Collection PL

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

The cardstock mounting and grading label identify the piece as a photographic proof rather than a colour specimen proof. Its value lies in the way it isolates the engraved design and preserves the proof-room review state of the 20 Dollars denomination. The image shows the full cheque design with its central security field, Australia map device, scripted payable line, and placement guides for operational cheque use, documenting how Bradbury Wilkinson and Company evaluated the composition before the design direction moved forward into later revision stages. Read more →

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

The cardstock-mounted photographic format is central to the piece's importance. It records the design as an unpunched photographic review state, isolating density, contrast, text hierarchy, and background strength during the first review phase of the top denomination. This is especially meaningful when viewed beside the later 15 June 1965 revised 50 Dollars photographic proof, where the bank-name field is brought forward on a lighter horizontal reserve and the proof carries the single round control punch associated with the formal proof sequence. Together, the two 50 Dollars photographic proofs preserve the movement from early photographic review to revised approval-stage presentation. Read more →

Australia 1965 - Commercial Banking Company of Sydney 50 Dollars Travellers Cheque Approval-Stage Photographic Proof (Pick Unlisted)

The proof reproduces the 50 Dollars design in monochrome, but its importance lies in the visible changes that separate it from the earlier 1 April 1965 50 Dollars photographic proof. The inscription "The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited" is carried across a distinctly light horizontal reserve panel, lifting the bank title out of the dense security background and giving the central field a cleaner visual hierarchy. This treatment makes the institutional name read with immediate clarity while preserving the same high-denomination structure, corner value tablets, C.B.C. Travellers' Cheque title panel, scripted amount line, Australia map motif, circular C.B.C. medallion, and drawer's signature area seen throughout the 50 Dollars design progression. Read more →

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

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

Great Britain 1919 - Thomas Cook and Son Limited 50 Dollars Travellers Cheques Photographic Proof, Central Eagle Vignette Design (Pick Unlisted)

The printer is identified directly on the face. Along the lower margin appears the imprint "Bradbury, Wilkinson and Company Limited Engravers, London," placing the piece within the London security-printing tradition. Bradbury Wilkinson and Company Limited was responsible for the engraved structure, dense guilloche work, central eagle vignette, value devices, lettered security field, and formal instrument layout. The imprint is a key part of the object's identity and confirms that this is a London-produced security-printing proof, not an anonymous mounted image. Read more →

Great Britain 1919 - Thomas Cook and Son Limited 50 Dollars Travellers Cheques Photographic Proof, Ornamental Oval Design (Pick Unlisted)

This proof differs from the 20 October 1919 Thomas Cook and Son Limited 50 Dollars Travellers Cheques photographic proof, which uses a stronger pictorial payment panel and a more open reading of the central payment field. The present proof emphasizes the oval security framework, ornamental density, and integrated denomination structure, making it a separate design state rather than a repeated example of the same mounted proof. Read more →

Great Britain 1919 - Thomas Cook and Son Limited 50 Dollars Travellers Cheques Photographic Proof, Control Layout Design (Pick Unlisted)

The central title reads "Travelers Cheque for Fifty Dollars," using the American spelling on the face, and the right-side text box states "Good for Twelve Months from Date." Beneath the title, the payment instruction is addressed formally to the paying correspondent, beginning with "Gentlemen," and explains that the cheque will be presented by a named holder whose signature appears in the firm's letter of identification. The text directs payment against a sight draft on the back of the cheque, showing how the document was designed to operate through controlled presentation, identification, and correspondent-bank settlement rather than through ordinary circulation. Read more →

Great Britain 1900 - Thomas Cook and Son 4 Pounds 1 Shilling 8 Pence Sight Draft Photographic Proof (Pick Unlisted)

This 4 Pounds, 1 Shilling and 8 Pence sight draft photographic proof is a museum-grade archival survivor from the early development of Thomas Cook and Son's international financial instruments. Its importance lies in the precise face wording, the exchange-based amount, the Ludgate Circus headquarters connection, the Bradbury Wilkinson and Company Limited production context, and its place within the broader Thomas Cook sequence of sight drafts, circular notes, and travellers cheques. As a distinct mounted photographic proof of an early Thomas Cook payment form, it stands as an R9 Extremely Rare reference item for the study of private travel finance, exchange instruments, London security printing, and early twentieth-century payment design. Read more →