Collection PL

Argentina 1876 - Banco de San Juan 5 Pesos Fuertes Specimen (S1881s)

This specimen represents the sole documented control specimen of the Banco de San Juan 5 Pesos Fuertes issue, printed in 1876 by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company in London for the provincial Bank of San Juan. It is not part of a surviving series but a single archival output, with no issued, proof, or parallel specimen counterparts known. The Banco de San Juan operated within Argentina’s interior Andean province during a period when provincial banks exercised near-sovereign authority over local credit and currency issuance. ... Read more →

Spain 1857 - Banco de Zaragoza 200 Reales Vellón Serie B Issued Note No. 07958 (Pick S4532s)

A specimen of the Banco de Zaragoza 200 reales vellón dated 14 May 1857, Serie B, serial number 07958, classified as Pick S452s. This is the standard specimen format as preserved for printer archives and official reference, fully complete in its intended banknote form. The Madrid-school engraving includes the Spanish coat of arms, detailed acanthus ornaments, and formal promise text characteristic of Zaragoza's mid-19th century private-bank issues. ... 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 →

Spain 1857 - Banco de Zaragoza 2000 Reales Vellón Serie E Issued Note No. 00589 (Pick S455)

An extraordinarily rare issued 2000 reales vellón banknote from the Banco de Zaragoza dated 14 May 1857, Serie E, serial number 00589. Classified as Pick S455, this note represents the highest denomination placed into active circulation by the bank. Very few issued examples of any Banco de Zaragoza notes survive, and among these, the 2000 reales denomination is one of the most elusive. ... Read more →

Spain 1857 - Banco de Zaragoza 2000 Reales Vellón Serie E Issued Note No. 00500 (Pick S455)

A fully issued 2000 reales vellón banknote from the Banco de Zaragoza dated 14 May 1857, Serie E, serial number 00500. Classified under Pick S455, this note represents the highest denomination from Zaragoza known to have entered active circulation. Its survival is an exceptional anomaly: most high-value private-bank issues from this period were redeemed rapidly and destroyed, leaving only a microscopic population of true circulation-authorized notes. ... Read more →

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

Unissued £1 remainder note of the Bible Christian Church, Royal Crescent, Jersey - a rare surviving artifact from the early 19th-century Methodist movement on the Channel Islands. Printed in blue on thin, high-quality wove paper with a large circular watermark, the piece was intended as a church-backed promissory note payable in British Sterling, guaranteed by the trustees of the congregation. The engraving features an architectural vignette of the Royal Crescent Chapel and elaborate script typography typical of 1835–1845 provincial printing. ... Read more →

Poland 1940 - 10 Złotych Bank Emisyjny w Polsce Prefix C Kraków Issue Approval Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

This Prefix C approval specimen of the 10 Złotych issue documents the formal authorization stage of one of the core denominations of the 1940 General Government banknote series. Dated Kraków, 1 March 1940, the note represents the fully approved production standard used to initiate circulation printing by Bank Emisyjny w Polsce. The specimen is fully engraved and signed, corresponding in design, layout, and security structure to the issued banknote. ... Read more →

Poland 1940 - 20 Złotych Bank Emisyjny w Polsce Prefix A Kraków Issue Approval Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

This Prefix A approval specimen of the 20 Złotych issue documents the formal authorization stage of the occupation-era monetary system administered by Bank Emisyjny w Polsce. Dated Kraków, 1 March 1940, the note represents the fully accepted production standard from which circulation printing was initiated. It is a completed, signed, and institutionally approved banknote retained as a reference at the moment when monetary authority was translated into physical form. ... Read more →

Spain 1857 - Banco de Zaragoza 2000 Reales Vellón Serie E Issued Note No. 00286 (Pick S455)

A genuinely rare issued 2000 reales vellón banknote of the Banco de Zaragoza, dated Zaragoza, 14 May 1857, Serie E, serial number 00286. Catalogued as Pick S455, this denomination represents the upper tier of the bank’s circulating emissions and belongs to a class of notes that were produced in limited quantities and almost entirely redeemed and destroyed. The Banco de Zaragoza was one of the provincial banks authorised to issue paper currency during Spain’s short-lived liberal banking period following the 1856 banking reforms. ... Read more →

Spain 1857 - Banco de Zaragoza 2000 Reales Vellón Serie E Issued Consecutive Pair No. 00031–00032 (Pick S455)

An exceptional issued consecutive pair of 2000 reales vellón banknotes from the Banco de Zaragoza, dated Zaragoza, 14 May 1857, Serie E, serial numbers 00031 and 00032. Catalogued as Pick S455, this pair represents one of the earliest surviving serial groupings of the highest denomination issued by the bank and illustrates the original form in which such notes were placed into circulation. The Banco de Zaragoza operated during Spain’s brief liberal banking period following the 1856 reforms, when select provincial banks were authorised to issue their own circulating paper currency. ... Read more →

Macau 1937 - Foo Hang Bank 10 Patacas Archival Printer Proof Compound Sheet (Pick S105)

An archival printer proof compound sheet prepared for the Foo Hang Bank of Macau in 1937 for the 10 patacas denomination associated with Pick S105. This pre-issue proof material survives as a single intact sheet and represents internal security-printing output created for reference, approval, and archival control rather than public circulation. Foo Hang Bank operated in Macau during a period when the territory functioned as a distinct monetary and commercial enclave within southern China. ... Read more →

China 1945 - Soviet Red Army Headquarters 100 Yuan Issued Note, Revalidated 1946 (Pick M36)

An issued 100 yuan banknote produced in 1945 under the authority of the Soviet Red Army Headquarters during the closing phase of the Second World War, later officially revalidated in 1946. Catalogued as Pick M36, this note forms part of the provisional monetary system established by Soviet military administration in northeastern China following the collapse of Japanese control in Manchuria. Currency issued by the Soviet Red Army Headquarters functioned within a command-level financial structure designed to support military logistics, civilian transactions, and administrative continuity in occupied territory. ... Read more →