Collection PL

United States 1929 - 5 Dollars Type 1 National Bank Note - The Thomas County National Bank of Colby, Kansas Charter 13076 (Friedberg 1800-1)

The note follows the standard small-size Type 1 national design with Abraham Lincoln’s engraved portrait at center, flanked by bold denomination counters and the brown Treasury seal at right. The blue charter number '13076' appears vertically at both margins, while serial F004065A and red-brown overprint connect it to Colby’s 1929 issue block. The printed facsimile signatures of cashier N. Reimers and president W. D. Ferguson confirm its authenticity and continuity with the bank’s leadership also seen on its earlier 1902 issues and later 1944 correspondence. Read more →

Uruguay 1896 - Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay 10 Pesos Serie A Sepia Photographic Proof Pair, Dated 29 April 1925 (Pick Unlisted)

The issuing title EL BANCO DE LA REPUBLICA ORIENTAL DEL URUGUAY dominates the upper field. Beneath it, the bank promises payment to the bearer in moneda legal de oro sellado, directly connecting the denomination with Uruguay's gold-based monetary structure and the law of 4 August 1896. The wording gives the design the formal character of a redeemable banking obligation backed by legal gold currency. Read more →

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

A large oval portrait field occupies the left side of the face. Within the photographic image, a lightly rendered profile study remains visible, preserving the intended balance between portraiture and the highly ornamented denomination field. The oval also demonstrates how the portrait component was positioned within the overall face layout before translation into a finished security-printed note. Read more →

Uruguay 1896 - Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay 100 Pesos Photographic Proof Pair, Series A (Pick Unlisted)

The underlying designs bear the imprint of Bradbury, Wilkinson and Company Limited of New Malden, Surrey, England. The pair demonstrates the security printer's ability to combine portrait engraving, neoclassical framing, national allegory, monetary text, serial organization, and complex ornamental structure within a high-denomination design prepared for one of Uruguay's principal state banking institutions. Read more →

Uruguay 1925 - Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay 100 Pesos Photographic Proof Pair, Dated 29 April 1925 (Pick Unlisted)

A faint reversed numerical marking reading 20239 00 appears near the lower center of the reverse photographic image. Its mirrored orientation is consistent with a tracking mark originating from the photographic negative or printer archive system. Along with the date, plate notation, color instruction, and other handwritten references, it forms part of the surviving production history of the proof pair. Read more →

United States 1929 - 5 Dollars Type 2 National Bank Note - The First National Bank of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Charter 1 (Fr. 1800-2)

Issued by The First National Bank of Philadelphia under Charter 1 - the very first federal national bank charter granted following the National Banking Act of 1863 - this five-dollar note represents the closing generation of National Currency printed before the system ended in the 1930s. Read more →

Australia 1965 - Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited 10 Dollars Travellers Cheque Approved Design Proof (Pick Unlisted)

Approved design proof for the 10 Dollars traveller's cheque prepared by Bradbury Wilkinson and Company, London, for The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited. Dated 15 June 1965 and annotated "As Submitted - Approved," this proof represents the accepted design direction for the bank's decimal-era traveller's cheque programme. Its light green colour, carefully balanced security background, centred Australia map vignette, and restrained corporate typography show the refined form reached during the June 1965 approval stage. Read more →

Australia 1965 - Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited 20 Dollars Travellers Cheque Rejected Design Proof (Pick Unlisted)

Rejected design proof for the 20 Dollars traveller's cheque prepared by Bradbury Wilkinson and Company, London, for The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited. Submitted on 23 March 1965 and later annotated in the left margin "Not approved, letter 12.4.65," this sheet preserves the first formal 20 Dollars design presented within the bank's important 1965 three-denomination traveller's cheque sequence. It stands at the heart of the documented approval trail that links the March submitted designs to the later June revision phase and, ultimately, to the approved 10 Dollars proof of 15 June 1965. Read more →

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

Rejected design proof for the 50 Dollars traveller's cheque prepared by Bradbury Wilkinson and Company, London, for The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited. Submitted on 23 March 1965 and annotated in the left margin "Not approved, letter 12.4.65," this sheet preserves the top denomination from the first formal design stage of the bank's 1965 traveller's cheque programme. It forms the high-value counterpart to the 20 Dollars rejected design proof submitted on the same date, and together the two pieces define the March 1965 submitted design direction within the surviving Bradbury Wilkinson proof-room sequence. Read more →

Egypt 1918 - Banque Belge pour l’Étranger, Cairo Branch Issued Cheque

Surviving WWI-period cheques drawn by Banque Belge in Egypt are extremely scarce. Most were destroyed in interbank reconciliations, lost in postwar archival reductions, or discarded during institutional mergers. Complete examples retaining engraved borders, correspondent office overprints, payee cachets, and full manuscript entries are exceptionally rare. This 1918 specimen stands as a high-tier artifact of Belgian overseas banking operations in Egypt during the Great War and provides a primary-source window into the financial infrastructure that underpinned Egypt’s wartime commercial and administrative economy. Read more →

Egypt 1923 - Banco di Roma, Cairo Branch Issued Cheque

Surviving Cairo-issued Banco di Roma cheques from the early 1920s are uncommon. Most were destroyed during archival reductions, especially during mid-century bank liquidations or mergers, or when financial institutions disposed of decades-old clearing paper. Many surviving examples are heavily trimmed, defaced, or reduced to fragments. This complete specimen-with full engraving, intact overprints, clear clearing stamp, and uninterrupted manuscript entries-stands as a valuable artifact of Italian overseas banking operations in Egypt during the interwar period and contributes meaningfully to the broader documentary history of Egypt’s multi-national financial landscape. Read more →

Egypt 1921 - National Bank of Egypt, Cairo Branch Issued Cheque

The National Bank of Egypt occupied a unique position in the country’s financial system from its founding in 1898 until the mid-20th century. Before Egypt had a formal central bank, NBE performed a hybrid function: issuing banknotes, managing treasury operations, handling government deposits, facilitating currency stability, and simultaneously operating as a commercial bank serving merchants, plantation estates, trading firms, foreign residents, and government contractors. Its cheque forms were therefore both negotiable instruments and extensions of an emerging proto-central-banking infrastructure. Read more →