Collection PL

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

Within the BNZ color lineage, the £5 Orange occupies the central position between the £1 Green and the higher-denomination £10 Brown. This warm-toned middle tier served as a long-standing visual identifier for the denomination across decades of private-bank issuance. The continued use of orange into the 1910s demonstrates Bradbury Wilkinson’s commitment to chromatic continuity even as engraving practices evolved. Read more →

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

Proof specimen printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. between 1905 and 1910 for the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney LIMITED - one of Australia’s oldest and most respected private banks, founded in 1834. The CBC operated independently until its 1981 merger with the National Bank of Australasia, forming today’s NAB. Read more →

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

Colouration is restrained compared to later proof or finished production states, indicating an earlier stage in the approval or validation process. Engraving quality, paper, and layout correspond to Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. master production standards for Australian private banks at the close of the nineteenth century. 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 →

Mauritius 1839 - Mauritius Commercial Bank 20 Dollars / 4 Pounds Sterling Issued & Cancelled Note (Pick S125)

One of the earliest surviving issued notes of the Mauritius Commercial Bank-the oldest banking institution in the Indian Ocean-this 1839 Twenty Dollar / Four Pounds Sterling note is a foundational artifact of Mauritian monetary history. Issued only one year after the bank’s founding in 1838, it belongs to the first generation of fully functional colonial paper money used on the island. These early issues circulated at a time when coin shortages were severe, and private banknotes became the primary medium of exchange for merchants, plantation owners, and shipping houses. 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)

This £1 Green specimen marks a pivotal stage in New Zealand’s monetary development. During the late nineteenth century, the Bank of New Zealand operated within a privately issued currency system, where commercial banks produced their own notes backed by reserves and governed under colonial legislation. Bradbury Wilkinson introduced high-security engraving standards to this system, embedding British technical precision into a developing colonial economy. 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 →