Collection PL

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 →

Australia 1880–1910 — Commercial Bank of Australia £100 Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

A monumental survivor from Australia’s private banking era, this £100 specimen ranks among the most important colonial-era notes known. Printed circa 1880–1910 for the Commercial Bank of Australia Limited, it represents the uppermost denomination produced under the private-issue system that existed before the Commonwealth took full control of note issuance in 1910. No issued examples of this £100 are believed to have survived, making specimens the only remaining documentation of the type. ... Read more →

New Zealand 1907–1926 — Bank of New Zealand £20 Blue Serial-Prefix Audit Specimen (Pick S194s)

A unique high-denomination Bradbury Wilkinson audit-range specimen and the rarest surviving document from New Zealand’s private-banknote era, the £20 Blue (Pick S194s) represents the apex of BNZ’s color-coded denomination hierarchy. This specimen is not a generic zero-serial example: it carries dual live serials (No. 061001 and No. ... Read more →

Australia 1877 — City of Melbourne Bank Limited £20 Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

A unique surviving specimen of the £20 denomination issued by the City of Melbourne Bank Limited, representing one of the highest-value private banknotes produced in colonial Victoria. Printed from Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. master plates, this note belongs to the final generation of Australian private banknote engraving before national standardization and the destruction of nearly all high-denomination material. ... Read more →

Australia 1877 — Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company Portrait of Woman Intaglio Vignette Proof (Printer’s Library Master)

This intaglio vignette proof represents an original portrait engraving produced by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company in London in 1877, prepared as a master design element within the firm’s internal plate library. It depicts a classical female figure engraved as a stand-alone vignette, intended for later integration into complete banknote layouts commissioned by private banks across the British Empire, including Australian colonial institutions. In the Bradbury Wilkinson production workflow of the late nineteenth century, portrait vignettes were engraved independently of any specific banknote. ... Read more →

Australia 1877 — Mercantile Bank of Sydney £1 Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

A superb Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. specimen from the early colonial banking era, this £1 note for the Mercantile Bank of Sydney survives today as the only documented example of its type. Certified PMG 66 EPQ Gem Uncirculated and recorded as Pop 1, it represents a unique surviving specimen of a private Australian bank whose issues rarely appear in any form. ... Read more →

Australia 1879–1903 — Federal Bank of Australia, Limited £1 Sydney Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

This specimen represents a one pound note prepared for the Federal Bank of Australia, Limited and printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company in London during the bank’s short operational life between 1879 and 1903. The note carries the Sydney office imprint, identifying the colonial financial center where the issue was intended to circulate. It belongs to one of the most fragile and least documented chapters of Australia’s pre-Federation private banking era, when numerous colonial banks issued their own paper currency under uneven regulation and volatile economic conditions. ... Read more →

Spain 1857 — Banco de Zaragoza 500 Reales Vellón Serie C Specimen Full Sheet with Header and Talón No. 08703 (Pick S453s)

A full-sheet specimen of the Banco de Zaragoza 500 reales vellón dated 14 May 1857, Serie C, serial number 08703. Classified as Pick S453s, this complete production sheet preserves the entire original plate configuration: the upper header panel used for alignment and plate control, the left talón containing the audit serial, and the full banknote plate. Specimens surviving in full-sheet format are exceptionally rare for Spanish provincial banks of the 1850s. ... Read more →

Spain 1857 — Banco de Zaragoza 200 Reales Vellón Serie B Specimen Full Sheet with Header and Talón No. 07887 (Pick S452s)

A full-sheet specimen of the Banco de Zaragoza 200 reales vellón dated 14 May 1857, Serie B, serial number 07887, classified as Pick S452s. This complete production sheet preserves the entire printing layout: the upper header panel used for alignment and plate control, the left talón for internal audit numbering, and the full banknote plate. Full-sheet specimens from Spanish provincial banks in the 1850s are exceptionally rare, and survivals with both header and talón intact are almost unknown. ... Read more →

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 →

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

The finest preserved £5 specimen of New Zealand’s wartime private-banknote era and the highest-graded example recorded for Pick S227s. Printed in London by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. during the 1916–1920 wartime production cycle, this specimen represents an internal audit and approval piece retained from a numbered print run rather than a zero-serial display copy. ... Read more →

New Zealand 1895–1908 — Bank of New Zealand 10 Pounds Brown Specimen with Serial Number Prefix (Pick S193bs)

A high-denomination specimen from the Bank of New Zealand color lineage, the ten pounds brown (Pick S193bs) represents the serial-prefix approval format bearing dual printed control numbers, 097476 at upper left and 102475 at lower right. These serial-prefix specimens were produced for internal audit, plate approval, and archival reference purposes, distinct from zero-serial specimen impressions. Engraved and printed in London between 1895 and 1908 by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company, Limited, the note reflects mature late-Victorian engraving practice. ... Read more →