Collection PL

Macau 1937 - Foo Hang Bank 10 Patacas Archival Printer Proof Compound Sheet (Pick S105)

This archival printer proof compound sheet is classified as R9 - Unique. No duplicate example of this object class is recognized within the observable record. It stands as a singular survival documenting the design authorization process behind Foo Hang Bank’s Macau issues and provides direct insight into how regional banks in southern China formalized monetary identity on the eve of profound political and economic transformation. Read more →

New Caledonia 1871 - French Treasury Second of Exchange for 2,000 Francs (Service des Colonies)

No other examples of this 1871 New Caledonia second of exchange in the denomination of 2,000 francs are currently documented. On the basis of observable and verifiable evidence alone, this instrument is treated as a one-on-one survivor and classified as R9. Read more →

Poland 1994 - Narodowy Bank Polski Complete Five-Denomination Series WZÓR Number 010 Specimen Set

Each note preserves the complete design of its denomination with the red WZÓR overprint and WZÓR No. 010 designation. The five-note sequence presents Mieszko I, Boleslaw I Chrobry, Casimir III the Great, Wladyslaw II Jagiello, and Sigismund I the Old, preserving the full denomination and portrait structure of the 1994 issue. Read more →

Poland 1994 - 10 Zlotych, Narodowy Bank Polski WZÓR Specimen Number 010 (Pick 173s)

The obverse features Prince Mieszko I, the Polish eagle, the denomination DZIESIEC ZLOTYCH, the Warsaw date of 25 March 1994, and the printed signatures of Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz and Wieslaw Biernatowicz. The red WZOR overprint and WZOR No. 010 designation identify the note as a specimen. Read more →

Poland 1994 - 20 Zlotych, Narodowy Bank Polski WZÓR Specimen Number 010 (Pick 174s)

The reverse continues the Bolesław I Chrobry theme through motifs associated with his reign. The note preserves the complete design and security structure of the 20 Zlotych issue, including guilloche work, denomination panels, and the Bolesław I Chrobry watermark. Read more →

Poland 1994 - 50 Zlotych, Narodowy Bank Polski WZÓR Specimen Number 010 (Pick 175s)

The reverse develops the Casimir III theme through architectural and heraldic imagery associated with his reign. The denomination preserves the full security and design program prepared for the 50 Zlotych issue, including layered guilloche structures, denomination fields, ornamental line work, and the Casimir III watermark. Read more →

Poland 1994 - 100 Zlotych, Narodowy Bank Polski WZÓR Specimen Number 010 (Pick 176s)

A WZÓR specimen banknote of the 100 Zlotych denomination from the 1994 Polish banknote series, prepared for the National Bank of Poland. The note bears serial number AA0000000 and the very low Polish specimen designation WZÓR No. 010. Read more →

Poland 1994 - 200 Zlotych, Narodowy Bank Polski WZÓR Specimen Number 010 (Pick 177s)

This denomination completes the matching-number WZÓR 010 group preserved in this collection. Its AA0000000 serial and shared specimen number place it within the same five-denomination reference sequence as the 10, 20, 50, and 100 Zlotych notes. Read more →

Martinique 1870 - Banque de la Martinique 1 Franc Cheque Recovered After the 1902 Mount Pelée Eruption (Pick P.5A)

Saint-Pierre, prior to its destruction, was the economic and administrative heart of Martinique and a central node in the island’s banking network. The annihilation of the city in 1902 resulted in the near-total loss of financial records, currency, and instruments held within its institutions. Paper banking artifacts that can be conclusively tied to the eruption are extraordinarily rare, and those bearing explicit contemporary inscriptions identifying their recovery context are rarer still. Read more →

Portugal 1799 - Real Erario 20000 Reis Apólice, Original Issue, No Overprint, Lisboa No. 37723

The result is a financial instrument that appears hybrid when viewed through modern terminology: short-term like a Treasury bill, but interest-bearing and formally structured as a public debt bond. Its later history adds another function. Once apolices were authorized to circulate in public and private payments, they also operated as fiduciary paper money. A single document could therefore represent government debt, a one-year interest-bearing obligation, and a circulating means of payment. Read more →

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

As the presently unique documented face proof of Pick S239p, this piece occupies a reference-level position within the study of Banco de Londres y Rio de la Plata banknote production. It preserves the approved engraved face of the 10 Pesos issue at a critical stage of manufacture and provides a direct record of nineteenth-century Bradbury Wilkinson security printing for Uruguay. Its type-level uniqueness, technical function, retained counterfoil, and connection to the later 1883 10 Pesos specimen establish it as an R9 Extremely Rare museum-grade artifact within the history of Uruguayan private-bank paper money. Read more →

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

This example was printed by E. A. Wright Bank Note Company of Philadelphia, a major American security printer responsible for a wide range of municipal and financial instruments during the early twentieth century. Master-form specimens such as this were produced in extremely small numbers for approval, demonstration, or archival reference and were typically destroyed once localized issues were authorized and placed into use. Read more →