Collection PL

China 1921 - Xinjiang Textile Emergency Currency Printed on Red Cloth with Sun Emblem (Pick Unlisted)

Textile emergency currency of this type was issued as functional money for everyday transactions, provisioning, and local settlement in environments where conventional paper currency was unavailable or impractical. Once monetary conditions stabilized and centralized systems expanded, such cloth notes were withdrawn and destroyed, resulting in extremely low survival rates. Read more →

China 1922 - Xinjiang Textile Emergency Currency Printed on Red Cloth, Local Authority Issue (Pick Unlisted)

The design is executed directly onto fabric in dark ink, with the textile weave clearly visible through the printed impression. The layout centers on a rectangular inscription panel framed by vegetal side borders and a wave-pattern band along the lower register. The upper register incorporates a winged ornamental motif distinct from earlier nineteenth-century Xinjiang textile issues, indicating a later re-cut or locally adapted block tradition rather than reuse of original plates. Read more →

China 1924 - Dihua Official Coin Bureau 40 Wen Textile Emergency Issue (Pick Unlisted)

No additional specimens, archival hoards, or production remnants are known. On the basis of observable, verifiable material only, the issue is classified as R8. Read more →

Spain 1857 - Banco de Zaragoza 100 Reales Vellon Serie A No. 23327 Full Sheet with Header and Talon Specimen (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 →

Spain 1857 - Banco de Zaragoza 200 Reales Vellon Serie B No. 07887 Full Sheet with Header and Talon Specimen (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 500 Reales Vellon Serie C No. 08703 Full Sheet with Header and Talon Specimen (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. Their survival in untrimmed, archival form is nearly unprecedented. Read more →

New Zealand 1895-1908 - Bank of New Zealand £10 Brown with Serial Number Prefix Specimen (Pick S193bs)

Surviving specimens of the S193s type are extremely scarce. Positioned alongside the one pound green (Pick S191s) and five pounds orange (Pick S192s), the ten pounds brown completes the BNZ color lineage and represents the highest denomination within this pre-Reserve Bank engraved series. Read more →

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

A wartime £5 specimen of the Bank of New Zealand, printed in London by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. during the 1916–1920 production cycle. The note carries live serial numbering and survives as an internal audit and approval piece from a numbered print run, distinct from zero-serial display specimens. Read more →

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

By 1913, the Bank of New Zealand’s commercial note-issuing era was approaching its end. Two decades later, issuance would be centralized under the Reserve Bank, and most private-bank archival material was destroyed. Surviving multi-serial approval specimens such as this are therefore exceptionally rare. In light of known populations and the specialized function of the type, Pick S192ms properly belongs in the R8 rarity tier. It stands today as one of the most important reference artifacts for the study of New Zealand’s private-banknote system and Bradbury Wilkinson’s Oceania output. Read more →

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

The note’s design captures the late-Edwardian peak of Bradbury, Wilkinson craftsmanship: elaborate guilloché, multicolour underprint, and symbolic vignettes including a cherub with a ram’s head representing commerce and abundance. Its heavy perforations and broad margins identify it as a proof rather than a circulation specimen, created to demonstrate design and engraving quality before full production. Read more →

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

No issued £5 notes of this exact type are confirmed to survive, and specimen examples with serial prefixes are recorded only in isolated instances. On the basis of observable, verifiable material alone, this specimen qualifies as an advanced rarity within the surviving corpus of Australian private-banknote material. Read more →

Australia 1900 - Bank of New South Wales £20 Sydney Circular Note Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

Together, the face instructions, Letter of Indication reference, signature-verification procedure, London exchange provision, reverse demand draft, institutional watermark, and printer specimen markings preserve the complete operating structure of an early 20th-century Australian circular note. The Sydney £20 red-overprint specimen form is Pick Unlisted and is recorded here as R9 Extremely Rare, with this example representing the only known specimen of the exact form. Read more →