Collection PL

Sweden 1785 - Stockholm Spinnhus Pollett System – Complete Nine-Denomination Institutional Currency Set:One Half Öre to One Daler (Pick Unlisted)

This complete nine-note ensemble represents the entire internal monetary system of Stockholm’s Spinnhus, the women’s correctional institution and workhouse operating on Långholmen Island during the late eighteenth century. Produced circa 1785, these engraved pollett notes functioned as closed-economy institutional currency, issued exclusively for use within the prison environment. They served as a controlled medium of exchange through which inmates were compensated for labor, particularly the spinning and processing of flax and wool. Internally, the notes operated as proto-fiat currency, enabling regulated transactions, discipline, and subsistence within a self-contained penal micro-economy. Read more →

Egypt 1943 - Cyril IX Moghabghab, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch (Signed Patriarchal Letter, Alexandria)

Official Patriarchal letter dated 17 September 1943 and issued from the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate residence in Fleming–Ramleh, Alexandria. Typed on cream chancery paper with faint laid lines and bearing the crowned Patriarchal emblem at upper right, the document is internally registered as 'عدد 305' and 'سجل 16,' confirming it as an authenticated in-period chancery file copy. Read more →

Italy 1871–1872 - Banca Italo-Germanica 250 Lire Specimen (Pick S976s)

An exceptional and academically important survival from the experimental phase of Italy’s early post-unification banking era, this 250 Lire specimen from the short-lived Banca Italo-Germanica, cataloged as Pick S976s, represents one of the rarest and most ambitious private note-issuing projects attempted in Rome during the 1870s. No issued examples of this type are known to exist, and all scholarship indicates that the bank’s banknote program collapsed before any notes entered circulation, leaving only a microscopic number of presentation pulls, proofs, or internal printer’s archive sheets. This PMG 64 Choice Uncirculated example is the sole graded specimen in the PMG census, making it both Top Pop and Only Pop. Read more →

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

This specimen was never intended for circulation. Its preservation without signs of handling, together with specimen markings and the absence of circulation wear, confirms its role as a controlled archival reference. While issued examples of this type are historically documented, no confirmed issued survivors are presently traceable, and none approach the clarity, completeness, or condition of this specimen. Read more →

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

Among recorded Paraguayan emergency issues, the dual-side state and treasury revalidation format is virtually in a class of its own. It is not simply another overprint variety. It is a surviving document of how Paraguay attempted to defend official monetary credibility at a moment when ordinary paper value, legal value, and gold-referenced value were no longer the same thing in practice. The second overprint is therefore the key historical feature: it confirms that this note was not only reissued, but reviewed, fiscalized, and tied back to the higher official “Diez Pesos Oro Sellado” standard. As a Pick-unlisted specimen, base Pick 159, and R9 Extremely Rare survivor, it stands as a museum-grade crown piece of Paraguayan emergency paper money. Read more →

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

This 1 tael textile banknote represents a formally authorized military emergency issue produced in 1915 by the South Sinkiang Border Defence Headquarters during a period of severe administrative and monetary fragmentation in western China. Issued within the southern frontier zone encompassing Khotan, Yarkand, and Karghalik, the note reflects a localized system of fiscal control exercised by military authorities operating with substantial autonomy from central government structures. Read more →

China 1918 - Xinjiang Textile Emergency Currency Printed on Red Cloth, Local Authority Issue (Pick Unlisted)

An issued textile emergency currency produced in Xinjiang (Sinkiang) during the early Republican period, printed by hand from carved woodblocks onto red-dyed cotton cloth. This note represents a locally authorized substitute currency created for circulation under conditions of monetary instability, material shortage, and fragmented administrative control in China’s western frontier. Read more →

China 1920 - Xinjiang Textile Emergency Currency Printed on Red Cloth, Local Authority Issue (Pick Unlisted)

An issued textile emergency currency produced in Xinjiang (Sinkiang) in the early Republican period, printed by hand from woodblock onto coarse red-dyed cotton cloth. This note forms part of the broader tradition of frontier textile currency developed in western China under conditions of monetary instability, material shortage, and decentralized administrative control. Read more →

China 1921 - Xinjiang Textile Emergency Currency Printed on Red Cloth with Sun Emblem (Pick Unlisted)

An issued textile emergency currency produced in Xinjiang (Sinkiang) during the early Republican period, printed by hand from carved woodblocks onto red-dyed cotton cloth. This note represents a distinct local issue within the Xinjiang textile tradition, created for circulation under conditions of monetary instability, limited access to paper currency, and decentralized administrative control in China’s western frontier. Read more →

China 1922 - Xinjiang Textile Emergency Currency Printed on Red Cloth, Local Authority Issue (Pick Unlisted)

An issued textile emergency currency produced in Xinjiang (Sinkiang) during the early Republican period and printed by hand from carved woodblocks onto coarse red-dyed cotton cloth. This note represents a locally authorized substitute currency created for circulation under conditions of monetary disruption, limited access to paper stock, and fragmented administrative control in China’s western frontier. Read more →

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

Founded in 1857 under the banking reforms introduced by the Law of January 28, 1856, the Banco de Zaragoza was one of several short-lived provincial issuing banks authorized to produce their own currency. The bank adopted a strict denomination-to-series structure: Serie A = 100 reales, Serie B = 200 reales, Serie C = 500 reales, Serie D = 1000 reales, Serie E = 2000 reales, Serie F = 4000 reales. Operating only until its absorption into the Banco de España in 1874, the bank issued comparatively small volumes, and most circulating notes were redeemed and destroyed during the centralisation of Spanish monetary issuance. Read more →

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

Pick S452s identifies the specimen variety of this emission, distinct from issued notes and remainders. The engraving reflects the Madrid-school style: a large Spanish coat of arms, elaborately engraved acanthus borders, and formal typographic promise text payable in Zaragoza. The talón repeats the same serial number, confirming its original audit pairing. Read more →