Collection PL

About 1994.pl

Modern Japanese paper money sits at the intersection of statecraft, technology, and design. From the Meiji modernization drive to today’s Bank of Japan issues, printing has been anchored by the National Printing Bureau (NPB), whose craft pushed intaglio, guilloche, microtext, latent imagery, and watermarking to world-class standards. Portrait selections (Fukuzawa, Noguchi, Higuchi, Shibusawa) and iconography track policy eras and cultural identity, while substrate and ink innovations reflect an obsession with anti-counterfeit measures and durability.

For researchers and collectors, specimens and printer’s proofs document design intent and production variants that routine circulation obscures. Equally telling are intaglio test notes from equipment makers such as Komori, produced on genuine banknote paper to demonstrate press capability, plate geometry, and line fidelity. These pieces reveal how security features migrate from the test bench into BOJ notes and why Japanese printing is a benchmark for the industry. Use the filters above to drill by type, printer, or era; the selection below is a curated entry point, not a duplicate of card-level descriptions.

2 results · Page 1 of 1
Japan 1989 Komori Currency Technology intaglio test note with portrait of Mr. Komori and intricate floral guilloché, PCGS 65 PPQ Gem New on banknote paper

Japan 1989 - Komori Currency Technology Intaglio Test Note Mr. Komori

Paper and print: genuine banknote substrate with full-depth intaglio burr, even inking, and sharply defined micro-ornament in the floral fields. Oversized format underscores register accuracy and reveals any plate chatter, of which none is visible here. Read more →

JapanIntaglio Test Note1989Test ProofPCGS 65 PPQ Gem New JapanKomoriKomori Currency TechnologyTest NoteIntaglioPrinter SpecimenTest ProofOversizedND198919801990Security Printing
Held
Ask PMG Census
Edo-period Japanese 5 Momme Silver hansatsu printed by woodblock on handmade washi paper, showing vertical kanji inscriptions, circular and boxed validation seals, an oil merchant seal, and a reverse design with Daikokuten, rice bale symbolism, and ornamental wave-pattern security carving.

Japan 1800 - Edo Period 5 Momme Silver Hansatsu with Daikokuten Reverse and Oil Merchant Validation Seal Woodblock Printed on Handmade Washi Paper

The denomination on this piece is Five Momme Silver, written in the traditional silver-weight accounting system used before the modern yen. A momme was a unit of weight, and five momme represented a defined silver value rather than a decimal paper-money denomination. That makes this note especially interesting because it sits directly inside the older Japanese monetary world of weighted silver, commodity exchange, and regional treasury practice. It is not a modern promise to pay yen, but a local paper instrument tied to silver value and accepted through the practical trust networks of Edo-period commerce. Read more →

JapanHansatsu18005 Momme SilverFine to Very Fine estimated JapanJapan 1800Year 1800Edo PeriodLate Edo PeriodTokugawa EraTokugawa ShogunatePre-Meiji JapanHansatsuFeudal Domain NoteDomain-Issued Local NoteRegional Paper MoneyLocal CurrencyFive Momme Silver5 Momme SilverSilver Five MommeGin Go MonmeMomme Weight StandardSilver CurrencyCommodity CurrencyOil Merchant SealOil Commodity SealMerchant ScripRegional Exchange HouseCommodity-Linked CurrencyMerchant ExchangeRice CurrencyEdo Monetary SystemWoodblock Printed NoteHandmade Washi PaperVermilion SealCircular SealBoxed Validation SealCalligraphic Security TextWave Pattern ReverseAnti-Counterfeiting Woodblock DesignDaikokutenDeity of WealthDeity of AbundanceRice Bale MotifMallet of FortuneReligious MotifProsperity SymbolismHistoric CurrencyAsian Paper MoneyEighteenth CenturyNineteenth CenturyPick UnlistedNot Listed in PickRarityMuseum GradeHistory
Held
Ask PMG Census

Explore the collection

Ireland - Northern 1929 Ulster Bank Limited 1 Pound uncut sheet of 3 proofs with specimen perforation, Pick Unlisted, showing three proof impressions on Ulster Bank Limited watermarked security paper with Charles Skipper and East Limited London printing attribution

Ireland - Northern 1929 - Ulster Bank Limited 1 Pound Uncut Sheet of 3 Proofs with Specimen Perforation (Pick Unlisted)

The sheet shows the full engraved structure of the Ulster Bank Limited 1 Pound design, including the formal bank title, ornamental borderwork, large denomination panels, Belfast wording, and the central maritime and industrial vignette. The promise-to-pay layout is present in proof-stage form, with the engraved obligation text, denomination structure, and bank identity arranged across each subject. The object preserves the design before final administrative completion, retaining the printed architecture of the note in its larger production format.

Scotland 1962 National Commercial Bank of Scotland Limited 5 Pounds photographic back proof, Edinburgh Castle reverse design, Pick Unlisted, graded PCGS 55 Choice About New, mounted on card stock and associated with the issued Pick 272a design family

Scotland 1962 - National Commercial Bank of Scotland Limited 5 Pounds Photographic Back Proof, Edinburgh Castle Design (Pick Unlisted)

The composition is built around Edinburgh Castle and the surrounding city architecture, with the fortress rising above the neoclassical buildings and urban landscape below. This was a deliberate institutional image. For a Scottish commercial banknote, Edinburgh Castle gave the back design an immediate national reference, combining historical authority, capital-city identity, and financial permanence in a single engraved scene.

↑ Top