Collection PL

United States 1854 - Empire City Bank 100 Dollars Proof (Pick NY1585G16P)

This note represents a proof of the one hundred dollars denomination prepared for the Empire City Bank of New York during the final year of the institution’s operation. It was produced as part of the internal design approval and engraving review process and was never intended for public circulation. As such, it belongs to the documentary layer of American private banknote production rather than to issued or remainder currency. Read more →

United States 1838 - Olney, Alabama 25 Cents, 50 Cents, 1 Dollar Uncut Sheet Remainder

Each note bears a promise to pay George Washington or bearer in bills of the Bank of the State of Alabama, or its branches, once the aggregate amount of five dollars was presented. This conditional redemption structure reflects the widespread use of fractional and small denomination scrip during the late 1830s, when shortages of hard money and economic instability following the Panic of 1837 forced communities to rely on paper substitutes for everyday transactions. Read more →

Cayman Islands 1970 - Cayman Islands Currency Board 1 Dollar Unissued Back Photographic Proof

This proof carries no serial numbers, signatures, legal text, or circulation elements. Its format and finish confirm that it was never intended for monetary use, serving instead as internal reference material associated with currency design preparation. The absence of any complementary printed surface is consistent with its function as a single-sided design proof rather than as part of a completed banknote. Read more →

Poland 1928 - Bank Polski 20 Zlotych Archival Watermarked Paper (Miłczak 67)

Archival watermarked paper prepared by Thomas De La Rue and Company Limited in London for the unissued Bank Polski 20 Zlotych banknote dated 2 January 1928. This piece preserves the original production substrate for the note: the security paper with multitone portrait watermark, before banknote printing. It is not a printed banknote, but a surviving archival component from one of the most important unrealized Polish banknote projects of the interwar period. Read more →

Cayman Islands 1970 - Cayman Islands Currency Board 5 Dollars Unissued Back Photographic Proof

As a design-stage survival, this photographic proof records an otherwise undocumented moment in the development of Cayman Islands higher-denomination currency. No issued five dollars note corresponds directly to this specific back proof format, and no institutional archival duplicates are recorded. The object therefore stands as a discrete documentary artifact of Cayman Islands currency design evolution rather than as a component of an issued banknote. Read more →

Uruguay 1939 - Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay 100 Pesos Specimen, Red Overprint, Serie D (Pick 39cs)

This Serie D one hundred pesos specimen of the Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay is identified as Specimen No. 2 and represents the red-marked member of an exceptional matched specimen-control pair. Its companion carries the same Pick 39cs classification, the same Serie D designation, the same all-zero serial format, the same Specimen No. 2 assignment, and the same completed banknote design, but was prepared with black specimen markings. Together, the two notes preserve parallel printer-controlled presentations of the same reference position. Read more →

Uruguay 1939 - Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay 100 Pesos Specimen, Black Overprint, Serie D (Pick 39cs)

The face is organized around the title of the Republica Oriental del Uruguay, the central national arms, and the denomination CIEN PESOS. MONEDA NACIONAL appears beneath the denomination, while dense guilloche patterns, ornamental borders, and repeated value devices create the security framework expected of a completed high-value banknote design. Read more →

Uruguay 1939 - Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay 50 Centesimos Issued Note Serie H (Pick 34)

This fifty Centesimos note was issued by the Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay under the monetary law of 2 January 1939, forming part of the comprehensive currency reform that standardized Uruguay’s interwar paper money system. Unlike the higher peso denominations of the same year, this fractional denomination is documented exclusively as an issued circulation note. No specimen format is known for the type, underscoring its strictly functional monetary role. Read more →

Argentina 1869 - Banco Domingo Garbino, 1 Peso Fuerte Issued Note with Red Overprint (Pick S1802)

The underlying note itself reads EL BANCO OXANDABURU Y GARBINO, preserving the corrected GARBINO spelling directly in the 1869 printed design. This connects the note with the earlier 1867 Oxandaburu y Garvino issues from Gualeguaychu, where Domingo Luis Garbino's surname appeared on the printed notes as GARVINO. The physical notes therefore document a clear printed progression from GARVINO in the 1867 partnership issue to GARBINO in the 1869 series. Read more →

United States 1928C - Five Dollars Legal Tender Note Red Seal, Friedberg 1528, GA Block, PMG 66 EPQ Gem Uncirculated

The vivid red Treasury seal and matching red serial numbers distinguish Legal Tender Notes from contemporary Federal Reserve issues. Unlike Federal Reserve Notes, these obligations were direct liabilities of the United States Treasury itself. The bold red elements contrast sharply against the deep green engraving of the portrait of Abraham Lincoln, whose dignified likeness anchors the obverse. The reverse presents the engraved Lincoln Memorial vignette, a compact yet intricate rendering that balances architectural precision with classical symmetry. Read more →

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

Historically, these notes belong to Argentina's fragmented late-1860s and early-1870s monetary environment, when private and provincial banking institutions issued paper obligations alongside multiple metallic currency standards. The transition from the 1867 Pesos Bolivianos partnership notes to the 1869 Pesos Fuertes series documents a change in monetary denomination, while the subsequent BANCO DOMINGO GARBINO overprint records the later institutional reuse of the earlier printed currency. Read more →

United States 1934 - 5 Dollars Federal Reserve Note, Cleveland District, DGS Mule (DA Block), Friedberg 1956-Dm, PMG 35 EPQ Choice Very Fine

This Cleveland District issue, identified by the bold black Federal Reserve seal and the letter D within the district emblem, carries the signatures of W. A. Julian as Treasurer of the United States and Henry Morgenthau, Jr. as Secretary of the Treasury. The portrait of Abraham Lincoln dominates the obverse, rendered in layered intaglio engraving that preserves the depth and sculptural quality characteristic of early twentieth-century American banknote design. Read more →