Collection PL

United States 1934 - New Jersey 10 Dollars City of Asbury Park Tax Anticipation Note Recovery Bond Specimen (March 31 Issue)

This specimen represents an official municipal tax anticipation note issued by the City of Asbury Park, New Jersey, dated March 31, 1934, and denominated Ten Dollars. Explicitly titled TAX ANTICIPATION NOTE OF 1934 and further identified on the design as a RECOVERY BOND, the instrument belongs to a class of short-term municipal obligations created during the most acute phase of the Great Depression, when local governments faced severe cash shortages and collapsing revenue streams. Read more →

United States 1933 - State of Delaware 50 Cents Tax Paid on Half Barrel of Beer Uncut Specimen Strip of Five

The specific designation HALF BARREL OF BEER situates this stamp within the wholesale and production side of the brewing industry rather than retail consumption. The half-barrel unit reflected standardized commercial brewing measures and targeted breweries and distributors operating at industrial scale. As such, this stamp represents a point where state fiscal authority intersected directly with commercial alcohol production, at a moment when governments were seeking both revenue recovery and regulatory control after years of prohibition-driven disruption. Read more →

United States 1844 - Bank of Florida - Tallahassee 4 Dollars, State Bank Note, Final Revival Issue, FL-65-G26

This four dollar note stands as a primary documentary artifact of Florida’s territorial-era banking system during its final pre-statehood years. Its survival provides direct physical evidence of banking operations in Tallahassee during a failed revival attempt immediately preceding Florida’s admission to the Union in 1845. Read more →

Lower Canada 1837 - Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad - 15 Sous, Quarter Dollar, Half Dollar (Full Uncut Dual Series Sheet)

The denominations themselves correspond to multiple monetary systems in concurrent use. Fifteen sous aligns with fifteen pence, the quarter dollar corresponds to seven pence half penny, and the half dollar reflects a higher transactional unit. The simultaneous presence of British sterling, French-derived sou denominations, and dollar-based values illustrates the fragmented and hybrid monetary environment of Lower Canada in the 1830s. Read more →

Spain 1875 - Banco de España 50 Pesetas Contemporary Counterfeit (Pick 7x)

According to current publicly visible PMG population data, only two examples of this Pick 7x contemporary counterfeit have been graded to date, including the present note. Given the age of the issue, its historical context, and the absence of documented institutional or auction-surviving quantities, this represents an extremely limited survival profile. Read more →

Spain 1876 - Banco de España 100 Pesetas Contemporary Counterfeit (Pick 11x)

Contemporary counterfeits form a distinct and historically significant category within paper money studies. Unlike modern imitations, these notes were manufactured to deceive merchants and the public at the time of issue and therefore interacted directly with the circulating money supply. In post-restoration Spain, the continued reliance on high-denomination paper currency created both opportunity and incentive for sophisticated counterfeit production. Read more →

South Africa 1828 - Cape of Good Hope Bank 5 Shillings Pre-Issue Sample (Pick S171p)

This 1828 five shillings pre-issue sample must therefore be regarded as a museum-grade monetary artifact rather than a conventional banknote. It documents the transition from state-administered colonial finance toward private banking, the absence of central banking authority in nineteenth-century South Africa, and the institutional processes through which early banks sought legitimacy, authorization, and public trust. As such, it stands as a primary historical document of South Africa’s pre-central-bank monetary system and the origins of private paper currency in the region. Read more →

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

Printed from a hard steel plate by William Brown of London, with local agency handled by Ewan Christian in Cape Town, the note exemplifies the highest standards of mid nineteenth-century private banknote engraving. Steel-plate production required significant capital investment and technical skill, underscoring the bank’s intention to project stability, credibility, and permanence despite its ultimately fragile financial position. Read more →

Uruguay 1939 - Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay 1000 Pesos Specimen, Perforated Cancel, Series A–B (Pick 41as)

The obverse design presents an engraved portrait of José Gervasio Artigas, Uruguay’s foundational national figure, rendered within an ornate architectural framework characteristic of Thomas De La Rue and Company’s late-interwar intaglio production. The denomination MIL PESOS dominates the central cartouche, emphasizing the note’s position at the apex of the denomination hierarchy. This example belongs to the Series A–B grouping and bears a controlled all-zero serial format, consistent with non-circulating specimen preparation. Read more →

Uruguay 1939 - Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay 1000 Pesos Specimen, Printed Cancel, Serie D, Specimen No. 23 (Pick 41cs)

Issued under the authority of the Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay, this 1939 one thousand pesos specimen is an official reference example from Serie D, numbered Specimen No. 23. It records the completed appearance of one of the most imposing denominations in Uruguay's prewar paper currency system, preserved in specimen form for controlled administrative, banking, and archival use. Read more →

Uruguay 1939 - Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay 1000 Pesos Specimen, Printed Cancel, Serie C, Specimen No. 2 (Pick 41bs)

Across the obverse, the issuer's authority is stated in exceptionally prominent form. REPUBLICA ORIENTAL DEL URUGUAY stretches across the upper center, while MIL PESOS occupies the central ornamental panel. The obligation text and reference to the law of 2 January 1939 establish the note within the legal structure of the issue, making the design both a monetary instrument and a printed declaration of state-backed value. Read more →

Uruguay 1939 - Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay 1000 Pesos Specimen, De La Rue Cancel Stamp, Serie A, Specimen No. 50 (Pick 41as)

This specimen note represents a further distinct institutional handling variant of the one thousand pesos denomination of the Republica Oriental del Uruguay issued under the monetary law of 2 January 1939. As the highest denomination issued within Uruguay’s paper currency system at the time, the 1000 pesos was reserved exclusively for interbank settlement, treasury accounting, and high-level financial administration, and was never intended for routine public circulation. Read more →