Collection PL

Brazil ca. 1852–1870 - Imperial Treasury of Brazil 10 Mil Réis Contemporary Counterfeit (Pick A231x)

According to current publicly available PMG population data, this is the only EPQ-designated example recorded for the Pick A231x contemporary counterfeit type. While multiple examples of this counterfeit are known and graded, none approach this level of preservation or paper quality. Its significance therefore lies not in type rarity alone, but in its status as a condition outlier preserving the physical characteristics of a circulating nineteenth-century forgery in near-original state. Read more →

Uruguay 1871 - Banco de Londres y Rio de la Plata 10 Pesos Face Proof (Pick S239p)

As the presently unique documented face proof of Pick S239p, this piece occupies a reference-level position within the study of Banco de Londres y Rio de la Plata banknote production. It preserves the approved engraved face of the 10 Pesos issue at a critical stage of manufacture and provides a direct record of nineteenth-century Bradbury Wilkinson security printing for Uruguay. Its type-level uniqueness, technical function, retained counterfoil, and connection to the later 1883 10 Pesos specimen establish it as an R9 Extremely Rare museum-grade artifact within the history of Uruguayan private-bank paper money. Read more →

United States 1933 - Any City, U.S.A. 5 Dollars City and County Scrip Specimen (Generic Municipal Master Form)

The complete absence of any named city, county, or state is intentional and central to the instrument’s purpose. Rather than representing a failure of attribution, it identifies the piece as a pre-issuance master form occupying a level above individual municipal obligations. Once adopted by a specific city, such forms would normally be modified by overprint, validation, or countersignature, transforming the generic template into a localized financial instrument. Read more →

United States 1934 - New Jersey 10 Dollars County of Atlantic School Scrip Specimen (November 1 Issue)

This example is a true printer-issued specimen, identified by the serial number P0000 and the overprinted word SPECIMEN. It was not intended for circulation and was produced solely for approval, authorization, or archival reference during the establishment of the issue. Specimen material of this type was typically destroyed once authorization was complete, as it had no role in the operational funding process. Read more →

United States 1933 - New Jersey 5 Dollars Borough of Palmyra Municipal Scrip Specimen (General Obligation)

The obverse is executed in dense brown engraved security printing by E. A. Wright Bank Note Company of Philadelphia, a major American printer of municipal and financial instruments. The design features wave-pattern lathe engraving, dual ornamental SCRIP cartouches, and a recessed central denomination panel reading FIVE DOLLARS. The issuer is clearly identified as the Borough of Palmyra, Burlington County, New Jersey, leaving no ambiguity as to municipal responsibility. Read more →

United States 1935 - New Jersey 1 Dollar Borough of Palmyra Municipal Scrip Specimen (General Obligation)

Municipal scrip differed from tax anticipation notes and formal bond issues in that it functioned as a direct acknowledgment of indebtedness by the issuing municipality, intended for circulation or settlement within the local economy. In Palmyra’s case, the scrip was structured as a general obligation of the borough, transferable by delivery and bearing interest at the rate of three percent per annum from the date of issue. It was expressly acceptable in payment of taxes or other indebtedness to the borough, or redeemable on a date to be fixed by the Borough Council, embedding it directly into the municipality’s fiscal operations. Read more →

United States 1934 - New Jersey 1 Dollar City of Asbury Park Tax Anticipation Note Recovery Bond Specimen (March 31 Issue)

This specimen represents an official municipal tax anticipation note issued by the City of Asbury Park, New Jersey, dated March 31, 1934, and denominated One Dollar. Explicitly titled TAX ANTICIPATION NOTE OF 1934 and further identified on the design as a RECOVERY BOND, the instrument forms part of a structured municipal financing program implemented during the depth of the Great Depression, when local governments faced severe cash shortages and unstable revenue collection. Read more →

United States 1934 - New Jersey 5 Dollars City of Asbury Park Tax Anticipation Note Recovery Bond Specimen (March 31 Issue)

The text further certifies that the total amount authorized to be borrowed by the city through tax anticipation notes under the governing statute was three hundred sixty thousand dollars, and that the amount outstanding, including this issue, did not exceed that statutory ceiling. It also affirms compliance with all constitutional and statutory debt limitations, a declaration intended to preserve confidence at a time when municipal defaults were widespread and public trust in local finance was fragile. Read more →

United States 1934 - New Jersey 10 Dollars City of Asbury Park Tax Anticipation Note Recovery Bond Specimen (March 31 Issue)

The obverse is executed in black engraved security printing by E. A. Wright Bank Note Company of Philadelphia, a prominent American security printer of municipal and financial instruments. The design features bold municipal titling, denomination counters marked TEN, and a large engraved corporate seal of Asbury Park, projecting institutional authority and legal legitimacy at a moment when public confidence in municipal finance was deeply strained. The serial number C0000 and the overprinted word SPECIMEN identify this example as a printer-issued specimen, produced for authorization, approval, or archival reference rather than for circulation. Read more →

United States 1933 - State of Delaware 50 Cents Tax Paid on Half Barrel of Beer Uncut Specimen Strip of Five

No other specimen strip of this Delaware half-barrel beer tax stamp issue is documented in institutional collections, auction records, or standard fiscal stamp references. Based strictly on observed and recorded evidence, this intact strip stands as a unique surviving example and serves as a primary reference artifact for Delaware’s early post-Prohibition excise taxation system. Read more →

United States 1844 - Bank of Florida - Tallahassee 4 Dollars, State Bank Note, Final Revival Issue, FL-65-G26

A distinctive regional motif appears within the lower vignette, where an alligator is depicted along the riverbank beneath an arched bridge and passing steam locomotive. The alligator functions as an explicit symbol of Florida’s natural environment and frontier identity, anchoring the note geographically in a manner uncommon among many antebellum bank issues. Its placement beneath imagery of rail transport and masonry infrastructure creates a deliberate contrast between untamed nature and emerging industrial order, visually reinforcing the tension between wilderness and development that characterized Florida Territory during the 1840s. Read more →

Lower Canada 1837 - Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad - 15 Sous, Quarter Dollar, Half Dollar (Full Uncut Dual Series Sheet)

Issued on August 1, 1837, by the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad in Lower Canada, this uncut sheet represents one of the earliest surviving forms of transportation-issued currency in British North America. The Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad, the first railway constructed in the region, served as a critical commercial link between Montreal and the Richelieu River corridor, facilitating trade toward the United States and accelerating early industrial development. Read more →