Search Results for "colonial finance" - Collection

New Zealand Bank of Australasia £50 Christchurch proof note dated 1896, Victorian engraved colonial banknote printed by Perkins Bacon, PMG 55 proof

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

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. By the 1890s, its New Zealand branches played a central role in commercial finance, agricultural settlement, and large scale mercantile transactions. The Christchurch office served as a major regional hub, making the Fifty Pounds denomination a practical upper tier instrument for institutional and wholesale banking use. Read more →

New ZealandProof189650 PoundsPMG 55 About Uncirculated Proof Banknote50 PoundsPre Issue ProofNon Circulating ProofInstitutional Presentation NoteBank of AustralasiaBritish Chartered BanksColonial Banking in New ZealandColonial FinanceBritish Security PrintingVictorian EngravingExport Engraved NotesNew ZealandChristchurch188819211896Pick UnlistedMuseum GradeR9 Extremely RareUnique

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Australia Bank of Australasia 10 Pounds Melbourne proof note, early Victorian colonial banknote, Perkins Bacon engraving, PMG 45 proof

Australia 1835-1850 - Bank of Australasia £10 Melbourne Proof (Pick Unlisted)

The Melbourne imprint anchors the note to the colonial financial center of Victoria during a period of rapid economic development. Notes of this denomination were used for large commercial settlements and institutional transactions, making the Ten Pounds value the highest tier of everyday banking paper in the colonial economy. Read more →

AustraliaProof183510 PoundsPMG 45 Choice Extremely Fine Proof Banknote10 PoundsPre Issue ProofNon Circulating ProofInstitutional Presentation NoteBank of AustralasiaEarly Australian BankingBritish Chartered BanksColonial FinanceBritish Security PrintingEarly Victorian EngravingExport Engraved NotesAustraliaMelbourne183518501835-1850Museum GradeR9 Extremely RareUnique

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Mauritius 1839 - Mauritius Commercial Bank 20 Dollars / 4 Pounds Sterling Issued & Cancelled Note (Pick S125)

Rarity is severe. PMG census lists only 15 total graded examples for Pick S125 across all grades and subtypes. Surviving raw pieces in private hands and institutions likely number only a handful more. Combining these yields an estimated total population of approximately <10 extant issued-and-cancelled examples in all conditions, placing the type squarely in the R8 range of rarity. As an intact, fully issued, pre-1840 Mauritius note from the formative period of the island’s banking history, this piece stands as a museum-grade cornerstone for early Indian Ocean finance and colonial economic studies. Read more →

MauritiusIssued & Cancelled Note183920 Dollars / 4 Pounds SterlingFine–Very Fine (Issued & Cancelled) Issued NoteCancelled20 Dollars4 PoundsColonial CurrencyDual-CurrencyMyers Frs & CoEngraved Security PrintingMauritius Commercial BankEarly Mauritius BankingColonial Banking HistoryPrivate Banknote EraPort Louis Harbor VignetteBritish Colonial Finance19th Century BanknotesRedemption and Cancellation NotesMauritiusPort Louis1839Museum GradeR8 Extremely Rare

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New Zealand 1895–1915 Bank of New Zealand 5 Pounds Orange Specimen Pick S192s with dual serial numbers A000001 and A020000, perforated CANCELLED marking, left audit margin, and dated top margin printer annotations, printed by Bradbury Wilkinson & Company, Limited, London, PMG 55 About Uncirculated.

New Zealand 1895–1915 - Bank of New Zealand £5 Orange Specimen (Pick S192s)

The high-denomination anchor of the Bank of New Zealand color series, this five pounds orange specimen (Pick S192s) represents one of the most structurally complex and production-informative notes of New Zealand’s private banking era. Printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company, Limited, London, it embodies the transition from richly ornamental Victorian engraving toward the more controlled and symmetrical Edwardian framework that followed. The composition preserves the defining elements of the earlier series-paired Māori figures within oval medallions at left, a lower maritime vignette reflecting colonial trade identity, and a dense guilloche lattice enclosing the denomination-while introducing a more disciplined spatial hierarchy across the central obligation panel. Read more →

New ZealandSpecimen18955 PoundsPMG 55 About Uncirculated Specimen5 PoundsBank of New ZealandBradbury WilkinsonBWCA Prefix SpecimenA000001A020000Dual Serial NumbersPrinter Control NumberingPerforated CANCELLEDAudit Margin LeftPrinter AnnotationsTop Margin AnnotationDated Annotation 1915Printer Ledger MarkingsColonial IssueHigh DenominationEdwardian DesignMāori Portrait SeriesEngraved Security PrintingNew Zealand Banking HistoryPrivate Banknote EraPre-Reserve BankBNZ Color LineageVictorian to Edwardian TransitionMaritime Economy NotesBritish Colonial FinanceSecurity Printing HistoryOceania NumismaticsHistoryNew Zealand189519151895-1915Pick S192sPMG 55Museum GradeR7 Extremely RareAnnotationsHandwritten Annotations

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New Zealand 1870–1890 Bank of New Zealand 1 Pound Green Specimen Pick S191s, dual serial numbers A197001 and B047000, perforated CANCELLED, Bradbury Wilkinson printing, PMG 58 Choice About Uncirculated

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

This £1 Green specimen marks a pivotal stage in New Zealand’s monetary development. During the late nineteenth century, the Bank of New Zealand operated within a privately issued currency system, where commercial banks produced their own notes backed by reserves and governed under colonial legislation. Bradbury Wilkinson introduced high-security engraving standards to this system, embedding British technical precision into a developing colonial economy. Read more →

New ZealandSpecimen18701 PoundPMG 58 Choice About Uncirculated Specimen1 PoundBank of New ZealandBradbury WilkinsonBWCDual Serial NumbersA197001B047000Perforated CANCELLEDAudit MarginPrinter Control SystemColonial IssueVictorian DesignMāori Portrait SeriesEngraved Security PrintingNew Zealand Banking HistoryPrivate Banknote EraPre-Reserve BankBNZ Color LineageColor Lineage Origin19th Century OceaniaMaritime Economy NotesEarly Indigenous ImageryBritish Colonial FinanceHistoryNew Zealand187018901870–1890Pick S191sPMG 58Choice About UncirculatedMuseum GradeR7 Extremely Rare

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Mauritius 1842 - Mauritius Commercial Bank 10 Dollars / 2 Pounds Sterling Issued & Cancelled (Pick S122a)

Each note was printed on watermarked paper, completed by hand, and countersigned by bank officials. Surviving examples such as this are among the earliest tangible records of Mauritius’s entry into formal banking and British colonial monetary structure. Read more →

MauritiusIssued & Cancelled Note184210 Dollars / 2 Pounds SterlingFine–Very Fine (Issued & Cancelled) Issued NoteCancelled10 Dollars2 PoundsDual-CurrencyColonial CurrencyMyers Frs & CoEngraved Security PrintingMauritius Commercial BankEarly Mauritius BankingColonial Banking HistoryPrivate Banknote EraPort Louis Harbor VignetteBritish Colonial Finance19th Century BanknotesRedemption and Cancellation NotesMauritiusPort Louis1842Museum GradeR6 Extremely Rare

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Mauritius 1843 Mauritius Commercial Bank 10 Dollars / 2 Pounds Sterling Remainder, PMG 50 NET

Mauritius 1843 - Mauritius Commercial Bank 10 Dollars / 2 Pounds Sterling Remainder (Pick S122r)

Graded PMG 50 NET About Uncirculated for ink burn alone - rather than circulation wear - the note retains exceptional embossing, paper strength, and plate clarity. As a high-denomination Ten Dollar / Two Pounds Sterling remainder from the earliest functional period of Mauritian banking under British administration, it stands as a museum-grade artifact documenting the origins of the island’s formal monetary structure, its dependence on sterling, and the technical evolution of one of the British Empire’s rarest early colonial paper-money systems. Read more →

MauritiusRemainder184310 Dollars / 2 Pounds SterlingPMG 50 NET (Ink Burn) Remainder10 Dollars2 PoundsDual-CurrencyColonial CurrencyMyers Frs & CoEngraved Security PrintingInk BurnMauritius Commercial BankEarly Mauritius BankingColonial Banking HistoryPrivate Banknote EraPort Louis Harbor VignetteBritish Colonial Finance1840s Currency Reform19th Century BanknotesMauritiusPort Louis1843PMG 50Museum GradeR6 Extremely RareAnnotationsHandwritten Annotations

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Greenland 1856 6 Skilling R.M. Danish Administration Pick A33r Remainder PMG 64 Choice Uncirculated

Greenland 1856 - 6 Skilling R.M. Danish Administration Colonial Remainder (Pick A33r)

PMG 64 Choice Uncirculated, with crisp paper and vivid color, this note exemplifies the artistic and logistical discipline of mid-19th century Danish colonial finance, bridging European monetary design with Arctic trade realities. Read more →

GreenlandRemainder18566 Skilling R.M.PMG 64 Choice Uncirculated (Remainder) GreenlandDanish Administration6 Skilling1856Colonial CurrencyRemainderPick a33rRoyal Greenland Trading DepartmentArctic EconomyEducationalNumismatic History

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French colonial treasury second of exchange dated 22 August 1871 for 2,000 francs, payable in New Caledonia, with printed text and manuscript treasury endorsements

New Caledonia 1871 - French Treasury Second of Exchange for 2,000 Francs (Service des Colonies)

The bill was drawn by the *Caissier Payeur central du Trésor public (Service des Colonies)* and made payable to order in New Caledonia for the sum of two thousand francs. Dated in Paris on 22 August 1871, it belongs to the immediate post–Franco-Prussian War period, when French state finances were being reorganized and colonial treasury control was reasserted through formal, document-based instruments rather than circulating currency. Read more →

New CaledoniaTreasury Bill of Exchange18712,000 FrancsIssued Treasury Instrument (Manuscript and Stamped) Treasury Bill of ExchangeColonial FinanceSecond of ExchangeNon-Circulating InstrumentManuscript SignaturesFrench Colonial AdministrationService des ColoniesPublic Treasury DocumentColonial Fiscal ControlNew CaledoniaFrance1871Museum GradeR9 Extremely RareUniquePick UnlistedAnnotationsHandwritten Annotations

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Martinique 1870 Banque de la Martinique 1 franc unissued cheque, Saint-Pierre issue, unused condition

Martinique 1870 - Banque de la Martinique 1 Franc Unissued Cheque (Pick P.5A)

An unissued cheque for one franc prepared for the Banque de la Martinique and intended for use at Saint-Pierre, dating from the early period of organized colonial banking on the island. Classified as Pick P.5A, this form represents a non-circulating banking instrument rather than a circulating banknote, designed for internal settlement, account debiting, and controlled monetary transfers within the colonial financial system. Read more →

MartiniqueUnissued Cheque18701 FrancUncirculated Unissued Cheque1 FrancBanque de la MartiniqueColonial Banking InstrumentFrench Colonial FinancePick P.5AColonial Banking HistoryFrench Overseas TerritoriesCaribbean Monetary History19th Century BankingDocumentary Financial InstrumentsSecurity Printing HistoryFrench Engraving TraditionMartinique1870Museum GradeR8 Extremely Rare

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South Africa 1828 Cape of Good Hope Bank five shillings pre issue sample note, engraved border and ships vignette, Smithsonian class institutional artifact

South Africa 1828 - Cape of Good Hope Bank 5 Shillings Pre-Issue Sample (Pick S171p)

This 1828 five shillings pre-issue sample must therefore be regarded as a museum-grade monetary artifact rather than a conventional banknote. It documents the transition from state-administered colonial finance toward private banking, the absence of central banking authority in nineteenth-century South Africa, and the institutional processes through which early banks sought legitimacy, authorization, and public trust. As such, it stands as a primary historical document of South Africa’s pre-central-bank monetary system and the origins of private paper currency in the region. Read more →

South AfricaPre-Issue Sample1828Five Shillings SterlingUncirculated Pre Issue Sample5 Shillings SterlingSample NoteApproval Stage CurrencyCape of Good Hope BankPrivate Colonial BankingEarly Nineteenth Century CurrencyCape Colony Monetary HistoryBritish Colonial FinanceInstitutional ProvenanceSouth Africa1828Pick S171pR9 Extremely RareMuseum GradeSmithsonian Held Class

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