Collection PL

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

A fully issued 500 reales vellón banknote from Banco de Zaragoza dated 14 May 1857, Serie C, serial number 08785. Classified as Pick S453a, this is the circulation-authorized form of the denomination. Issued Zaragoza notes of this type are among the rarest survivors of Spain’s provincial banking era; nearly all original circulation was redeemed and destroyed during the consolidation of banknote issuance in the latter 19th century. ... Read more →

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

This specimen represents the sole documented control specimen of the Banco de San Juan 1 Peso Fuerte issue, printed in 1876 by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company in London for one of Argentina’s provincially chartered banks during the formative period of regional monetary autonomy. It is not part of a surviving series, but a single archival output with no issued, proof, or parallel specimen counterparts known. The Banco de San Juan operated within the interior province of San Juan during a period when Argentina’s banking system was highly decentralized. ... Read more →

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

This specimen represents the sole documented control specimen of the Banco de San Juan 5 Pesos Fuertes issue, printed in 1876 by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company in London for the provincial Bank of San Juan. It is not part of a surviving series but a single archival output, with no issued, proof, or parallel specimen counterparts known. The Banco de San Juan operated within Argentina’s interior Andean province during a period when provincial banks exercised near-sovereign authority over local credit and currency issuance. ... 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 →

Argentina 1869 — Banco Domingo Garbino, 5 Pesos Fuertes Issued Note with Red Overprint (Pick S1803)

Issued 5 Pesos Fuertes note of Banco Domingo Garbino, printed by the American Bank Note Company (Compañía Americana de Billetes de Banco Nueva York) and formally activated for circulation through the large diagonal red overprint “DOMINGO GARBINO.” This overprint was not decorative nor optional: it was the legal validation required to transform the bank’s remainder stock (Pick S1792r) into fully issued, signed, numbered, and payable currency. For this reason, Pick S1803 represents the only surviving issued form of the Garbino 5 Pesos Fuertes denomination. The base printing displays ABNC’s early post-Civil-War engraving style: a vigilant dog guarding a strongbox at top center, allegorical female portraits representing rural labor and domestic virtue, and deep green lathe-work executed with the precision that made ABNC the dominant security printer in the Americas. ... Read more →

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

An extraordinarily rare issued 2000 reales vellón banknote from the Banco de Zaragoza dated 14 May 1857, Serie E, serial number 00589. Classified as Pick S455, this note represents the highest denomination placed into active circulation by the bank. Very few issued examples of any Banco de Zaragoza notes survive, and among these, the 2000 reales denomination is one of the most elusive. ... 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 →

Jersey 1840 — Bible Christian Church, Royal Crescent £1 Remainder (Pick Unlisted)

Unissued £1 remainder note of the Bible Christian Church, Royal Crescent, Jersey — a rare surviving artifact from the early 19th-century Methodist movement on the Channel Islands. Printed in blue on thin, high-quality wove paper with a large circular watermark, the piece was intended as a church-backed promissory note payable in British Sterling, guaranteed by the trustees of the congregation. The engraving features an architectural vignette of the Royal Crescent Chapel and elaborate script typography typical of 1835–1845 provincial printing. ... Read more →

Poland 1940 — 10 Złotych Bank Emisyjny w Polsce Prefix C Kraków Issue Approval Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

This Prefix C approval specimen of the 10 Złotych issue documents the formal authorization stage of one of the core denominations of the 1940 General Government banknote series. Dated Kraków, 1 March 1940, the note represents the fully approved production standard used to initiate circulation printing by Bank Emisyjny w Polsce. The specimen is fully engraved and signed, corresponding in design, layout, and security structure to the issued banknote. ... Read more →

Poland 1940 — 20 Złotych Bank Emisyjny w Polsce Prefix A Kraków Issue Approval Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

This Prefix A approval specimen of the 20 Złotych issue documents the formal authorization stage of the occupation-era monetary system administered by Bank Emisyjny w Polsce. Dated Kraków, 1 March 1940, the note represents the fully accepted production standard from which circulation printing was initiated. It is a completed, signed, and institutionally approved banknote retained as a reference at the moment when monetary authority was translated into physical form. ... Read more →

Barbados 1959 — Government of Barbados Treasury Bill, Photographic Proof (Early Design Stage)

This photographic proof records an early design form of a Government of Barbados Treasury Bill prepared under the Treasury Bills (Local) Act of 1922. The proof differs materially in wording, layout, and structure from later issued and specimen Treasury Bills, and represents an earlier design stage within the Barbados treasury bill system. The front displays the full issuer heading “Government of Barbados Treasury Bill” and a legal obligation clause stating payment “to bearer out of the General Revenue and Assets of Barbados.” This formulation is not identical to the wording used on later Treasury Bills and bearer instruments, where the obligation language is more compact and standardized. ... Read more →

Barbados 1968 — Government of Barbados 500 Dollars Treasury Bill, Specimen, Perforated Cancelled, Prefix A

Specimen Treasury Bill issued by the Government of Barbados under the authority of the Treasury Bills (Local) Act of 1922, produced for internal reference and administrative control rather than circulation or fiscal settlement. The document carries a printed denomination of five hundred dollars and defines an obligation payable out of the Consolidated Fund at any commercial bank in Barbados or at the Treasury. The place of issue is identified as Bridgetown, confirming its role within the central administrative framework of the Barbadian state. ... Read more →