Collection PL

Australia 1880–1910 — Commercial Bank of Australia £100 Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

A monumental survivor from Australia’s private banking era, this £100 specimen ranks among the most important colonial-era notes known. Printed circa 1880–1910 for the Commercial Bank of Australia Limited, it represents the uppermost denomination produced under the private-issue system that existed before the Commonwealth took full control of note issuance in 1910. No issued examples of this £100 are believed to have survived, making specimens the only remaining documentation of the type. ... Read more →

Australia 1877 — City of Melbourne Bank Limited £20 Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

A unique surviving specimen of the £20 denomination issued by the City of Melbourne Bank Limited, representing one of the highest-value private banknotes produced in colonial Victoria. Printed from Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. master plates, this note belongs to the final generation of Australian private banknote engraving before national standardization and the destruction of nearly all high-denomination material. ... Read more →

New Zealand 1896 — Bank of Australasia £50 Christchurch Proof (Pick Unlisted)

This proof represents a pre issue banknote of the Bank of Australasia, denominated Fifty Pounds and prepared for the Christchurch office during the late nineteenth century expansion of British chartered banking in New Zealand. It was produced as part of the institution internal design approval and presentation process and was never intended for public circulation. The Bank of Australasia, incorporated by Royal Charter in 1835, operated as one of the dominant British joint stock banks across Australia and New Zealand. ... Read more →

Australia 1835-1850 - Bank of Australasia 10 Pounds Melbourne Proof (Pick Unlisted)

This proof represents a pre-issue banknote of the Bank of Australasia, denominated Ten Pounds and prepared for the Melbourne office during the institution early period of operation. It was produced as part of the bank internal approval and presentation process and was not intended for circulation. The Bank of Australasia was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1835 and operated as one of the earliest British joint-stock banks active in Australia. ... Read more →

Australia 1877 — Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company Portrait of Woman Intaglio Vignette Proof (Printer’s Library Master)

This intaglio vignette proof represents an original portrait engraving produced by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company in London in 1877, prepared as a master design element within the firm’s internal plate library. It depicts a classical female figure engraved as a stand-alone vignette, intended for later integration into complete banknote layouts commissioned by private banks across the British Empire, including Australian colonial institutions. In the Bradbury Wilkinson production workflow of the late nineteenth century, portrait vignettes were engraved independently of any specific banknote. ... Read more →

Australia 1879–1903 — Federal Bank of Australia, Limited £1 Sydney Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

This specimen represents a one pound note prepared for the Federal Bank of Australia, Limited and printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company in London during the bank’s short operational life between 1879 and 1903. The note carries the Sydney office imprint, identifying the colonial financial center where the issue was intended to circulate. It belongs to one of the most fragile and least documented chapters of Australia’s pre-Federation private banking era, when numerous colonial banks issued their own paper currency under uneven regulation and volatile economic conditions. ... Read more →

New Zealand 1895–1908 — Bank of New Zealand £10 Brown Specimen with Serial Number Prefix (Pick S193bs)

A monumental high-denomination specimen from the Bradbury Wilkinson Bank of New Zealand lineage, the £10 Brown (Pick S193bs) represents the rare serial-prefix approval format bearing dual printed control numbers (No. 097476 at upper left and No. 102475 at lower right). ... Read more →

New Zealand 1913 — Bank of New Zealand £5 Orange Multi-Serial Approval Specimen (Pick S192ms)

A numbered approval specimen of the Bank of New Zealand £5 Orange design, printed by Bradbury Wilkinson & Co., London, circa 1913. Though derived from the original 1895 S192 plate, this example bears two distinct serial numbers (286901 and 296900), identifying it as a multi-serial approval specimen drawn from the opening and closing positions of a controlled production range. Such pieces were created for printer audit, plate verification, and contractual record-keeping rather than circulation. ... Read more →

Australia 1905–1910 — Commercial Banking Company of Sydney LIMITED £5 Specimen Proof (Pick Unlisted)

Proof specimen printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. between 1905 and 1910 for the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney LIMITED — one of Australia’s oldest and most respected private banks, founded in 1834. The CBC operated independently until its 1981 merger with the National Bank of Australasia, forming today’s NAB. ... Read more →

New Zealand 1870–1890 — Bank of New Zealand £1 Green Specimen (Pick S191s)

The first Bank of New Zealand specimen and the foundation of the country’s pre-Reserve Bank note lineage. Engraved and printed by Bradbury Wilkinson & Co., London, this £1 Green (Pick S191s) established the visual architecture reused throughout all later BNZ issues: paired Māori figures at left, an engraved coastal vignette below, and an ornate BNZ duty-tint panel framing the ONE POUND denomination. This design became the anchor for the entire color series that defined New Zealand’s early commercial-bank currency. ... Read more →

New Zealand 1895–1915 — Bank of New Zealand £5 Orange Specimen (Pick S192s)

The high-denomination anchor of the BNZ color series, this £5 Orange (Pick S192s) marked the transition from ornate Victorian engraving to the more rigid Edwardian geometric standards that followed. Printed by Bradbury Wilkinson & Co. in London, it carries a deep orange duty tint and preserves the core elements introduced in the 1870 £1 Green: paired Māori figures at left, a maritime vignette below, and an intricate guilloche framework surrounding the denomination. ... Read more →

Uruguay 1887 — Banco Nacional de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay 20 Centesimos Issued Note, Serial A029393 (Pick A88a)

This 20 Centesimos note was issued by the Banco Nacional de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay under the monetary framework established on 25 de Agosto de 1887, during a formative period in the consolidation of Uruguay’s national banking authority. Printed in London by Waterlow & Sons, it represents the earliest hand-signed emission phase of the type and corresponds to Pick A88a. The Banco Nacional operated as a principal instrument of monetary stabilization in late nineteenth-century Uruguay, issuing notes convertible into metallic reserves within a structured commercial banking system. ... Read more →