Collection PL

Mauritius 1839 - Mauritius Commercial Bank 20 Dollars / 4 Pounds Sterling Issued & Cancelled Note (Pick S125)

Rarity is severe. PMG census lists only 15 total graded examples for Pick S125 across all grades and subtypes. Surviving raw pieces in private hands and institutions likely number only a handful more. Combining these yields an estimated total population of approximately <10 extant issued-and-cancelled examples in all conditions, placing the type squarely in the R8 range of rarity. As an intact, fully issued, pre-1840 Mauritius note from the formative period of the island’s banking history, this piece stands as a museum-grade cornerstone for early Indian Ocean finance and colonial economic studies. Read more →

Mauritius 1842 - Mauritius Commercial Bank 10 Dollars / 2 Pounds Sterling Issued & Cancelled (Pick S122a)

The manuscript signatures, cashier validations, and pen script date confirm authentic circulation. The oval CANCELLED stamps - struck at redemption - document the bank’s auditing cycle, which removed exhausted notes from the economy and destroyed them thereafter. Fully issued and redeemed notes from the early 1840s are particularly rare because high-value dollars were usually handled only by merchants, shipping firms, and sugar estates, leaving little chance for survival. Read more →

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. Read more →

Jersey 1840 - Bible Christian Church, Royal Crescent £1 Remainder (Pick Unlisted)

The Bible Christian Church was a distinct Methodist branch active on Jersey during the 1837–1850 period, operating schools, chapels, and local relief programs. Financial instruments of this kind were produced in extremely small numbers and were not part of any formal island-wide banknote system. Surviving remainders are scarce and often represent the only material evidence of these local religious-financial networks. Read more →

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

A distinctive regional motif appears within the lower vignette, where an alligator is depicted along the riverbank beneath an arched bridge and passing steam locomotive. The alligator functions as an explicit symbol of Florida’s natural environment and frontier identity, anchoring the note geographically in a manner uncommon among many antebellum bank issues. Its placement beneath imagery of rail transport and masonry infrastructure creates a deliberate contrast between untamed nature and emerging industrial order, visually reinforcing the tension between wilderness and development that characterized Florida Territory during the 1840s. Read more →