Collection PL

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 →

Spain 1857 - Banco de Zaragoza 100 Reales Vellon Serie A No. 23327 Full Sheet with Header and Talon Specimen (Pick S451s)

This specimen forms a matched pair with the issued Serie A banknote No. 23322 (Pick S451b) also held in the collection (see item 'spain-1857-banco-de-zaragoza-100-reales-serie-a-23322-issued-note'), together documenting both the specimen and circulation forms of the 1857 Zaragoza emission. Read more →

Spain 1857 - Banco de Zaragoza 200 Reales Vellon Serie B No. 07887 Full Sheet with Header and Talon Specimen (Pick S452s)

This specimen forms a matched typological pair with the standard specimen Serie B, No. 07958 (Pick S452s) also in the collection, together documenting both the production-sheet format and the standard specimen format of the 200 reales vellón emission. Read more →

Spain 1857 - Banco de Zaragoza 500 Reales Vellon Serie C No. 08703 Full Sheet with Header and Talon Specimen (Pick S453s)

Pick S453s designates the specimen variety for this denomination, separate from the issued form (S453a) and from any remainder material. The engraving reflects the Madrid-school aesthetic: a detailed Spanish coat of arms, complex acanthus ornamentation, and the formal promise text payable in Zaragoza. The talón repeats the number 08703, confirming internal pairing typical of 19th-century Spanish emission control. Read more →

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

Surviving specimens of the S193s type are extremely scarce. Positioned alongside the one pound green (Pick S191s) and five pounds orange (Pick S192s), the ten pounds brown completes the BNZ color lineage and represents the highest denomination within this pre-Reserve Bank engraved series. Read more →

Australia 1880-1889 - Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited £5 with Serial Prefix SPECIMEN (Pick Unlisted, MVR4a)

Specimens of this class were retained for internal reference, serial accountability, and client approval, and were not intended for public release. Their survival rate is significantly lower than issued notes, as most were destroyed following plate approval or institutional review. Read more →

Mauritius 1839 - Mauritius Commercial Bank 20 Dollars / 4 Pounds Sterling Issued & Cancelled Note (Pick S125)

One of the earliest surviving issued notes of the Mauritius Commercial Bank-the oldest banking institution in the Indian Ocean-this 1839 Twenty Dollar / Four Pounds Sterling note is a foundational artifact of Mauritian monetary history. Issued only one year after the bank’s founding in 1838, it belongs to the first generation of fully functional colonial paper money used on the island. These early issues circulated at a time when coin shortages were severe, and private banknotes became the primary medium of exchange for merchants, plantation owners, and shipping houses. Read more →

Australia 1890 - Bank of New South Wales £10 Brisbane Circular Note Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

The design combines formal banking script with an elaborate vertical engraved security panel at left carrying "BANK OF N.S.W." and a large yellow-gold underprint built around the denomination 10 across the central field. The paper is framed by a pale blue border and carries a large BANK OF NEW SOUTH WALES watermark together with oversized surrounding ornamental watermark elements extending across much of the sheet. Read more →

Australia 1890 - Bank of New South Wales £10 Melbourne Circular Note Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

The central text records the operating terms of the circular note. The presenting traveler was to be identified through the signature entered on the accompanying Letter of Indication. Once verified, the correspondent banker was instructed to pay ten pounds sterling without deduction at the exchange of the day on London, with settlement made against the traveler's draft on the London office of The Bank of New South Wales. The Accountant and Manager signature lines remain blank, preserving the piece in its unused specimen state. Read more →

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

Surviving examples of the S192s specimen type remain extremely scarce, with most archival copies destroyed or lost during transitions in banking structure and currency authority. Positioned between the one pound green (Pick S191s) and the ten pounds brown (Pick S193s), this five pounds orange specimen completes the central triad of New Zealand’s most important pre-Reserve Bank engraved series, representing both artistic and technical maturity within early banknote production. Read more →

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

The note was produced as an internal printer’s specimen for archival retention and audit purposes. A perforation reading 'SPECIMEN B.W & Co LONDON' is applied across the lower central area, executed through pin-perforation rather than ink overprint, serving as the primary method of specimen invalidation and identification. At far left, a wide vertical audit margin remains intact, a characteristic feature of printer’s file copies retained for inspection, documentation, and internal reference within Bradbury Wilkinson’s production system. Read more →

Mexico 1884 – Fábrica de Tunal 1 Peso (Pick Unlisted, ABNC)

This note’s preservation is extraordinary. Crisp tint, unbroken plate impression, strong paper, and full margins underscore the PMG 64 CU grade, positioning it among the finest survivors of any issued ABNC corporate 19th-century Mexican note. As both a financial artifact and a cultural record, the Fábrica de Tunal 1 Peso stands as a rare document of Mexico’s industrial ascent and the globalization of U.S. security-printing techniques. Read more →