Collection PL

Paraguay 1907 - Banco de la República 5 Pesos with 1912 State Overprint (Pick 127, Base Pick 156)

The overprint marks a decisive administrative transformation. The original note began as a Banco de la República obligation issued under the 1907 monetary framework. In 1912, during a period of political disorder, fiscal instability, and urgent demand for usable circulating paper, the Paraguayan state repurposed existing banknote stocks rather than waiting for a completely new issue. The oval “Emisión del Estado” overprint announced that this older banknote had been accepted into the emergency currency system and was now recognized as a state-authorized obligation. Read more →

Barbados 1968 - Bank of Barbados 5 Dollars Prefix AA Front and Back Archival Photograph (Pick Unlisted)

This item consists of a matched pair of archival photographic prints documenting the front and back designs of a proposed 5 Dollars banknote for Barbados, dated to approximately 1968 and produced by Bradbury Wilkinson and Company Limited of New Malden, Surrey, England. The pair preserves a transitional and apparently abandoned currency concept carrying the issuer name Bank of Barbados, a title that does not correspond to the formal issuing authority ultimately adopted by the country. Read more →

Poland 1994 - 50 Zlotych Rare London Print C-Prefix Note, CH9769411, Milczak 198A

The design depicts King Kazimierz III Wielki and combines historical portraiture with the security-printing language of the first modern zloty series, including dense guilloche work, microtext, ornamental denomination panels, and a portrait watermark. Introduced following the redenomination of 1 January 1995 at a rate of 10,000 old zlotych to 1 new zloty, the series established the visual identity of modern Polish currency. Read more →

Scotland 1962 - National Commercial Bank of Scotland Limited 5 Pounds Photographic Back Proof, Edinburgh Castle Design (Pick Unlisted)

As a photographic proof connected to the final Pick 272a reverse, this piece documents the design process behind one of the National Commercial Bank of Scotland Limited's last pre-decimal 5 Pounds issues. PCGS grades the proof 55 Choice About New, and its unlisted status supports its importance as a rare surviving production artifact for Scottish private-bank note design. Read more →

Scotland 1962 - National Commercial Bank of Scotland Limited 5 Pounds Photographic Back Proof, Landscape Design (Pick Unlisted)

The piece is mounted on card stock, consistent with proof handling for review or archival preservation. PCGS grades it 55 Choice About New. Its Pick Unlisted status and alternate-design character make it a rare museum-grade witness to Scottish banknote design development, preserving a reverse concept that would otherwise be invisible from the issued-note record alone. Read more →

Australia 1965 - Commercial Banking Company of Sydney 20 Dollars Travellers Cheque Photographic Proof (Pick Unlisted)

The cardstock mounting and grading label identify the piece as a photographic proof rather than a colour specimen proof. Its value lies in the way it isolates the engraved design and preserves the proof-room review state of the 20 Dollars denomination. The image shows the full cheque design with its central security field, Australia map device, scripted payable line, and placement guides for operational cheque use, documenting how Bradbury Wilkinson and Company evaluated the composition before the design direction moved forward into later revision stages. Read more →

Australia 1965 - Commercial Banking Company of Sydney 50 Dollars Travellers Cheque Photographic Proof (Pick Unlisted)

Photographic proof for the 50 Dollars traveller's cheque prepared for The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited during the 1965 Bradbury Wilkinson and Company design and approval sequence. Mounted on cardstock and dated 1 April 1965 in manuscript below the proof image, this piece records the early photographic review stage for the top denomination, following the 23 March 1965 submitted design proof and preceding the 12 April 1965 review letter noted on the companion colour proof. Read more →

Australia 1965 - Commercial Banking Company of Sydney 50 Dollars Travellers Cheque Approval-Stage Photographic Proof (Pick Unlisted)

The proof reproduces the 50 Dollars design in monochrome, but its importance lies in the visible changes that separate it from the earlier 1 April 1965 50 Dollars photographic proof. The inscription "The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited" is carried across a distinctly light horizontal reserve panel, lifting the bank title out of the dense security background and giving the central field a cleaner visual hierarchy. This treatment makes the institutional name read with immediate clarity while preserving the same high-denomination structure, corner value tablets, C.B.C. Travellers' Cheque title panel, scripted amount line, Australia map motif, circular C.B.C. medallion, and drawer's signature area seen throughout the 50 Dollars design progression. Read more →

Great Britain 1919 - Thomas Cook and Son 5 Pounds Circular Note Photographic Proof (Pick Unlisted)

This 1919 proof occupies an important position between earlier Thomas Cook circular note designs and the more standardized traveller-payment instruments of the early 1920s. It connects backward to the earlier Thomas Cook and Son 50 Dollars Circular Note photographic proof and forward to the later Thomas Cook and Son 5 Pounds Travellers Cheque photographic proof. The comparison shows the continuity of Thomas Cook's identity-linked payment system while also documenting the movement from circular note design language toward the later traveller's cheque format. Read more →

Great Britain 1919 - Thomas Cook and Son 5 Pounds Circular Note Photographic Proof, Alternate Design (Pick Unlisted)

The design is built around a dense ornamental structure rather than the portrait-based layout seen on the companion proof. The Thomas Cook and Son name rises vertically at the side, while the central field is dominated by a large guilloche medallion, radiating linework, heavy security engraving, layered value panels, and prominent 5 Pounds denomination devices. The words "Circular Note for Five Pounds" are placed directly within the main security field, giving the instrument a compact and strongly centralized appearance. Read more →

Great Britain 1919 - Thomas Cook and Son Limited 50 Dollars Travellers Cheques Photographic Proof, Central Eagle Vignette Design (Pick Unlisted)

The face should be read as a working financial instrument, not simply as an ornamental proof image. At the upper field, the Thomas Cook and Son name dominates the design, with a blank serial-number field at the left. A small administrative notice box instructs that particulars of advice are to be forwarded to Thomas Cook and Son in London or New York, showing the transatlantic administrative structure behind the instrument. The central title reads "Travellers Cheque for Fifty Dollars," placing the piece clearly within the travellers cheque branch of Thomas Cook and Son Limited's private payment system. Read more →

Great Britain 1919 - Thomas Cook and Son Limited 50 Dollars Travellers Cheques Photographic Proof, Ornamental Oval Design (Pick Unlisted)

The face carries the Bradbury Wilkinson and Company Limited engraving tradition through its security-printing style, with the London printer's imprint forming part of the proof's production identity where visible on the lower margin. The dense linework, layered oval architecture, lettered security field, value panels, and ornamental devices all reflect a printer's proofing environment in which visual hierarchy, anti-alteration structure, payment wording, and denomination clarity were reviewed together. Read more →