Collection PL

Spain 1857 — Banco de Zaragoza 2000 Reales Vellón Serie E Issued Note No. 00589 (Pick S455)

An extraordinarily rare issued 2000 reales vellón banknote from the Banco de Zaragoza dated 14 May 1857, Serie E, serial number 00589. Classified as Pick S455, this note represents the highest denomination placed into active circulation by the bank. Very few issued examples of any Banco de Zaragoza notes survive, and among these, the 2000 reales denomination is one of the most elusive. ... Read more →

Spain 1857 — Banco de Zaragoza 2000 Reales Vellón Serie E Issued Note No. 00500 (Pick S455)

A fully issued 2000 reales vellón banknote from the Banco de Zaragoza dated 14 May 1857, Serie E, serial number 00500. Classified under Pick S455, this note represents the highest denomination from Zaragoza known to have entered active circulation. Its survival is an exceptional anomaly: most high-value private-bank issues from this period were redeemed rapidly and destroyed, leaving only a microscopic population of true circulation-authorized notes. ... Read more →

Barbados 1980 — Government of Barbados 10,000 Dollars Treasury Bill, Specimen, Red Overprint, Punch Hole Cancelled, Prefix D

This Treasury Bill specimen was issued by the Government of Barbados under the authority of the Treasury Bills (Local) Act of 1922 and represents a high-value, non-circulating fiscal instrument prepared for internal reference, audit control, and archival retention. The denomination of ten thousand dollars places this note within the upper tier of Barbados Treasury Bills, intended for substantial treasury operations rather than routine fiscal use. The note is printed in a multicolour engraved security design with an ornate guilloche frame and a dense repeating “Government of Barbados” underprint covering the entire face. ... Read more →

Barbados 1981 — Government of Barbados 50,000 Dollars Treasury Bill, Specimen, Red Overprint, Prefix E

This Treasury Bill specimen was issued by the Government of Barbados under the authority of the Treasury Bills (Local) Act of 1922 and represents a non-circulating reference instrument prepared for internal treasury, accounting, and archival use during the late twentieth century. The bill is denominated at fifty thousand dollars, placing it among the highest-value Treasury Bills produced for Barbados. Instruments of this denomination were intended for large-scale fiscal operations and institutional treasury functions rather than routine financial transactions. ... Read more →

Barbados 1981 — Government of Barbados 100,000 Dollars Treasury Bill, Specimen, Red Overprint, Prefix F

Specimen Treasury Bill issued by the Government of Barbados under the authority of the Treasury Bills (Local) Act of 1922 and prepared as a non-circulating reference instrument for internal treasury, accounting, and archival use. The bill is denominated at one hundred thousand dollars and sets out an obligation payable to order out of the Consolidated Fund at any commercial bank in Barbados or at the Treasury. The place of issue, Bridgetown, is incorporated into the printed layout, confirming its role within the central administrative framework of Barbados. ... Read more →

Barbados 1981 — Government of Barbados 500,000 Dollars Treasury Bill, Specimen, Red Overprint, Prefix G

Specimen Treasury Bill issued by the Government of Barbados under the authority of the Treasury Bills (Local) Act of 1922 and prepared as a non-circulating reference instrument for internal treasury, accounting, and archival use. The bill is denominated at five hundred thousand dollars, representing the highest denomination within the Barbados Treasury Bill series. Instruments of this value were intended exclusively for exceptional treasury reference and internal control purposes rather than routine fiscal operations. ... Read more →

Spain 1857 — Banco de Zaragoza 2000 Reales Vellón Serie E Issued Note No. 00286 (Pick S455)

A genuinely rare issued 2000 reales vellón banknote of the Banco de Zaragoza, dated Zaragoza, 14 May 1857, Serie E, serial number 00286. Catalogued as Pick S455, this denomination represents the upper tier of the bank’s circulating emissions and belongs to a class of notes that were produced in limited quantities and almost entirely redeemed and destroyed. The Banco de Zaragoza was one of the provincial banks authorised to issue paper currency during Spain’s short-lived liberal banking period following the 1856 banking reforms. ... Read more →

Spain 1857 — Banco de Zaragoza 2000 Reales Vellón Serie E Issued Consecutive Pair No. 00031–00032 (Pick S455)

An exceptional issued consecutive pair of 2000 reales vellón banknotes from the Banco de Zaragoza, dated Zaragoza, 14 May 1857, Serie E, serial numbers 00031 and 00032. Catalogued as Pick S455, this pair represents one of the earliest surviving serial groupings of the highest denomination issued by the bank and illustrates the original form in which such notes were placed into circulation. The Banco de Zaragoza operated during Spain’s brief liberal banking period following the 1856 reforms, when select provincial banks were authorised to issue their own circulating paper currency. ... Read more →

Spain 1875 — Banco de España 50 Pesetas Contemporary Counterfeit (Pick 7x)

This note represents a contemporary counterfeit of the Banco de España fifty pesetas issue of 1875, produced during the active circulation period of the official banknote and intended to pass as legal tender in everyday commerce. Classified in standard references as Pick 7x, it is a period forgery rather than a later reproduction or fantasy piece, created using materials and printing methods consistent with nineteenth-century Spanish monetary circulation. Contemporary counterfeits occupy a distinct and historically important category within paper money studies. ... Read more →

Spain 1876 — Banco de España 100 Pesetas Contemporary Counterfeit (Pick 11x)

This note represents a contemporary counterfeit of the Banco de España one hundred pesetas issue of 1876, produced during the active circulation period of the official banknote and intended to pass as legal tender in everyday commerce. Classified in standard references as Pick 11x, it is a period forgery rather than a later reproduction or fantasy piece, created using materials and printing methods consistent with late nineteenth-century Spanish monetary circulation. Contemporary counterfeits form a distinct and historically significant category within paper money studies. ... Read more →

South Africa 1861 — Montagu Bank 5 Pounds Remainder (Pick S231r)

This note is an unissued remainder of the Montagu Bank five pounds denomination, produced in the early 1860s during the brief operational life of one of the Cape Colony’s most distinctive private commercial banks. As the highest denomination authorized by the Montagu Bank, the five pounds issue occupied the uppermost tier of the institution’s monetary structure and was intended for large commercial settlements, capital transactions, and internal accounting rather than routine daily exchange. The Montagu Bank was established in 1861 at a time when local banking was widely regarded as essential to trade and economic development within the Cape Colony. ... Read more →

Uruguay 1939 — Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay 1000 Pesos Specimen, Printed Cancel, Serie D, Specimen No. 23 (Pick 41cs)

This specimen note represents the one thousand pesos denomination of the Republica Oriental del Uruguay issued under the monetary law of 2 January 1939, a period that marks the mature phase of state-directed banking and currency policy in Uruguay. Produced as an official non-circulating specimen, this note was created for institutional reference, printer archives, and controlled distribution among central banking authorities, government departments, and international financial correspondents, rather than for public monetary use. The Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay, established in 1896, had by the late 1930s consolidated its role as the principal state banking institution, combining commercial operations with responsibility for currency issuance, monetary stabilization, and credit regulation. ... Read more →