Collection PL

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Greenland’s early paper money emerged from a unique economic system shaped by Danish colonial policy and the extreme isolation of the Arctic. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, nearly all commerce on the island was controlled by the Royal Greenland Trading Department — a state-run monopoly that supplied goods, managed trade, and regulated local economic life. Cash circulation was minimal, and currency functioned less as a free-market medium and more as an administrative tool within a tightly supervised trading network.

Notes such as the Rigsmønt skilling issues of the 1850s were printed in Copenhagen under official contract and shipped north for potential use across colonial stations. Many were never issued. Remainders survive today in far better condition than any circulated examples would have, because Greenland’s harsh climate — humidity, ice, salt exposure, and continual handling in remote settlements — destroyed most paper before it could reach modern collectors. As a result, early Greenlandic notes are studied largely through unissued remainders and proof material.

These early Danish-Greenland notes are historically important not for wide circulation, but for what they reveal about colonial logistics, remote trade infrastructure, and the earliest formal currency planning in the Arctic world. Their clean, Copenhagen-engraved layouts contrast sharply with the rugged trading-post economy they were intended to serve — an economy that relied more on barter, supply shipments, and store-credit systems than on everyday use of paper money.

The selection below highlights this foundational phase of Greenland’s monetary history. Use the filters above to explore Rigsmønt issues, Danish administrative printings, remainders, and future additions documenting the evolution of currency in one of the most geographically isolated regions ever to issue paper money.

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Greenland 1856 6 Skilling R.M. Danish Administration Pick A33r Remainder PMG 64 Choice Uncirculated

Greenland 1856 - 6 Skilling R.M. Danish Administration Colonial Remainder (Pick A33r)

Before Greenland adopted krone-based currency in the early 20th century, its economy relied on a closed credit system tied to Danish commerce. These Skilling notes-issued in denominations from 1 to 96-were part of that structure, designed exclusively for use at colonial trading posts (Handelssteder). Their refined design reflects Denmark’s effort to maintain both fiscal order and royal presence in its Arctic territories. Read more →

GreenlandRemainder18566 Skilling R.M.PMG 64 Choice Uncirculated (Remainder) GreenlandDanish Administration6 Skilling1856Colonial CurrencyRemainderPick a33rRoyal Greenland Trading DepartmentArctic EconomyEducationalNumismatic History
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Mauritius 1843 Mauritius Commercial Bank 10 Dollars / 2 Pounds Sterling Remainder, PMG 50 NET

Mauritius 1843 - Mauritius Commercial Bank 10 Dollars / 2 Pounds Sterling Remainder (Pick S122r)

This note represents the archival stock of the 1840s issue - printed but never signed or circulated. It carries the same engraving and layout as the fully issued 1842 Ten Dollars / Two Pounds Sterling notes, showing the Port Louis harbor with moored vessels, bonded warehouses, and the neoclassical bank building anchoring the composition. The vignette is among the earliest engraved landscapes used on any Mauritian banknote, reflecting the colony’s maritime identity and its economic dependence on shipping and re-export trade.

South Africa 1861 Montagu Bank five pounds remainder, large format steel plate engraved private banknote with green counterfeit protector

South Africa 1861 - Montagu Bank 5 Pounds Remainder (Pick S231r)

The Montagu Bank was established in 1861 at a time when local banking was widely regarded as essential to trade and economic development within the Cape Colony. Contemporary accounts note that by the late nineteenth century more than thirty such local banks operated across the colony, each issuing its own paper currency. Montagu was among the smaller but more ambitious of these institutions, notable not only for issuing its own banknotes but for embedding itself physically and socially within the town’s commercial core.

Uruguay 1862 Banco de Londres y Rio de la Plata 100 Pesos Pick S245r remainder, unissued and unsigned, engraved by Bradbury Wilkinson & Co., PMG 63 Choice Uncirculated

Uruguay 1862 - Banco de Londres y Rio de la Plata 100 Pesos Remainder (Pick S245r)

Every detail of the engraving is intact, from the fine guilloché to the portraits of Mercury and Agriculture that framed Uruguay’s economic vision. These were not symbolic choices but direct references to the nation’s trade and export economy, which the bank helped finance. By the late 19th century, the institution was absorbed into Lloyds Bank, but these early remainders preserved the look and ambition of its founding years.

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