Collection PL

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

Discovery AR-prefix approval specimen of the 50 Zlotych banknote from the 1994 Polish issue, bearing serial number AR0000000. This piece documents a previously unrecorded physical approval-stage prefix for the 1994 50 Zlotych issue and establishes the AR prefix as discovery material within the production and approval record of the series. The face preserves the complete final production design prepared for the National Bank of Poland. ... Read more →

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

Discovery AR-prefix red-overprint specimen of the 50 Zlotych banknote from the 1994 Polish issue, bearing serial number AR0000000. This piece documents an AR-prefix specimen form with red SPECIMEN overprint, red oval NO VALUE stamps, punch cancellations, and De La Rue specimen-control number 005 in the lower tracking panel. It is not recorded in Milczak or Pick and belongs to the same discovery-level AR-prefix production group as the AR approval specimen. ... Read more →

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

Discovery AR-prefix perforated specimen of the 50 Zlotych banknote from the 1994 Polish issue, bearing serial number AR0000000 and cancelled by a large perforated inscription reading "SPECIMEN OF NO VALUE." This piece documents an AR-prefix perforated specimen form not recorded in Milczak or Pick and belongs to the same discovery-level AR-prefix production group as the AR approval specimen and AR red-overprint specimen. The face preserves the complete final production design prepared for the National Bank of Poland. It shows the portrait of King Casimir III the Great, the Polish eagle, the vertical denomination text "PIECDZIESIAT ZLOTYCH," the large vertical 50 value device, the National Bank of Poland title, the Warsaw date of 25 March 1994, and the printed signatures of Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz and Wieslaw Biernatowicz. ... 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. Addressed to Dr. ... 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 - 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. The note was produced in London by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. ... 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. The significance of the reverse overprint is especially important. ... Read more →

China 1880 - Sinkiang Textile Emergency Currency, Cloth Note (Pick Unlisted)

This textile emergency currency from Sinkiang belongs to the late Qing frontier monetary tradition, when regional authorities relied on locally produced substitutes in response to chronic shortages of official coin and paper money. Executed on coarse red-dyed cloth and printed by hand-carved woodblocks, the note reflects a monetary environment shaped by isolation, logistical constraints, and reliance on pre-modern administrative practices. The use of textile as a monetary substrate is not symbolic but functional. ... 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. The banknote is printed on hand-woven textile rather than paper, a deliberate and practical choice dictated by frontier conditions. ... 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. The design is printed directly onto fabric in dark ink, with the textile weave clearly visible through the impression. ... 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. The design is executed in dark ink directly on fabric, with the weave of the cloth clearly visible through the printed impression. ... 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. The design is printed directly onto coarse textile in dark ink, with the weave of the fabric clearly visible through the impression. ... Read more →