen until you log out.

From the Grand Exchange
When the Grand Exchange was first introduced, items withdrawn from it would be noted if (and only if) the player was unable to carry the full quantity un-noted.

This changed on the 4 March 2008, so that the items would be noted if the player withdrew at least five identical items, and un-noted otherwise. Unlike with the bank, it was not possible for players to change this behaviour according to their needs.

This changed again on the 26 August 2008, so that players could choose whether to withdraw items noted or un-noted in any quantity. When withdrawing items, players could left-click on them to take them noted, or right-click for the option to take them un-noted.

This was tweaked again on 26 October 2009, so that a single item would be taken un-noted by default (i.e. by left-clicking), but two or more identical items in one slot would be taken noted. Players can alter this behaviour as needed by right-clicking on the item(s).

From the general store
Players buying from a general store cannot choose to buy items in bulk as notes, even though options like "Buy 50" can be selected by right-clicking (presumably this is intended for use with stackable items). Players buying un-stackable items in bulk will need to run back and forth to the bank to deposit them. Players can also sell items in noted form to the general store.

From monster drops
It should also be noted that certain monsters are known to drop items in their noted form; for example, Minotaurs drop noted tin ore occasionally, amongst other items.

Magic notepaper
Another way to turn items into notes is to use them on magic notepaper, obtained from Treasure Hunter.

Trading with other players
The real purpose of noting items is for easier trading or selling of large quantities of un-stackable items. For example, players might wish to exchange 100 teak logs for 40,000 coins. To do this without noting the logs would require at least four separate transactions (for example, each consisting of 25 teak logs for 10,000 coins).

By withdrawing the teak logs as a note, the seller can swap all the logs for all the coins in one transaction, and the two players each require only one inventory slot to do so.

Un-notable items
Some items cannot be noted at all. These include all stackable items (since they are already weightless and occupy only one inventory slot) and most untradeable items (such as certain quest items, since players will never have the need to trade these in any quantity).

Advantages versus disadvantages
Carrying a single item noted uses as much inventory space as carrying the item itself, so it does not save any inventory space. However, the advantage in this situation is that notes (like all stackable items) are weightless, so players' energy will last longer if they carry heavy items as notes instead. It also prevents edible rares from being eaten.

Another advantage of notes is players can carry large amounts of noted food to a training grounds far from a bank, and if there is a general store players can sell for example, 25 noted sharks to the store, then buy them back in item form to eat.

However, the disadvantage of carrying an item as a note is that it cannot be used until it is exchanged for the original item. For example, a noted hammer cannot be used in Smithing, and a noted shark cannot be eaten. Players who are far from a bank may be willing to pay very high prices to buy a hammer if they have forgotten to bring one, but would not pay for a noted hammer, since they would still have to take it to a bank before they can use it. If players are near a general store, they can sell the noted hammer to the general store and spend a little money and buy an actual hammer back (although, in the case of the hammer, players can just buy a hammer directly from the general store).

Another disadvantage is that if players happened to die with the stacked items, all but 3 would be lost, assuming only the noted items are carried, or that the other items carried are worth less. However after an update, all noted items lost in the wilderness are unlootable by the killer until after one minute. This has been used as a method of tricking and scamming people to profit while not actually risking.