Collection PL

Australia 1880–1910 - Commercial Bank of Australia £100 Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

A monumental survivor from Australia’s private banking era, this £100 specimen ranks among the most important colonial-era notes known. Printed circa 1880–1910 for the Commercial Bank of Australia Limited, it represents the uppermost denomination produced under the private-issue system that existed before the Commonwealth took full control of note issuance in 1910. No issued examples of this £100 are believed to have survived, making specimens the only remaining documentation of the type. Read more →

New Zealand 1907–1926 - Bank of New Zealand £20 Blue Serial-Prefix Audit Specimen (Pick S194s)

Historically, £20 represented the highest practical denomination issued by New Zealand’s private banks prior to monetary centralization in 1934. Circulating examples were systematically redeemed and destroyed, leaving archival specimens as the sole survivors. Audit-range serial-prefix specimens such as this were printed in microscopic quantities and retained within Bradbury Wilkinson’s London archives, making their survival extraordinarily unlikely. Read more →

Australia 1877 - City of Melbourne Bank Limited £20 Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

A unique surviving specimen of the £20 denomination issued by the City of Melbourne Bank Limited, representing one of the highest-value private banknotes produced in colonial Victoria. Printed from Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. master plates, this note belongs to the final generation of Australian private banknote engraving before national standardization and the destruction of nearly all high-denomination material. Read more →

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

The layout reflects early Victorian security printing practice, with heavy border engraving, balanced symmetry, and restrained ornamentation intended to convey authority and trust. The absence of serial numbering and signatures is consistent with proof status and confirms that the note represents a design-stage artifact rather than an issued instrument. Read more →

Brazil 1773 - Diamond Administration of Tejuco, 6 Octavas Gold Receipt No. 813 (Pick Unlisted)

Original 6-octava gold payment receipt (No. 813) issued on 1 December 1773 by the royal Casa da Administração Geral dos Diamantes in Tejuco (modern Diamantina, Minas Gerais). This document represents an authenticated financial transfer from the account of Ignacio Mendes de Souza, signed and validated at the highest administrative level of the Portuguese diamond district-one of the most tightly controlled economic zones in the entire Portuguese Empire. Read more →

Poland 1994 - 50 Zlotych Remainder (Pick 175ar Miłczak 198a–b)

Remainder of the 50 zlotych note from the 1994 Narodowy Bank Polski series, dated 25 March 1994 and printed by Thomas De La Rue in London. Cataloged as Pick 175ar and corresponding to Milczak 198a-b, the piece preserves the complete printed design of the issued note in its unnumbered remainder form. Read more →

Australia 1877 - Mercantile Bank of Sydney £1 Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

The Mercantile Bank of Sydney operated within Australia’s competitive pre-Federation private-bank system, where banks issued their own notes prior to the consolidation of authority under the Commonwealth in the early 20th century. Specimens from these institutions are extremely scarce, as most were kept in printer archives, lost through mergers, or destroyed when financial regulations tightened. No other examples of this £1 specimen have been found in PMG records, major Australian or international auction archives, or institutional collections. Read more →

Australia 1879–1903 - Federal Bank of Australia, Limited £1 Sydney Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

This specimen represents a one pound note prepared for the Federal Bank of Australia, Limited and printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company in London during the bank’s short operational life between 1879 and 1903. The note carries the Sydney office imprint, identifying the colonial financial center where the issue was intended to circulate. It belongs to one of the most fragile and least documented chapters of Australia’s pre-Federation private banking era, when numerous colonial banks issued their own paper currency under uneven regulation and volatile economic conditions. Read more →

Poland 1926 - 10 Zlotych Bolesław Chrobry 992–1025 Watermark Remainder (Pick 65br)

This banknote is a remainder from the 10 złotych issue of Bank Polski dated 20 July 1926, printed on paper carrying a portrait watermark of Bolesław Chrobry together with the dates of his reign, 992–1025. In standard catalog references, this material is recorded as Pick 65br and represents the remainder counterpart to the issued type Pick 65b, sharing the same paper and watermark characteristics. Read more →

Poland 1994 - 50 Zlotych Discovery AR Prefix Without Overprints Approval Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

The face preserves the complete 50 Zlotych design prepared for the National Bank of Poland, with the portrait of King Casimir III the Great, the Polish eagle, the denomination PIĘĆDZIESIĄT ZŁOTYCH, the large 50 value device at left, the National Bank of Poland title, and the Warsaw date of 25 March 1994. The printed signatures are those of Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, President of the National Bank of Poland, and Wieslaw Biernatowicz, Chief Treasurer. Read more →

Poland 1994 - 50 Zlotych Discovery AR Prefix with Red Overprint and Oval Stamp Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

This AR-prefix red-overprint specimen is a direct production artifact from the creation of Poland's 1994 banknote issue. Its importance lies in documenting a previously unrecorded specimen form through a complete surviving note with identifiable prefix, control number, printer markings, and final production design. Read more →

Poland 1994 - 50 Zlotych Discovery AR Prefix Perforated SPECIMEN OF NO VALUE Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

Serial number AR0000000 identifies the piece within the previously undocumented AR-prefix specimen group. The SPECIMEN OF NO VALUE perforation passes directly through the printed note and forms the principal cancellation feature of this specimen type. Read more →