Collection PL

United States 1934 - New Jersey 10 Dollars City of Asbury Park Tax Anticipation Note Recovery Bond Specimen (March 31 Issue)

This specimen represents an official municipal tax anticipation note issued by the City of Asbury Park, New Jersey, dated March 31, 1934, and denominated Ten Dollars. Explicitly titled TAX ANTICIPATION NOTE OF 1934 and further identified on the design as a RECOVERY BOND, the instrument belongs to a class of short-term municipal obligations created during the most acute phase of the Great Depression, when local governments faced severe cash shortages and collapsing revenue streams. Read more →

United States 1933 - State of Delaware 50 Cents Tax Paid on Half Barrel of Beer Uncut Specimen Strip of Five

No other specimen strip of this Delaware half-barrel beer tax stamp issue is documented in institutional collections, auction records, or standard fiscal stamp references. Based strictly on observed and recorded evidence, this intact strip stands as a unique surviving example and serves as a primary reference artifact for Delaware’s early post-Prohibition excise taxation system. Read more →

Lower Canada 1837 - Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad - 15 Sous, Quarter Dollar, Half Dollar (Full Uncut Dual Series Sheet)

The full uncut format measures 350 millimeters by 220 millimeters and preserves the complete production configuration. This is a critical distinction, as many surviving examples are in fact half sheets-typically consisting of either the A series or B series portion only-and are often misrepresented as full sheets. The present example retains both series in their original unified format, preserving the full structural and functional design. Read more →

Spain 1875 - Banco de España 50 Pesetas Contemporary Counterfeit (Pick 7x)

As a result, this 1875 fifty pesetas contemporary counterfeit must be regarded as an extremely rare monetary artifact. It provides direct insight into the vulnerabilities of nineteenth-century Spanish paper money systems and the enforcement mechanisms developed to combat forgery, while standing as a scarce and well-documented survivor of period counterfeit circulation. Read more →

Spain 1876 - Banco de España 100 Pesetas Contemporary Counterfeit (Pick 11x)

As a result, this 1876 one hundred pesetas contemporary counterfeit must be regarded as an extremely rare monetary artifact. It provides direct evidence of the vulnerabilities of nineteenth-century Spanish paper currency systems and the enforcement mechanisms developed to combat forgery, while standing as a scarce and well-documented survivor of period counterfeit circulation. Read more →

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

This 1828 five shillings pre-issue sample must therefore be regarded as a museum-grade monetary artifact rather than a conventional banknote. It documents the transition from state-administered colonial finance toward private banking, the absence of central banking authority in nineteenth-century South Africa, and the institutional processes through which early banks sought legitimacy, authorization, and public trust. As such, it stands as a primary historical document of South Africa’s pre-central-bank monetary system and the origins of private paper currency in the region. Read more →

South Africa 1861 - Montagu Bank 5 Pounds Remainder (Pick S231r)

The Montagu Bank was established in 1861 at a time when local banking was widely regarded as essential to trade and economic development within the Cape Colony. Contemporary accounts note that by the late nineteenth century more than thirty such local banks operated across the colony, each issuing its own paper currency. Montagu was among the smaller but more ambitious of these institutions, notable not only for issuing its own banknotes but for embedding itself physically and socially within the town’s commercial core. Read more →

Uruguay 1939 - Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay 1000 Pesos Specimen, Perforated Cancel, Series A–B (Pick 41as)

The obverse design presents an engraved portrait of José Gervasio Artigas, Uruguay’s foundational national figure, rendered within an ornate architectural framework characteristic of Thomas De La Rue and Company’s late-interwar intaglio production. The denomination MIL PESOS dominates the central cartouche, emphasizing the note’s position at the apex of the denomination hierarchy. This example belongs to the Series A–B grouping and bears a controlled all-zero serial format, consistent with non-circulating specimen preparation. Read more →

Uruguay 1939 - Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay 1000 Pesos Specimen, Printed Cancel, Serie D, Specimen No. 23 (Pick 41cs)

This Serie D specimen carries paired all-zero serial numbers and the printed designation SPECIMEN No. 23 along the lower margin. A large diagonal red SPECIMEN overprint crosses the central obligation and denomination. Additional red oval specimen stamps appear over the upper-left emblematic panel and the lower-right portion of the note. Together, these cancellations establish the piece as a formally controlled specimen while leaving the principal engraved features fully visible for examination and reference. Read more →

Uruguay 1939 - Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay 1000 Pesos Specimen, Printed Cancel, Serie C, Specimen No. 2 (Pick 41bs)

Across the obverse, the issuer's authority is stated in exceptionally prominent form. REPUBLICA ORIENTAL DEL URUGUAY stretches across the upper center, while MIL PESOS occupies the central ornamental panel. The obligation text and reference to the law of 2 January 1939 establish the note within the legal structure of the issue, making the design both a monetary instrument and a printed declaration of state-backed value. Read more →

United States 1854 - Empire City Bank 100 Dollars Proof (Pick NY1585G16P)

The central vignette depicts a steamship associated with the Collins Line, an elite American transatlantic shipping company whose vessels symbolized speed, technological progress, and commercial prestige during the 1850s. The imagery is widely understood to represent a steamer of the S.S. Arctic class. Contemporary evidence indicates that the Empire City Bank maintained connections with interests linked to the Collins Line, making the choice of this vignette a deliberate association between the bank’s highest denomination and themes of international commerce and reliability. Read more →

United States 1838 - Olney, Alabama 25 Cents, 50 Cents, 1 Dollar Uncut Sheet Remainder

This 1838 Olney uncut remainder sheet must therefore be understood as a documentary artifact of early American paper money production rather than as functional currency. It illustrates the reliance on stock engravings, the informal nature of many local monetary experiments during the Panic era, and the fragile boundary between intended issuance and abandoned production in the decentralized banking environment of antebellum America. As such, it stands as museum grade evidence of the mechanics and uncertainties that characterized United States currency before the establishment of centralized monetary control. Read more →