Collection PL

New Zealand 1896 — Bank of Australasia £50 Christchurch Proof (Pick Unlisted)

This proof represents a pre issue banknote of the Bank of Australasia, denominated Fifty Pounds and prepared for the Christchurch office during the late nineteenth century expansion of British chartered banking in New Zealand. It was produced as part of the institution internal design approval and presentation process and was never intended for public circulation. The Bank of Australasia, incorporated by Royal Charter in 1835, operated as one of the dominant British joint stock banks across Australia and New Zealand. ... Read more →

Australia ND (1880–1889) — Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited £5 SPECIMEN with Serial Prefix (Pick Unlisted, MVR4a)

A printer-issued £5 SPECIMEN prepared by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. for the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited, dating to the late 1880s production window (ND 1880–1889), and bearing live serial numbers rather than zero or placeholder prefixes. This piece represents an internal control or approval specimen drawn from a numbered production sequence, distinct from margin-heavy proof impressions or display specimens. ... Read more →

New Zealand 1870–1890 — Bank of New Zealand £1 Green Specimen (Pick S191s)

The first Bank of New Zealand specimen and the foundation of the country’s pre-Reserve Bank note lineage. Engraved and printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company, Limited, London, this one pound green specimen (Pick S191s) established the visual architecture reused throughout all later BNZ issues: paired Māori figures at left, an engraved coastal vignette below, and an ornate duty-tint panel framing the ONE POUND denomination. This design became the structural and visual origin of the Bank of New Zealand color lineage that defined New Zealand’s early commercial-bank currency. ... Read more →

Argentina 1884 — El Banco del Chaco 1 Peso Moneda Nacional Oro Serial 05056 (Pick S1566)

Partial issued note of El Banco del Chaco’s 1 Peso Moneda Nacional Oro, dated 1 Octubre 1884 and printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co., London, for the Villa Ocampo branch under the Ley de Bancos Garantidos provincial charter. The vignette centers on an allegory of Agriculture symbolizing prosperity and labor, flanked by a dog and bull for loyalty and strength—one of BWC’s finest small-format engravings for South America. Although the upper-right corner is missing, this early-serial piece (No. ... Read more →

Uruguay 1896 — Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay 5 Pesos Photographic Proof Pair (Pick Unlisted)

A photographic proof pair for the 5 Pesos issue dated 1896, produced by the American Bank Note Company for the Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay. Printed in black on photographic paper and mounted on cardstock, this pair records the approved face and back engravings prior to preparation of circulation plates. The obverse features a formal portrait of José Gervasio Artigas set within an ornate late-nineteenth-century framework of scrollwork, floral ornament, and dense guilloche patterns. ... Read more →

Uruguay 1896 — Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay 10 Pesos Photographic Proof Pair (Pick Unlisted)

A photographic proof pair for the 10 Pesos issue dated 1896, produced by the American Bank Note Company for the Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay. Printed in black on photographic paper and mounted on cardstock, this pair preserves the approved face and back engravings prior to preparation of circulation plates. The obverse features a formal engraved portrait medallion set within an ornate late-nineteenth-century framework of scrollwork, lathe engraving, and dense guilloche patterns. ... Read more →

Uruguay 1896 — Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay 100 Pesos Photographic Proof Pair (Pick Unlisted)

A photographic proof pair for the 100 Pesos issue dated 1896, produced by the American Bank Note Company for the Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay. Printed in black on photographic paper and mounted on cardstock, this pair records the approved face and back designs prior to preparation of circulation plates. The obverse presents a symmetrical composition centered on the denomination, flanked by dual engraved portrait medallions within an elaborate neoclassical framework. ... Read more →

Argentina 1869 — Banco Domingo Garbino, 5 Pesos Fuertes Issued Note with Red Overprint (Pick S1803)

Issued 5 Pesos Fuertes note of Banco Domingo Garbino, printed by the American Bank Note Company (Compañía Americana de Billetes de Banco Nueva York) and formally activated for circulation through the large diagonal red overprint “DOMINGO GARBINO.” This overprint was not decorative nor optional: it was the legal validation required to transform the bank’s remainder stock (Pick S1792r) into fully issued, signed, numbered, and payable currency. For this reason, Pick S1803 represents the only surviving issued form of the Garbino 5 Pesos Fuertes denomination. The base printing displays ABNC’s early post-Civil-War engraving style: a vigilant dog guarding a strongbox at top center, allegorical female portraits representing rural labor and domestic virtue, and deep green lathe-work executed with the precision that made ABNC the dominant security printer in the Americas. ... Read more →