Collection PL

Great Britain 1904 - Thomas Cook & Son $50 Circular Note Photographic Proof (Pick Unlisted)

A photographic proof of the 50 Dollars Circular Note produced for Thomas Cook and Son circa 1904, representing a pre-issue production artifact created during the final design and approval phase of one of the earliest globally recognized private payment instruments. This proof predates finished circulation notes and preserves the engraved face as prepared for reproduction rather than for direct financial use. These instruments are directly related to what later became known as Travellers Cheque and Travelers Check systems and are often collected within the same category of early international payment instruments. Read more →

Great Britain 1922 - Thomas Cook and Son 5 Pounds Travellers Cheque Photographic Proof (Pick Unlisted)

The proof connects directly with the corresponding Thomas Cook and Son 5 Pounds Travellers Cheque specimen, allowing the proof-stage design record and the finalized specimen-stage cheque to be studied together. The photographic proof preserves the design as a mounted production review image, while the specimen preserves the printed cheque format with red specimen and cancellation markings, reverse payment wording, and the full issued-style presentation structure. Read more →

Great Britain 1923 - Thomas Cook & Son Travellers Cheque 100 Rupees Photographic Proof (Pick Unlisted)

By the early 1920s, Thomas Cook & Son had developed a worldwide private payment network serving international travellers, merchants, and customers moving between currencies. Rupee-denominated travellers cheques formed part of that system and allowed substantial sums to be carried and converted through Thomas Cook's established offices and correspondents. The 100 Rupees denomination represented a significant value and was suited to extended travel and major expenditure within the Indian Empire. Read more →

Australia 1939 - Commercial Banking Company of Sydney LIMITED £5 Travellers Cheque Photographic Proof (Pick Unlisted)

The design showcases the CBC’s monogram in a large ornamental medallion at left, intricate border engraving, and redemption clauses payable at the bank’s main offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. It served as a final visual check before plate approval and production of operational cheques issued to customers travelling across the Commonwealth. Read more →

Australia 1963 - Commercial Banking Company of Sydney LIMITED £5 Travellers Cheque Photographic Proof (Pick Unlisted)

In the mid-20th century, before widespread credit card adoption, traveller’s cheques were the safest form of portable currency for customers abroad. Major Australian banks such as the CBC of Sydney maintained dedicated foreign exchange departments, issuing cheques that were accepted across the Commonwealth and internationally. These photographic proofs were produced by the bank’s security printer to document the approved layout, color balance, and security features before final lithographic printing. Read more →

Australia 1963 - Commercial Banking Company of Sydney LIMITED £5 Travellers Cheque Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

The CBC of Sydney was a cornerstone of Australian finance, founded in 1834 and later merging into the National Australia Bank. Its traveller’s cheque program reflected both the confidence and sophistication of the postwar Australian economy. Before credit cards, such cheques provided a secure means for travellers to carry and exchange money internationally, backed by the issuing bank’s reputation. Read more →

Australia 1963 - Commercial Banking Company of Sydney LIMITED £2 Travellers Cheque Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

Specimen traveller’s cheque for £2 issued by the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney, Limited. Printed in green with an allegorical vignette depicting a child with fleece, symbolizing prosperity, trade, and trust - central ideals in Australian colonial iconography. Read more →

Australia 1965 - Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited 10 Dollars Travellers Cheque Approved Design Proof (Pick Unlisted)

As an annotated Bradbury Wilkinson and Company approval proof for an unlisted Australian traveller's cheque type, this piece is best understood as a discovery-level archival survivor. Its approval wording, date, control punch, B1 marking, and direct connection to the wider 1965 proof-room trail place it among the most significant known records of The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited's decimal-era traveller's cheque development. Read more →

Australia 1965 - Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited 20 Dollars Travellers Cheque Rejected Design Proof (Pick Unlisted)

Rejected design proof for the 20 Dollars traveller's cheque prepared by Bradbury Wilkinson and Company, London, for The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited. Submitted on 23 March 1965 and later annotated in the left margin "Not approved, letter 12.4.65," this sheet preserves the first formal 20 Dollars design presented within the bank's important 1965 three-denomination traveller's cheque sequence. It stands at the heart of the documented approval trail that links the March submitted designs to the later June revision phase and, ultimately, to the approved 10 Dollars proof of 15 June 1965. Read more →

Australia 1965 - Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited 50 Dollars Travellers Cheque Rejected Design Proof (Pick Unlisted)

As the highest denomination in The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited's surviving 1965 traveller's cheque proof group, this sheet is a discovery-level archival record. Its submission date, rejection annotation, top-denomination role, right-side control punch, printed signature element, and direct connection to the April and June photographic proof stages place it among the defining pieces of the documented approval sequence. It preserves Bradbury Wilkinson and Company's original 50 Dollars design proposal at the exact point where the series moved from formal submission into review, revision, and eventual acceptance of the cleaner June design language. Read more →

Australia 1961 - Bank of New South Wales Sterling Travellers Cheques, Complete Printer’s Proof Set £2-£50 (Pick Unlisted)

The 10 Pounds sheet functions as the supervisory master proof for the group. It retains a perforated binding stub at the left edge, includes printed facsimile signature placement on the face, and carries a small alphanumeric control mark at the upper right. On the reverse, a red handwritten approval line and date record final sign-off on 29 April 1961, one day after the initial numbering submission. These features identify the 10 Pounds as the controlling approval sheet that finalized layout, signature position, and numbering logic for the entire series. Read more →

Australia 1929 - Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited - Circular Letter of Credit Photographic Proof (Mounted on Cardstock, PCGS 64 Very Choice New)

This photographic proof represents a Circular Letter of Credit issued by the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited during the late interwar period, forming part of an international financial system that enabled secure cross-border access to funds. Unlike Letters of Introduction, which served primarily as identity credentials, the Letter of Credit functioned as a direct monetary instrument, allowing the holder to withdraw funds abroad through a structured and verifiable process. It stands as a precursor to modern traveler’s checks and early credit-based financial systems. Read more →