Collection PL

Great Britain c.1806–1812 - Derby Bank £5 Proof (Pick Unlisted)

The engraved text and layout illustrate early nineteenth-century security philosophy. Instead of relying on standardized printed templates, each bank commissioned bespoke designs featuring elaborate calligraphic lettering, ornamental flourishes, and heraldic devices. The bank crest at left, the sweeping script of the promise-to-pay clause, and the careful balance of negative space were all deliberate countermeasures against forgery at a time when counterfeit detection depended on human familiarity rather than machine verification. Read more →

Australia 1963 - Commercial Banking Company of Sydney LIMITED £2 Travellers Cheque Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

Traveller’s cheques were part of a major postwar shift in how Australians accessed funds overseas. The CBC of Sydney, one of the country’s oldest and most respected institutions, offered these instruments to business travellers and emigrants, ensuring international liquidity in an era before electronic payments. Each cheque carried intricate guilloche patterns and serialized numbering to prevent forgery. Read more →

Brazil 1964 - 100 Cruzeiros Essay Face Proof (SCWPM 170b)

Essays such as this served as presentation pieces for government and bank approval before finalizing plate engravings. They capture the iterative design process where national symbolism, typographic hierarchy, and security motifs were tested for visual coherence and resistance to forgery. Read more →

Poland 1940 - 10 Zlotych Contemporary Counterfeit with WERTLOS Stamp (Pick 94x)

A bold purple 'WERTLOS' (worthless) overprint was applied across the face, likely as an official or resistance-era cancellation after discovery. Printed on correct paper bearing the Zigzag Lines watermark, it exhibits wide left margins typical of sheet-fed counterfeit runs. Read more →

Poland 1940 - 10 Zlotych Printing Remnants Forgery Workshop Underprint (Miłczak 94)

Fascinating semi-finished product from a wartime forgery workshop, connected with the 10 złotych 1940 issue (Miłczak 94). The piece is printed only with the underprint of the obverse design - background guilloches and the female allegorical portrait at left - without the main face value, overprints, or full intaglio elements. Trimmed to the correct banknote format, it represents an intermediate stage in the counterfeiting process. Read more →

Poland 1940 - 500 Zlotych, Series A with Counterfeit Numbering Issued Note (Pick 98a)

Reference: Miłczak 98a. Read more →

Poland 1940 - 20 Zlotych, Series N WWII London Counterfeit (Pick 95b)

Diversionary counterfeits were introduced in significant volume during the occupation, intended to erode public confidence in currency circulation. Today, genuine notes tied to these suspect serial ranges are both historically important and highly collectible, as they embody the unusual wartime interplay between monetary policy, sabotage, and survival. This Series N specimen captures that history in outstanding quality. Read more →

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

The guilloche work-consisting of wave-patterned borders, fine line engraving, and micro-text-matches the high-security printing standards used by Belgian and French engravers during the 1910s. Such designs were produced not only to prevent forgery but also to visually convey the bank’s reputation and financial solidity during a period of global instability. Even in wartime, foreign banks in Egypt adhered to European-style aesthetic and technical requirements for their negotiable instruments. Read more →

Brazil ca. 1852–1870 - Imperial Treasury of Brazil 10 Mil Réis Contemporary Counterfeit (Pick A231x)

This note represents a contemporary counterfeit of the Imperial Treasury of Brazil ten mil réis issue, produced during the active circulation period of the official banknote and intended to pass as legal tender in everyday commerce. Classified in standard references as Pick A231x, it is a period forgery rather than a later reproduction or fantasy piece, created using materials, engraving methods, and paper consistent with mid-nineteenth-century Brazilian monetary circulation. Read more →

Spain 1875 - Banco de España 50 Pesetas Contemporary Counterfeit (Pick 7x)

This note represents a contemporary counterfeit of the Banco de España fifty pesetas issue of 1875, produced during the active circulation period of the official banknote and intended to pass as legal tender in everyday commerce. Classified in standard references as Pick 7x, it is a period forgery rather than a later reproduction or fantasy piece, created using materials and printing methods consistent with nineteenth-century Spanish monetary circulation. Read more →

Spain 1876 - Banco de España 100 Pesetas Contemporary Counterfeit (Pick 11x)

This note represents a contemporary counterfeit of the Banco de España one hundred pesetas issue of 1876, produced during the active circulation period of the official banknote and intended to pass as legal tender in everyday commerce. Classified in standard references as Pick 11x, it is a period forgery rather than a later reproduction or fantasy piece, created using materials and printing methods consistent with late nineteenth-century Spanish monetary circulation. Read more →

South Africa 1861 - Montagu Bank 5 Pounds Remainder (Pick S231r)

Printed on specialized ‘rijksdaaler’ paper, a paper stock available in the Cape from 1782, the note reflects continuity in colonial paper supply and printing practice across multiple generations of private banking. The large format, measuring approximately two hundred thirty seven millimeters by one hundred forty six millimeters, reinforces the note’s status as a high-value instrument, combining visual authority with practical anti-forgery considerations. The reverse remains blank, consistent with British colonial private banknote conventions of the period. Read more →