Collection PL

Poland 1994 - 50 Zlotych Discovery AR Prefix with Red Overprint and Oval Stamp Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

Serial AR0000000 is the principal prefix diagnostic. The all-zero numbering identifies the note as specimen material, while the AR prefix places it within a previously undocumented control group for the 1994 50 Zlotych issue. The red specimen markings and punch cancellations establish its controlled non-circulating status while preserving the complete production design. Read more →

Poland 1994 - 50 Zlotych Discovery AR Prefix Perforated SPECIMEN OF NO VALUE Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

Produced by Thomas De La Rue in London for the National Bank of Poland, the note carries Andrzej Heidrich's completed 1994 design with layered guilloche work, detailed denomination panels, ornamental security structures, and the King Casimir III the Great watermark in the left field. Read more →

Sweden 1785 - Stockholm Spinnhus Pollett System – Complete Nine-Denomination Institutional Currency Set:One Half Öre to One Daler (Pick Unlisted)

No Swedish institutional archive is known to hold a complete original set. Existing examples, when found, appear singly and often in lesser condition or as later restrikes. This privately assembled nine-note system, accumulated over nearly half a century, is believed to be the only surviving complete original series. Individually these notes measure at the highest rarity levels (R9+). As a unified and intact monetary system, the set attains R10 rarity, representing a uniquely preserved eighteenth-century institutional currency structure of profound historical and academic significance. Read more →

Egypt 1943 - Cyril IX Moghabghab, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch (Signed Patriarchal Letter, Alexandria)

This mixture of pastoral tone and high-level political engagement reflects the unique position the Melkite Patriarchate occupied in the 1940s. Alexandria and Cairo served as geopolitical hubs linking the Levant, British authorities, and emerging Arab-nationalist leadership circles. Patriarchal letters explicitly engaging in political intercession-particularly those naming individuals, bishops, and concrete diplomatic instructions-are almost never found outside church archives. Read more →

Italy 1871–1872 - Banca Italo-Germanica 250 Lire Specimen (Pick S976s)

As a museum-grade artifact of Italian financial history, a key reference piece for early Bradbury Wilkinson engraving, and one of the finest surviving private-banknote specimens from post-unification Italy, this 250 Lire note stands as a cornerstone in the study of failed monetary experiments and the evolution of modern Italian banking. Read more →

Uruguay 1872 - Banco de Londres y Rio de la Plata 100 Pesos = 10 Doblones Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

This specimen stands as a singular documentary witness to Uruguay’s most explicit gold-standard experiment in paper form. It occupies a reference position not only within Uruguayan numismatics, but within the broader study of nineteenth-century Latin American monetary policy, where few surviving instruments state gold equivalence with such precision. Its uniqueness, early serial placement, and archival character place it firmly in the highest rarity tier. Read more →

Paraguay 1907 - 100 Pesos with 1912 Dual-Side State and Treasury Revalidation Overprint Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

Within that emergency system, this specimen represents the highest visible level of revalidation: first, the national state emission overprint on the face; second, the Treasury and Junta Fiscalizadora validation on the reverse; and third, the explicit reaffirmation of the ten sealed gold pesos formula. The note therefore records a complete chain of authority. It begins as a 1907 Banco de la República Waterlow & Sons banknote, becomes a January 1912 state-recognized obligation, and is then further confirmed by the Treasury under the May 1912 decree. Few Paraguayan notes of the period show this administrative transition so clearly. Read more →

China 1880 - Sinkiang Textile Emergency Currency Cloth Note (Pick Unlisted)

The visual structure is consistent with Qing-era frontier issues. Irregular woodblock borders, asymmetrical ornamental elements, and uneven ink saturation indicate manual block alignment rather than mechanized printing. The calligraphy shows brush-based execution with variable stroke weight and non-standardized character spacing, a feature typical of late Qing administrative production and incompatible with twentieth-century commercial banknote printing. Read more →

China 1915 - South Sinkiang Border Defence Headquarters 1 Tael Textile Emergency Issue (Pick Unlisted)

At present, only one example of this specific 1 tael textile issue is documented. There are no confirmed specimens recorded in the holdings of the British Museum, the American Numismatic Society, the Smithsonian Institution, or major Chinese public collections. No repeat auction appearances or archival groupings are known. On the basis of observable, verifiable evidence alone, the issue qualifies as R9 - unique. Read more →

China 1918 - Xinjiang Textile Emergency Currency Printed on Red Cloth, Local Authority Issue (Pick Unlisted)

Compared with earlier textile emissions from the region, this note displays denser calligraphy, more consistent stroke weight, and darker ink saturation. These characteristics suggest a later workshop phase within the same tradition, marked by re-cut blocks and incremental refinement rather than centralized standardization. The overall composition differs materially from the known 1880 Xinjiang issue and from subsequent paper issues such as those of the Dihua Coin Bureau. Read more →

China 1920 - Xinjiang Textile Emergency Currency Printed on Red Cloth, Local Authority Issue (Pick Unlisted)

While sharing certain stylistic elements with earlier Xinjiang textile issues, including the lower wave band motif, this note is distinct in its overall composition. The upper register employs a different emblematic form, the side panels are heavier and more vertically articulated, and the calligraphy is denser and more compact than that observed on known 1880 Sinkiang examples. The ink appears darker and more saturated, suggesting either re-cut blocks or a later workshop tradition. Read more →

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

An issued textile emergency currency produced in Xinjiang (Sinkiang) during the early Republican period, printed by hand from carved woodblocks onto red-dyed cotton cloth. This note represents a distinct local issue within the Xinjiang textile tradition, created for circulation under conditions of monetary instability, limited access to paper currency, and decentralized administrative control in China’s western frontier. Read more →