Collection PL

United States 1914 – 50 Dollars Federal Reserve Note – Philadelphia District White | Mellon (Fr.1035)

The Series of 1914 was the inaugural issue of Federal Reserve Notes following the creation of the Federal Reserve System in December 1913. For the first time, the United States possessed a unified national currency directly issued through the newly organized regional Reserve Banks. The Philadelphia District, designated by the letter C and the numeral 3, served as one of the twelve original Reserve Bank branches, linking the new central banking structure to the industrial and commercial heart of the Mid-Atlantic region. ... Read more →

New Zealand 1934 — Reserve Bank of New Zealand 10 Shillings Issued Note (Pick 154)

The 10 Shillings banknote issued on 1 August 1934 forms part of the first national paper money series produced for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand after its establishment under the Reserve Bank Act of 1933. The creation of the Reserve Bank replaced the fragmented system of private trading bank notes with a unified national currency, marking a major milestone in the country’s monetary history. This inaugural series is widely known as the "Lefeaux series", named after Leslie Lefeaux, the first Governor of the Reserve Bank whose printed signature appears on the notes. ... Read more →

Uruguay 1887 — Banco Nacional de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay 20 Centesimos CANELONES Branch Overprint Serial H092503 (Pick A88c)

This 20 Centesimos note was issued by the Banco Nacional de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay under the monetary framework dated 25 de Agosto de 1887 and printed in London by Waterlow and Sons. The base note corresponds to the mechanically signed production phase classified as Pick A88c. It bears an additional red CANELONES branch overprint applied after central issuance. ... Read more →

Uruguay 1870 — Republica Oriental del Uruguay 50 Centesimos, Junta de Credito Publico (“Cow Head”) Serial 274594 (Pick A109b)

Issued by the Junta de Credito Publico under the Ley de 4 de Mayo de 1870, this 50 Centesimos note represents one of Uruguay’s earliest government-backed paper currencies. Locally printed in Montevideo by Litografía G. Mas & Cía., the design belongs to the same inaugural emission as the 1 Peso 'Mercury' note. ... Read more →

Fiji 1942 — 1 Pound Government of Fiji Overprint on New Zealand £1 (Pick 45c)

This one pound note issued for Fiji in 1942 was created by overprinting an existing Reserve Bank of New Zealand £1 note originally dated 1 August 1934. The base note was printed by Thomas De La Rue & Company in London for circulation in New Zealand, but during the Second World War it was adapted for emergency use within the British colony of Fiji. In early 1942 Japanese military expansion across the Pacific severely disrupted supply lines throughout the British colonial network. ... Read more →

United States 1929 Type 1 - 10 Dollars National Bank Note - The Farmers National Bank of Sussex, New Jersey Charter 1221 (Fr. 1801-1)

The Farmers National Bank of Sussex, New Jersey, traces its charter to May 20 1865 when it opened in nearby Deckertown, a small agricultural hub in Sussex County. Chartered as number 1221, it succeeded the pre-existing Farmers Bank and quickly became the county’s central financial institution. The town adopted the name Sussex in 1903, prompting the bank’s title change the same year. ... Read more →

United States 1929 – 10 Dollars Type 1 National Bank Note – The First National Bank of Taylorville, Illinois Charter 3579 (Fr.1801-1)

This Series 1929 Type 1 ten-dollar note from The First National Bank of Taylorville, Illinois (Charter 3579) is a national-level rarity and a true anomaly in U.S. banking history. The bank officially ceased operations in October 1929—barely months after the introduction of small-size National Bank Notes—making it one of the first casualties of the transition from large-size to small-size currency. ... Read more →

Japan 1800 — Edo Period 5 Momme Silver Hansatsu with Daikokuten Reverse and Oil Merchant Validation Seal Woodblock Printed on Handmade Washi Paper

This Edo-period hansatsu is a striking survivor from the decentralized monetary world of Tokugawa Japan, when paper currency was not yet a national system but a local instrument of trust, exchange, and authority. Printed by hand-carved woodblock on handmade washi paper, the note belongs to the long, narrow format associated with feudal domain and regional exchange issues. These notes circulated within local commercial systems, where value was understood through seals, inscriptions, redemption practice, and the reputation of the issuing authority rather than through modern banknote conventions. ... Read more →

United States 1929 - 5 Dollars Type 2 National Bank Note — The First National Bank of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Charter 1 (Fr. 1800-2)

Issued by The First National Bank of Philadelphia under Charter 1 — the very first federal national bank charter granted following the National Banking Act of 1863 — this five-dollar note represents the closing generation of National Currency printed before the system ended in the 1930s. Charter 1 defined the origin of federally chartered banking in the United States, anchoring Philadelphia’s financial network through multiple eras: Civil War greenbacks, Gilded Age expansion, and the economic transitions of the early twentieth century. Its officers, including C. ... Read more →

Paraguay 1856 - Tesoro Nacional 2 Reales Treasury Note, Earliest National Paper Money (Pick Unlisted, Miguel Pratt MC14)

This 2 Reales Tesoro Nacional Treasury Note of 1856 is one of the foundational objects in the monetary history of Paraguay and is presented here as the unique known surviving example of this earliest national paper-money issue. Produced under the government of President Carlos Antonio Lopez, it predates the later and more familiar Paraguayan paper issues of the 1860s and belongs to the first attempt by the national Treasury to create a circulating paper instrument for domestic use. The note was printed locally in Asuncion on thin handmade paper at a time when Paraguay still lacked the industrial printing infrastructure available to larger South American economies. ... Read more →

Martinique 1870 — Banque de la Martinique 1 Franc Cheque Recovered After the 1902 Mount Pelée Eruption (Pick P.5A)

A Banque de la Martinique one franc cheque form, Pick P.5A, originally printed for use at Saint-Pierre during the late nineteenth century and later recovered from the ruins of the city following the catastrophic eruption of Mount Pelée on 8 May 1902. Although printed decades earlier as part of the bank’s standardized cheque issue, this surviving example was never negotiated as a financial instrument and instead entered history as a disaster-recovery relic, explicitly identified as such by contemporary handwritten annotations. The printed face follows the established Banque de la Martinique cheque format, bearing the heading “Chèque sur la Banque de la Martinique,” internal control marking “B.P.F. ... Read more →

Portugal 1799 — Real Erario 20000 Reis Apólice, Original Issue, No Overprint, Lisboa No. 37723

A Portuguese royal-era public debt instrument issued in Lisboa in 1799 under the authority of the Real Erario, denominated 20000 reis and payable to bearer. This document is an apólice, a formal treasury obligation representing state-backed debt issued during a period of administrative continuity in late eighteenth-century Portugal, prior to the political and fiscal disruptions of the nineteenth century. This example belongs to the original issue phase of Portuguese treasury apólices and predates the period commonly associated with the War of the Brothers. ... Read more →