Collection PL

New Zealand 1916-1920 - Bank of New Zealand £5 Red-Rose (Orange Lineage) with Serial Number Prefix Specimen (Pick S227s)

A wartime £5 specimen of the Bank of New Zealand, printed in London by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. during the 1916–1920 production cycle. The note carries live serial numbering and survives as an internal audit and approval piece from a numbered print run, distinct from zero-serial display specimens. Read more →

New Zealand 1913 - Bank of New Zealand £5 Orange Multi-Serial Approval Specimen (Pick S192ms)

A numbered approval specimen of the Bank of New Zealand £5 Orange design, printed by Bradbury Wilkinson & Co., London, circa 1913. Though derived from the original 1895 S192 plate, this example bears two distinct serial numbers (286901 and 296900), identifying it as a multi-serial approval specimen drawn from the opening and closing positions of a controlled production range. Such pieces were created for printer audit, plate verification, and contractual record-keeping rather than circulation. PMG catalogs this variant as Pick S192ms. Read more →

Australia 1905–1910 - Commercial Banking Company of Sydney LIMITED £5 Specimen Proof (Pick Unlisted)

Unlisted in Pick and graded PMG 63 EPQ Choice Uncirculated (Top Pop), this specimen marks the transition from private colonial issues to the newly centralised Commonwealth currency introduced after 1910. It reflects both the confidence of early-twentieth-century Australian banking and the enduring partnership between London engravers and Australian financial institutions. Read more →

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

The note is perforated SPECIMEN across the face and lacks manuscript signatures, confirming its exclusion from any intended issuance workflow. Serial numbers appear at both sides of the face, consistent with bank and printer audit material rather than circulation stock. A pencil annotation dated 1 March 1890 is present in the upper margin, recording a printer or bank-side control date. Read more →

Australia 1900 - Bank of New South Wales £20 Sydney Circular Note Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

This £20 Sterling Circular Note specimen was prepared for The Bank of New South Wales at Sydney as a portable international banking instrument connecting Australian customers with the bank's London office and correspondent banking network. The printed form belongs to the 20th-century series identified by the open date field "19__" and preserves the complete unused structure through which a traveler could obtain funds while abroad. Read more →

Australia 1890 - Bank of New South Wales £10 Brisbane Circular Note Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

This £10 Sterling Circular Note specimen was prepared for The Bank of New South Wales at Brisbane as a portable banking instrument linking the bank's Australian branch network with its London office and correspondent bankers abroad. The printed form belongs to the 19th-century series identified by the open date field "18__" and preserves the complete unused structure through which a traveler could obtain funds while overseas. Read more →

Australia 1900 - Bank of New South Wales £10 London Circular Note Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

This £10 Sterling Circular Note specimen was prepared for The Bank of New South Wales at London as part of the bank's traveler-payment system linking the issuing office with correspondent bankers and the holder's supporting Letter of Indication. The face carries the London office designation and the printed open date field "19__", placing the form within the bank's 20th-century circular-note series. Read more →

Australia 1890 - Bank of New South Wales £10 Melbourne Circular Note Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

This £10 Sterling Circular Note specimen was prepared for The Bank of New South Wales at Melbourne for use within the bank's international traveler-payment system. The face carries the Melbourne office designation and the printed open date field "18__", placing the form within the bank's 19th-century circular-note series. Read more →

New Zealand 1895–1915 - Bank of New Zealand £5 Orange Specimen (Pick S192s)

The high-denomination anchor of the Bank of New Zealand color series, this five pounds orange specimen (Pick S192s) represents one of the most structurally complex and production-informative notes of New Zealand’s private banking era. Printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company, Limited, London, it embodies the transition from richly ornamental Victorian engraving toward the more controlled and symmetrical Edwardian framework that followed. The composition preserves the defining elements of the earlier series-paired Māori figures within oval medallions at left, a lower maritime vignette reflecting colonial trade identity, and a dense guilloche lattice enclosing the denomination-while introducing a more disciplined spatial hierarchy across the central obligation panel. 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 1905-1916 - Bank of New Zealand £1 Red with Serial Number Prefix G000001-G100000 Cancelled Perforation Specimen (Pick S212bs)

An archival £1 Red specimen from the Bank of New Zealand private-issue series, catalogued as Pick S212bs and drawn from the opening serial block G000001–G100000. This example was pulled directly from the working plates of Bradbury Wilkinson & Co., London, as an approval and control specimen for internal printer and bank-director reference during the closing phase of BNZ private note production. Read more →

New Zealand 1905-1916 - Bank of New Zealand £1 Red with Serial Number Prefix G100001-G300000 Cancelled Perforation Specimen (Pick S212bs)

The red duty tint marks the final chromatic stage of the BNZ private-issue lineage. With extremely limited survival and no institutional duplicates known, this mid-block specimen is properly classified as R8 Extremely Rare. Read more →