Collection PL

Spain 1857 - Banco de Zaragoza 500 Reales Vellón Serie C Issued Note No. 08785 (Pick S453a)

The Banco de Zaragoza operated from 1857 until its absorption into the Banco de España in 1874, following the brief period of liberalized private note issuance created by the 1856 banking law. The bank issued a structured series of reales de vellón: Serie A = 100 reales, Serie B = 200 reales, Serie C = 500 reales, Serie D = 1000 reales, Serie E = 2000 reales, Serie F = 4000 reales. Because most circulation notes were redeemed and destroyed during the national centralisation of currency issuance, genuine issued examples-especially in higher denominations-are exceptionally rare. Read more →

Argentina 1876 - Banco de San Juan 1 Peso Fuerte Specimen (Pick S1880s)

As such, this piece constitutes a structurally unique archival artifact documenting provincial private banknote authorization in nineteenth-century Argentina. Its importance lies not in circulation history, but in its role as the sole surviving physical evidence of a San Juan-specific monetary issue during Argentina’s brief era of provincial financial autonomy. Read more →

Argentina 1876 - Banco de San Juan 5 Pesos Fuertes Specimen (S1881s)

As such, this piece constitutes a structurally unique archival artifact documenting provincial private banknote authorization in nineteenth-century Argentina. Together with the corresponding 1 Peso Fuerte specimen, it forms a complete surviving specimen pair that records San Juan’s brief participation in Argentina’s decentralized banking experiment before national monetary consolidation. Read more →

Spain 1857 - Banco de Zaragoza 200 Reales Vellón Serie B Issued Note No. 07958 (Pick S4532s)

A specimen of the Banco de Zaragoza 200 reales vellón dated 14 May 1857, Serie B, serial number 07958, classified as Pick S452s. This is the standard specimen format as preserved for printer archives and official reference, fully complete in its intended banknote form. The Madrid-school engraving includes the Spanish coat of arms, detailed acanthus ornaments, and formal promise text characteristic of Zaragoza's mid-19th century private-bank issues. Read more →

Spain 1857 - Banco de Zaragoza 2000 Reales Vellón Serie E Issued Note No. 00589 (Pick S455)

The Banco de Zaragoza operated under Spain’s brief liberalised banking window (1856–1874), during which private banks were permitted to print circulating currency. Its emissions followed a clear structural hierarchy of reales de vellón denominations: Serie A = 100 reales, Serie B = 200 reales, Serie C = 500 reales, Serie D = 1000 reales, Serie E = 2000 reales, Serie F = 4000 reales. Of these, Series D, E, and F survive only in microscopic numbers; most were redeemed and destroyed following the centralisation of currency issuance under the Banco de España. Read more →

Spain 1857 - Banco de Zaragoza 2000 Reales Vellón Serie E Issued Note No. 00500 (Pick S455)

A fully issued 2000 reales vellón banknote from the Banco de Zaragoza dated 14 May 1857, Serie E, serial number 00500. Classified under Pick S455, this note represents the highest denomination from Zaragoza known to have entered active circulation. Its survival is an exceptional anomaly: most high-value private-bank issues from this period were redeemed rapidly and destroyed, leaving only a microscopic population of true circulation-authorized notes. Read more →

Spain 1857 - Banco de Zaragoza 2000 Reales Vellón Serie E Issued Note No. 00286 (Pick S455)

A genuinely rare issued 2000 reales vellón banknote of the Banco de Zaragoza, dated Zaragoza, 14 May 1857, Serie E, serial number 00286. Catalogued as Pick S455, this denomination represents the upper tier of the bank’s circulating emissions and belongs to a class of notes that were produced in limited quantities and almost entirely redeemed and destroyed. Read more →

Spain 1857 - Banco de Zaragoza 2000 Reales Vellón Serie E Issued Consecutive Pair No. 00031–00032 (Pick S455)

An exceptional issued consecutive pair of 2000 reales vellón banknotes from the Banco de Zaragoza, dated Zaragoza, 14 May 1857, Serie E, serial numbers 00031 and 00032. Catalogued as Pick S455, this pair represents one of the earliest surviving serial groupings of the highest denomination issued by the bank and illustrates the original form in which such notes were placed into circulation. Read more →

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

The Banco de Londres y Rio de la Plata was one of the principal foreign-linked banking institutions operating within the Rio de la Plata region during the nineteenth century. Its Uruguayan issues belong to an era in which privately organized banks supplied substantial portions of the circulating paper currency and relied on major international security printers to provide technically sophisticated notes capable of supporting public confidence and commercial use. The 10 Pesos denomination formed part of this broader private-bank monetary system operating through Montevideo and the surrounding regional economy. Read more →

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

During the banking crisis of 1933, municipalities across the United States encountered simultaneous failures of cash circulation, delayed tax receipts, and restricted access to credit markets. In response, local governments turned to municipal scrip as a legally recognized means of meeting payroll obligations, settling accounts, and maintaining basic services. Generic master forms such as this were created to accelerate that process, allowing cities to implement approved scrip issues without the time and expense required for bespoke engraving and legal drafting. Read more →

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

Unlike informal emergency substitutes or privately issued local notes, this instrument was grounded in a defined statutory and administrative framework. The engraved certificate explicitly states that the County of Atlantic was holding nine thousand one hundred eighty-five dollars in obligations of the Borough of Longport, New Jersey, received on account of the nineteen thirty-three state school tax. These obligations were pledged as security for payment to bearer, embedding the scrip within an intergovernmental structure linking municipal debt, county administration, and state-mandated education funding. Read more →

South Africa 1828 - Cape of Good Hope Bank 5 Shillings Pre-Issue Sample (Pick S171p)

This note represents a pre-issue sample of the Cape of Good Hope Bank five shillings denomination, produced in the late 1820s during the formative period of private banking in the Cape Colony, well before the bank was formally authorized to commence operations. It predates all circulating issues of the institution and belongs to the earliest documentary layer of South African private-bank paper money. Read more →