Collection PL

China 1949 - People's Bank of China 100 Yuan Red Ship Unnumbered Multi-Layer Alignment Trial with Inverted 1948 100 Yuan Underprint (Pick Unlisted)

The reverse preserves a separate blue 100-denomination underprint or background layer beneath the Red Ship design. Repeating 100 numerals remain visible throughout the exposed blue field, most prominently below the main reverse design and continuing into both side margins. Read more →

Ireland - Northern 1929 - Ulster Bank Limited Large-Format Watermarked Security Paper

The paper is a production artifact in its own right. It shows the physical substrate prepared for banknote manufacture before printed design, serial numbering, signatures, or denomination-specific engraving were applied. The repeated Ulster Bank Limited watermark is clearly visible when the sheet is backlit, giving the piece strong technical value as surviving banknote security paper rather than only a supporting accessory to a printed proof. Read more →

Ireland - Northern 1940 - Ulster Bank Limited 1 Pound Issued Note (Pick 306)

The reverse presents an architectural vignette framed by dense wavy-line security engraving and ornamental scrollwork. The contrast between the formal building scene on the back and the maritime-industrial vignette on the face gives the note both institutional weight and regional character. The security paper carries an Ulster Bank Limited watermark, visible when backlit, adding a second layer of bank identity beneath the printed design. Read more →

Scotland 1966 - National Commercial Bank of Scotland Limited 5 Pounds Issued Note (Pick 272a)

The reverse presents an engraved Edinburgh city view centered on the Castle and surrounding architectural landscape. The scene is more than decorative: it anchors the note visually in Scotland's national and financial setting, balancing the legal promise of the face with a civic image of historical continuity, capital authority, and urban permanence. The large oval reserve contains the Man's Head watermark, visible when backlit, adding a portrait-style paper security feature beneath the reverse design. Read more →

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

This 1962 National Commercial Bank of Scotland Limited 5 Pounds photographic back proof preserves the Edinburgh Castle reverse design that belongs to the visual development of the bank's early 1960s 5 Pounds issue. The proof is cataloged here as Pick Unlisted and stands as a separate production artifact for the reverse side of the design, centered on Scotland's capital rather than on the legal and textual structure of the face. Read more →

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

This 1962 National Commercial Bank of Scotland Limited 5 Pounds photographic back proof preserves a separate landscape reverse concept from the same design period. Cataloged here as Pick Unlisted, it records a proposed scenic direction for the bank's 5 Pounds reverse, with the design organized around countryside, water, trees, distant hills, and open Scottish terrain. Read more →

Australia 1965 - Commercial Banking Company of Sydney 50 Dollars Travellers Cheque Photographic Proof (Pick Unlisted)

The proof reproduces the 50 Dollars design in monochrome, allowing the engraved structure and tonal balance of the top denomination to be studied without the full rose and pink colour scheme. The design shows the large corner denomination tablets, strong rectangular border, C.B.C. Travellers' Cheque title panel, central bank-name field, scripted amount line, drawer's signature area, and the repeated security underprint across the background. The central Australia map device and circular bank medallion remain visible beneath the main typography, preserving the shared visual language of the 10 Dollars, 20 Dollars, and 50 Dollars series. Read more →

Australia 1965 - Commercial Banking Company of Sydney 50 Dollars Travellers Cheque Approval-Stage Photographic Proof (Pick Unlisted)

The proof reproduces the 50 Dollars design in monochrome, but its importance lies in the visible changes that separate it from the earlier 1 April 1965 50 Dollars photographic proof. The inscription "The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited" is carried across a distinctly light horizontal reserve panel, lifting the bank title out of the dense security background and giving the central field a cleaner visual hierarchy. This treatment makes the institutional name read with immediate clarity while preserving the same high-denomination structure, corner value tablets, C.B.C. Travellers' Cheque title panel, scripted amount line, Australia map motif, circular C.B.C. medallion, and drawer's signature area seen throughout the 50 Dollars design progression. Read more →

Great Britain 1922 - Thomas Cook and Son 5 Pounds Travellers Cheque Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

The face design combines a strong Thomas Cook and Son title banner, large 5 Pounds denomination devices, dense guilloche patterning, a portrait vignette at the right, and a layered security background designed to convey institutional reliability and protect against alteration. The payment text identifies the cheque as payable in the British Isles and in other countries through the firm's established international network, reflecting the mature form of the traveller's cheque as a portable and identity-linked financial instrument. Read more →

Great Britain 1919 - Thomas Cook and Son 5 Pounds Circular Note Photographic Proof (Pick Unlisted)

This 1919 proof occupies an important position between earlier Thomas Cook circular note designs and the more standardized traveller-payment instruments of the early 1920s. It connects backward to the earlier Thomas Cook and Son 50 Dollars Circular Note photographic proof and forward to the later Thomas Cook and Son 5 Pounds Travellers Cheque photographic proof. The comparison shows the continuity of Thomas Cook's identity-linked payment system while also documenting the movement from circular note design language toward the later traveller's cheque format. Read more →

Great Britain 1919 - Thomas Cook and Son 5 Pounds Circular Note Photographic Proof, Alternate Design (Pick Unlisted)

The broader sequence connects this proof backward to the earlier Thomas Cook and Son 50 Dollars Circular Note photographic proof and forward to the later Thomas Cook and Son 5 Pounds Travellers Cheque photographic proof. That relationship places the item within a documented evolution of Thomas Cook private payment instruments, from Edwardian circular notes through postwar design review and into the more standardized traveller-payment forms of the early 1920s. Read more →

Great Britain 1919 - Thomas Cook and Son Limited 50 Dollars Travellers Cheques Photographic Proof, Control Layout Design (Pick Unlisted)

The central title reads "Travelers Cheque for Fifty Dollars," using the American spelling on the face, and the right-side text box states "Good for Twelve Months from Date." Beneath the title, the payment instruction is addressed formally to the paying correspondent, beginning with "Gentlemen," and explains that the cheque will be presented by a named holder whose signature appears in the firm's letter of identification. The text directs payment against a sight draft on the back of the cheque, showing how the document was designed to operate through controlled presentation, identification, and correspondent-bank settlement rather than through ordinary circulation. Read more →