Collection PL

Uruguay 1872 - Banco de Londres y Rio de la Plata 100 Pesos = 10 Doblones Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

A printer’s archival specimen of the 1872 issue of the Banco de Londres y Rio de la Plata, denominated 100 Pesos Nacionales with an explicit equivalence to 10 Doblones in gold. This dual-denomination construction represents one of the most ambitious monetary experiments undertaken in nineteenth-century Uruguay, attempting to anchor paper currency directly to a fixed gold value at a time of persistent instability and public distrust in fiduciary issues. Read more →

Paraguay 1907 - 100 Pesos with 1912 Dual-Side State and Treasury Revalidation Overprint Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

Archival specimen of the 1907 Banco de la República 100 Pesos, base Pick 159, printed by Waterlow & Sons, London, and later transformed by one of the most historically revealing emergency overprint configurations in Paraguayan paper money. The note bears the large face overprint “Emisión del Estado – 11 de Enero de 1912,” together with the reverse fiscal validation “Departamento de Hacienda – Junta Fiscalizadora – Diez Pesos Oro Sellado – Conforme Decreto de 20 de Mayo 1912.” This dual-side treatment places the note outside the ordinary single-face revalidation pattern and identifies it as a treasury-controlled specimen of exceptional documentary importance. Read more →

China 1915 - South Sinkiang Border Defence Headquarters 1 Tael Textile Emergency Issue (Pick Unlisted)

The banknote is printed on hand-woven textile rather than paper, a deliberate and practical choice dictated by frontier conditions. The cloth substrate displays visible horizontal striping consistent with regional weaving traditions, providing durability and resistance to casual counterfeiting. Printing was executed using woodblock techniques, producing uneven ink penetration characteristic of authentic frontier textile issues. Read more →

China 1924 - Dihua Official Coin Bureau 40 Wen Textile Emergency Issue (Pick Unlisted)

Textile currency in Xinjiang was not a folk improvisation but an official response to fiscal isolation. Cloth provided a locally available, resilient medium that could be authenticated through familiar visual conventions and regional authority rather than reliance on metropolitan paper supply. In this context, durability and recognizability outweighed refinement, and the resulting notes occupy a distinct category within Chinese monetary history. Read more →

Spain 1857 - Banco de Zaragoza 100 Reales Vellon Serie A No. 23327 Full Sheet with Header and Talon Specimen (Pick S451s)

This specimen forms a matched pair with the issued Serie A banknote No. 23322 (Pick S451b) also held in the collection (see item 'spain-1857-banco-de-zaragoza-100-reales-serie-a-23322-issued-note'), together documenting both the specimen and circulation forms of the 1857 Zaragoza emission. Read more →

Spain 1857 - Banco de Zaragoza 200 Reales Vellon Serie B No. 07887 Full Sheet with Header and Talon Specimen (Pick S452s)

Rarity is extreme. PMG census data for Pick S432 includes material from multiple unrelated banks and does not record any examples from Zaragoza. No full-sheet S452s specimens from Banco de Zaragoza appear in PMG databases or in major Spanish auction archives (Aureo & Calicó, Cayón, Soler y Llach, Vico). This survival, retaining header, talón, and note on a single uncut sheet, qualifies as R8+ and may be unique. Read more →

Spain 1857 - Banco de Zaragoza 500 Reales Vellon Serie C No. 08703 Full Sheet with Header and Talon Specimen (Pick S453s)

Rarity is extreme. PMG census entries for the broader Pick S453 family combine notes from multiple unrelated banks and do not represent Banco de Zaragoza. No full-sheet S453s specimens from Zaragoza are recorded in PMG archives or in the catalog history of major Spanish auctions (Aureo & Calicó, Cayón, Soler y Llach, Vico). This complete production sheet, preserving header, talón, and banknote together, qualifies as R8+ and may be unique. Read more →

New Zealand 1895-1908 - Bank of New Zealand £10 Brown with Serial Number Prefix Specimen (Pick S193bs)

Engraved and printed in London between 1895 and 1908 by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company, Limited, the note reflects mature late-Victorian engraving practice. The obverse composition features paired Māori figures, a maritime vignette, and a structured brown duty-tint guilloche frame associated with upper-denomination issues. The brown coloration forms part of the Bank of New Zealand’s chromatic system, positioned alongside the one pound green and five pounds orange within the BNZ color lineage. Read more →

New Zealand 1916-1920 - Bank of New Zealand £5 Red-Rose (Orange Lineage) with Serial Number Prefix Specimen (Pick S227s)

This specimen is a reference-grade artifact of New Zealand monetary history, combining wartime production context, live serial numbering, internal control markings, and documented survival from the Bank of New Zealand’s private-issue period. Certified PMG 65 EPQ Gem Uncirculated, it is the sole PMG-certified example at this grade and Top Pop. R8 rarity. Read more →

New Zealand 1913 - Bank of New Zealand £5 Orange Multi-Serial Approval Specimen (Pick S192ms)

By 1913, the Bank of New Zealand’s commercial note-issuing era was approaching its end. Two decades later, issuance would be centralized under the Reserve Bank, and most private-bank archival material was destroyed. Surviving multi-serial approval specimens such as this are therefore exceptionally rare. In light of known populations and the specialized function of the type, Pick S192ms properly belongs in the R8 rarity tier. It stands today as one of the most important reference artifacts for the study of New Zealand’s private-banknote system and Bradbury Wilkinson’s Oceania output. Read more →

Australia 1905–1910 - Commercial Banking Company of Sydney LIMITED £5 Specimen Proof (Pick Unlisted)

Bradbury Wilkinson’s master plates reflect the mature internationalisation of security printing. By 1905–1910, Australian banks increasingly relied on London engravers for their highest-grade notes, as BWC offered complex tint-stone methods, deep intaglio capability, and anti-counterfeiting technologies unattainable in most colonial print shops. These proof specimens were the pinnacle of that relationship, produced in tiny numbers for board approval, archival retention, or printer-client authentication. Read more →

Australia 1880-1889 - Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited £5 with Serial Prefix SPECIMEN (Pick Unlisted, MVR4a)

No issued £5 notes of this exact type are confirmed to survive, and specimen examples with serial prefixes are recorded only in isolated instances. On the basis of observable, verifiable material alone, this specimen qualifies as an advanced rarity within the surviving corpus of Australian private-banknote material. Read more →