Collection PL

Spain 1857 — Banco de Zaragoza 100 Reales Vellón Serie A Specimen Full Sheet with Header and Talón No. 23327 (Pick S451s)

A true Pick S451s specimen: the complete, original full-sheet specimen of the Banco de Zaragoza 100 reales vellón, dated 1 May 1857, Serie A, serial number 23327. This survival preserves all components of the printer's plate layout exactly as produced: the upper header panel used for alignment and plate control, the left talón for internal audit numbering, and the finished banknote plate. Specimens of type S451s are extremely rare in any form; full sheets retaining both header and talón are almost never encountered. ... Read more →

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

A printer-issued £5 SPECIMEN prepared by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. for the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited, dating to the late 1880s production window (ND 1880–1889), and bearing live serial numbers rather than zero or placeholder prefixes. This piece represents an internal control or approval specimen drawn from a numbered production sequence, distinct from margin-heavy proof impressions or display specimens. ... Read more →

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

One of the earliest surviving issued notes of the Mauritius Commercial Bank—the oldest banking institution in the Indian Ocean—this 1839 Twenty Dollar / Four Pounds Sterling note is a foundational artifact of Mauritian monetary history. Issued only one year after the bank’s founding in 1838, it belongs to the first generation of fully functional colonial paper money used on the island. These early issues circulated at a time when coin shortages were severe, and private banknotes became the primary medium of exchange for merchants, plantation owners, and shipping houses. ... Read more →

Poland 1936 — 50 Zlotych Jan Henryk Dąbrowski (Pick 78a, Miłczak 77a–b)

The 50 Zlotych note dated 11 November 1936 with the portrait of General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski represents the highest artistic and symbolic achievement of Polish interwar banknote design. Conceived as the flagship denomination of a fully modernized Bank Polski series, it was intended to embody state continuity, national identity, and technical excellence at a moment when the Second Polish Republic had reached institutional maturity. The choice of date was deliberate. ... Read more →

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

The first Bank of New Zealand specimen and the foundation of the country’s pre-Reserve Bank note lineage. Engraved and printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company, Limited, London, this one pound green specimen (Pick S191s) established the visual architecture reused throughout all later BNZ issues: paired Māori figures at left, an engraved coastal vignette below, and an ornate duty-tint panel framing the ONE POUND denomination. This design became the structural and visual origin of the Bank of New Zealand color lineage that defined New Zealand’s early commercial-bank currency. ... Read more →

New Zealand ND (1924-1933) - Bank of New South Wales Ten Shillings Proof, Perforated SPECIMEN (Pick S161s)

Printers archival proof for the Bank of New South Wales Ten Shillings, classified in the Standard Catalog and grading records as New Zealand Pick S161s (ND 1924-1933) and produced in London by Charles Skipper and East. This piece was never intended for circulation. It was created as part of the printers internal proofing, approval, and archival process and survives as a workshop original documenting the final approved design for a denomination that ultimately never entered public issue. ... Read more →

New Zealand ND (1924-1933) - Bank of New South Wales Ten Shillings Oversized Proof, Perforated SPECIMEN (Pick S161s)

Printers archival oversized proof for the Bank of New South Wales Ten Shillings, classified in the Standard Catalog and grading records as New Zealand Pick S161s (ND 1924-1933) and produced in London by Charles Skipper and East. This example survives on an oversized, untrimmed sheet and represents the most internal and earliest preserved production state of the design. Although cataloged under New Zealand, the design belongs to the broader Australasian operating structure of the Bank of New South Wales, a trans Tasman institution active in both Australia and New Zealand. ... Read more →

Mexico 1884 – Fábrica de Tunal 1 Peso (Pick Unlisted, ABNC)

One of the most sophisticated corporate issues produced in northern Mexico during the Porfiriato modernization period, this fully issued and serialed 1 Peso note from La Fábrica de Tunal represents a hybrid monetary instrument that straddled formal banknote design and private scrip functionality. Unlike the majority of locally lithographed corporate payroll chits of the 1880s, this piece was engraved and printed by the American Bank Note Company in New York—an extremely rare choice for a non-bank issuer and clear evidence of the company's scale and financial ambition. La Fábrica de Tunal operated in the rural industrial zone outside Durango city along the Tunal River, referenced repeatedly in contemporary mining, agricultural, and provincial reports. ... Read more →

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

A fully issued, hand-signed, and dated Mauritius Commercial Bank note — one of the earliest known examples of circulating paper money from the island. Dated 2 August 1842, this note bears manuscript signatures, serial numbers, and the characteristic oval CANCELLED stamps applied upon redemption. The engraving by Myers Frs. ... Read more →

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

Unissued remainder from the earliest Mauritius Commercial Bank dual-currency series, printed by Myers Frs. & Co., London. This note represents the archival stock of the 1840s issue — printed but never signed or circulated. ... Read more →

Argentina 1867 — Banco de Londres y Rio de la Plata 4 Reales Plata Boliviana Proof (Pick S1734p)

Archival proof printed by the American Bank Note Company for the Banco de Londres y Rio de la Plata, dated 1 Enero 1867 and assigned to the Rosario branch. This fractional 4 Reales denomination belongs to the transitional pre-peso period when Argentine provincial banks still operated under the 'Moneda Boliviana' standard inherited from regional trade with Bolivia and Peru. The design features a central bull’s head vignette framed by intricate ornamental borders — a unique choice among Argentine banknotes. ... Read more →

Argentina 1884 — El Banco del Chaco 1 Peso Moneda Nacional Oro Serial 15849 (Pick S1566)

Issued provincial note from El Banco del Chaco, Villa Ocampo branch, dated 1 Octubre 1884, printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co., London, under Argentina’s Ley de Bancos Garantidos system. Hand-signed, Series I, serial 15849. The allegorical female personifies Agriculture, flanked by a dog and bull symbolizing loyalty, vigilance, and strength. ... Read more →