Collection

Argentina 1866 – Banco de Londres y Río de la Plata 1 Real (Rosario, PS1731, Bauman SFE 70, Type A)

Historical Context — Established in 1862, the Banco de Londres y Río de la Plata was the first major British-chartered bank to operate in the Southern Cone. Its Rosario branch, opened soon after Buenos Aires, served the fast-growing Santa Fe region, handling grain exports, shipping, and early railway finance. The 1 Real issue dated 15 December 1866 represents one of Argentina’s earliest fractional notes under foreign management. ... Read more →

Argentina 1866 – Banco de Londres y Río de la Plata 1 Real (Rosario, PS1731, Bauman SFE 70, Type B)

Historical Context — This note belongs to the same 1866 Rosario emission under the Banco de Londres y Río de la Plata, reflecting British financial integration into Argentina’s regional trade network. These early banknotes served daily commerce, circulating as substitutes for scarce silver coin in the province of Santa Fe. Design & Features — Identical frame and denomination layout as Type A, printed with the same typographic plates but signed by a different bank officer, demonstrating branch-level issuance flexibility. ... Read more →

Poland 1936 — 50 Zlotych Jan Henryk Dąbrowski (Pick 78a, CM#77a-b)

The 1936 50 Zlotych with Jan Henryk Dąbrowski is among the rarest Polish interwar notes. Prepared for issue but never officially released, it is believed that a small number were distributed as payment to soldiers in September 1939. These notes saw harsh wartime handling — carried in shoes, bags, or pockets rather than preserved — making collectible examples extraordinarily scarce. ... Read more →

Poland 1936 — 50 Zlotych Progressive Proof (Pick 78pp2, CM#77c) Reverse Only

Progressive proof of the reverse design for the 1936 50 Zlotych issue, showing the allegorical worker group. Printed by the Państwowa Wytwórnia Papierów Wartościowych (PWPW) in Warsaw as part of the preparation for the new higher-denomination series. Progressive proofs were trial impressions used to evaluate engraving stages before final approval — most were never meant to survive outside the archives of the printer. ... Read more →

AR Prefix — Poland 1994, 50 Zlotych Approval Specimen (Wzór akceptacyjny bez nadruków, Uncatalogued, related to Miłczak Wc AA)

An AR-prefix approval specimen, entirely devoid of overprints or perforations. Miłczak records this format as Wc, but only with the AA prefix, without illustration. The AR variant is uncatalogued and unpublished in both Pick and Miłczak. ... Read more →

AR Prefix — Poland 1994, 50 Zlotych Specimen with Red Overprint & Oval Stamp (Uncatalogued, related to Pick 175as / Miłczak Wb AA)

Printed by Thomas De La Rue in London, this AR-prefix specimen shows the bold diagonal SPECIMEN overprint and oval 'NO VALUE' stamp. Pick 175as and Miłczak Wb record this format only with the AA prefix. The AR prefix is uncatalogued, absent from all references and auction records. ... Read more →

AR Prefix — Poland 1994, 50 Zlotych Specimen with Perforated 'SPECIMEN OF NO VALUE' (Uncatalogued)

The most dramatic AR-prefix variety, this note bears a bold perforated 'SPECIMEN OF NO VALUE' across the portrait, with printer annotations linking it to De La Rue’s archival process. Unlike the Red Overprint (Pick 175as / Miłczak Wb, AA only) and the Approval / Wzór akceptacyjny bez nadruków (Miłczak Wc, AA only), the perforated type is completely absent from all references. It is entirely uncatalogued. ... Read more →

Libya ND (1971–72) — 10 Dinars (Color Trial Specimen)

Pre-issue color workup from the immediate post-monarchy redesign program, when the new Central Bank replaced royal iconography with Omar al-Mukhtar. Color trials like this were printed to test the interaction between the intaglio key plate and multiple tint stones: librarians of the pressroom would compare flesh tones, sky/sand palettes, and the legibility of micro-ornament under different ink loads. Because the portrait carries heavy cross-hatching, the printer balanced the underprint density to keep the face from closing up at production speeds. ... Read more →

Libya ND (1971–72) — Omar al-Mukhtar Vignette (Intaglio Print)

Steel-engraved master vignette of Omar al-Mukhtar, the resistance leader whose image became the anchor of Libya’s republican currency. Vignette proofs like this capture the die at an early working state: deeper modeling in the cheek and temple, tighter hair work, and heavier line-weight in the scarf folds than seen on most issued notes. The piece shows classic English-school intaglio traits—dense cross-hatch fields cut to carry a pronounced ink relief, then lightly burnished to avoid glare. ... Read more →

Libya ND (1971–72) — 10 Dinars (Specimen, Pick 37s)

Official pre-issue specimen for the first republican 10 Dinars, with red SPECIMEN overprint and 000000 controls. Specimens were circulated to ministries, bank branches, and correspondents to standardize cash-handling and check the pressroom’s final plate state before the production run. This example sits at the point where the engraver’s portrait, guilloche network, and underprint palette were frozen for circulation. ... Read more →

Libya ND (1971) — 10 Dinars (Pick 37a, Without Arabic Inscription)

Earliest circulation variety of the Omar al-Mukhtar 10 Dinars, struck on imported banknote paper with the Arms watermark and released before the lower-margin Arabic legal line was standardized. The omission signals how quickly production moved from approval proof to press—printer and issuer prioritized delivery while regulatory text lagged behind. For study, this P-37a is the clean baseline: the intaglio key plate and underprint geometry match the final design, letting you isolate the later inscription as a discrete typographic addition rather than a re-engraving. ... Read more →

Libya ND (1972) — 10 Dinars (Pick 37b, With Arabic Inscription)

Follow-on circulation note with the added Arabic inscription along the lower border, aligning the issue with the finalized Central Bank legal formula. The portrait die and guilloche structure remain unchanged; the inscription arrives as a typographic layer in the underprint, leaving the intaglio relief untouched. Collecting P-37a and P-37b as a pair shows how a single line of text can mark a policy pivot without disturbing the security architecture. ... Read more →