Collection PL

Barbados 1960 — Government of Barbados 10,000 Dollars Treasury Bill, Specimen, Punch Hole Cancelled, Prefix D

This specimen Treasury Bill was 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 administrative, accounting, and archival use. The bill is denominated at ten thousand dollars and sets out an obligation payable to bearer out of the General Revenue and Assets of Barbados. This bearer formulation reflects the earlier legal wording employed on Treasury Bills of this period and predates the later standardized “payable to order” language adopted on subsequent issues. ... Read more →

Barbados 1960 — Government of Barbados 50,000 Dollars Treasury Bill, Specimen, Punch Hole Cancelled, Prefix E

This specimen Treasury Bill was 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 administrative, accounting, and archival use. The bill is denominated at fifty thousand dollars and sets out an obligation payable to bearer out of the General Revenue and Assets of Barbados. This bearer formulation reflects the earlier legal wording employed on Treasury Bills of this period and predates the later standardized “payable to order” language adopted on subsequent issues. ... Read more →

Macau 1937 — Foo Hang Bank 10 Patacas Archival Printer Proof Compound Sheet (Pick S105)

An archival printer proof compound sheet prepared for the Foo Hang Bank of Macau in 1937 for the 10 patacas denomination associated with Pick S105. This pre-issue proof material survives as a single intact sheet and represents internal security-printing output created for reference, approval, and archival control rather than public circulation. Foo Hang Bank operated in Macau during a period when the territory functioned as a distinct monetary and commercial enclave within southern China. ... Read more →

New Caledonia 1871 — French Treasury Second of Exchange for 2,000 Francs (Service des Colonies)

A colonial treasury bill of exchange issued in 1871 under the authority of the French public treasury for the colony of New Caledonia. This document represents the second of exchange (*seconde*), forming part of a standard multi-part financial instrument employed by the French administration to execute high-value intercontinental payments within the colonial fiscal system. The bill was drawn by the *Caissier Payeur central du Trésor public (Service des Colonies)* and made payable to order in New Caledonia for the sum of two thousand francs. ... Read more →

Austria 1800 — Wiener Stadt Banco 5 Gulden Issued Note (Pick A33)

The 5 Gulden note of 1800, issued by the Wiener Stadt Banco, occupies a pivotal position within Austria’s early fiduciary paper money system known as Banco-Zettel. Introduced in 1796, this system marked the Habsburg Monarchy’s first sustained attempt to replace metallic circulation with state-backed paper currency, driven by the severe fiscal pressures of continuous warfare and structural budget deficits at the end of the eighteenth century. Within the denomination hierarchy, 5 Gulden functioned as a true intermediary value. ... 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 →

South Africa 1828 — Cape of Good Hope Bank 5 Shillings Pre-Issue Sample (Pick S171p)

This note represents a pre-issue sample of the Cape of Good Hope Bank five shillings denomination, produced in the late 1820s during the formative period of private banking in the Cape Colony, well before the bank was formally authorized to commence operations. It predates all circulating issues of the institution and belongs to the earliest documentary layer of South African private-bank paper money. The Cape of Good Hope Bank occupies a unique position in South African monetary history. ... Read more →

Italy 1745 — Regie Finanze di Torino — 100 Lire Back Proof, Pre-Date Control State (Pick Unlisted)

This proof sheet represents the back of the one hundred lire denomination prepared for the Regie Finanze of the Kingdom of Sardinia and preserves a pre-date control state in which the control framework is fully engraved but carries no engraved date. All elements originate from plate number two. The entire composition is enclosed within a rectangular ornamental frame and printed under full intaglio pressure on official laid paper, with plate impression clearly visible from the verso. ... Read more →

Italy 1746 — Regie Finanze di Torino — 100 Lire Back Proof, Fixed-Date Control State (Pick Unlisted)

This proof sheet represents the back of the one hundred lire denomination prepared for the Regie Finanze of the Kingdom of Sardinia and preserves the fixed-date control state dated Torino il p. Gen. 1746. ... Read more →

Cayman Islands 1970 — Cayman Islands Currency Board 1 Dollar Unissued Back Photographic Proof

This unissued photographic proof represents the back design prepared for the one dollar denomination of the Cayman Islands Currency Board during the late colonial monetary period around 1970. The object survives as a standalone design-stage artifact and documents a phase in which the reverse layout, ornamental balance, and security composition were evaluated independently as a complete surface in its own right. The Cayman Islands Currency Board operated within a conservative monetary framework characteristic of British Caribbean administration, where visual restraint, symmetry, and institutional clarity were prioritized in currency design. ... Read more →

Cayman Islands 1974 — Cayman Islands Currency Board 1 Dollar Issued Note (Pick 5d)

This issued one dollar note of the Cayman Islands Currency Board represents a later printing of the design authorized under the Cayman Islands Currency Law of 1974, with the PMG label attributing the production to a not dated 1985 printing. This practice reflects the operational model of currency board systems, where a fixed legal framework and stable design were retained while notes were printed in successive batches to meet circulation demand under changing administrative oversight. The obverse follows a restrained and highly structured layout characteristic of Thomas De La Rue and Company Limited’s work for British overseas territories during the late twentieth century. ... Read more →

Cayman Islands 1970 — Cayman Islands Currency Board 5 Dollars Unissued Back Photographic Proof

This unissued photographic proof represents the reverse design prepared for the five dollars denomination of the Cayman Islands Currency Board during the transitional monetary planning period around 1970. The piece survives as a standalone back design proof and documents a stage at which the reverse composition was evaluated independently before any finalized pairing with an approved obverse. The Cayman Islands Currency Board operated under a disciplined currency board framework derived from British colonial monetary practice. ... Read more →