A true rarity! Kosciuszko ticket printed on paper with filigrees of the extremely rare company A.D.SCHUT & C.
Quoting after Czeslaw Miłczak , "Kosciuszko Insurrection banknotes with watermarks (filigrees) of the Dutch companies Jan Kool & C. and A.D.SCHUT & C. are encountered extremely rarely - they are mostly 5-zloty bills. Reading these marks (inscriptions) is difficult, as they are often located on the border of the banknotes' slit."
This is no different in the offered case, where the inscription fragments of the filigree are visible on the edge of the banknote field. The piece on offer is a 50-gold denomination, and according to our observations, it is on this denomination that we can find the watermark of A.D.SCHUT & C., and on the 5-gold Jan Kool & C.
The offered banknote in PMG slab with PMG 15 grade.
This is the second piece it hosts on our auctions. A similarly preserved one, but with the annotation NET and with a less legible watermark fragment was sold at our XII Premium Auction for 14,875 zloty.
A natural piece, well colored with beautifully preserved red printing. Dry stamps legible, pleasantly raised. Granted the note is raw. The banknote field does not show much fracturing, and the fracture lines do not bear visible ink rubbing. Edges correct, only locally uneven and cut. Minor clearance in the banknote field.
The banknote on offer, is the second piece offered with the "caught" extremely rare A.D.SCHUT & C. filigree, but naturally it cannot be ruled out that in the past such pieces were listed but not described by the auction houses offering them. Awareness among collectors of Polish paper money of rare filigrees has been prevalent for a good few years, despite this we still have not seen more than two quotations. We have been paying attention to filigrees for a long time, and according to us, based on conversations with advanced collectors of Kosciuszko tickets known to be in private collections, there are no more than 5 pieces that we can locate from private collections.
The Kosciuszko ticket that is the subject of the auction will be appreciated primarily by persistent collectors with many years of experience, but with the immense popularity of Kosciuszko tickets, we hope that junior collectors will also appreciate the occurrence of a ticket with such an extremely rare filigree. An extraordinary item, an absolute rarity, the opportunity to purchase of which may not be repeated for a long time.
In the Polish lands, the introduction of paper money into circulation was connected with expenses related to the outbreak of the Kosciuszko Insurrection. Its issuer was the Directorate of Treasury Tickets established by the Supreme National Council. In terms of value, treasury tickets were equated with coinage. Obligations to the Treasury could be paid a maximum of 50% in paper money and the remainder in coins. This condition resulted in its negative reception by the public. In the future, the redemption of treasury tickets was to be financed from national wealth. For counterfeiting paper money, the death penalty was stipulated, as well as the confiscation of all the perpetrator's property. On September 29, 1794, in order to strengthen confidence in treasury tickets, the National Supreme Council authorized the regulation of the entire amount in paper pennies and zlotys. Due to the failures of the uprising, public confidence in paper money was declining. The population preferred to accept bullion money in settlements. The range of issuance of the first Polish paper money was small - it was introduced on a large scale only in Warsaw. After the capture of the capital on November 6, 1794, tickets of all denominations for a total of 7.8 million Polish zlotys remained in the hands of the population.
On June 8, 1794, the Supreme National Council resolved to establish an issuing institution - the Directorate of Treasury Tickets - and to introduce treasury tickets in denominations of: 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 Polish zlotys. Treasury tickets with an issue date of June 8, 1794 are very similar. They are one-sided printings in the form of a standing rectangle differing only in color and border detail. Each denomination was hand-numbered and signed by two or three representatives of the Treasury Ticket Directorate. In addition, each ticket bears the dry seal of the Treasury Ticket Directorate.
After printing, paper money of equal denomination was stapled together in the form of a cloth-bound "booklet." When they were put into circulation, they were hand-cut from them by which tickets of the same denomination differed in size and in the shape of the top edge. The remaining part in the "booklet" and the valet entered into circulation have the same number.
The source of the"A.D.SCHUT & C" photo is Cz. Miłczak, Polish Banknotes and Designs, vol. I, issue 2023, p. 63.
format_quoteThe insurrection treasury tickets were printed on quality ribbed handmade paper from Dutch paper mills. Of these, the most important are: Pieter de Vries & Comp. (largest percentage share), J Honig & Zoonen and D & C Blauw. Of these, for tickets with the highest denominations: 100-1000 were allocated to heavier weight paper made at the leading paper mill of the "great Honig" (J Honig & Zoonen). It should be noted that all treasury tickets were made on the same type of paper (letter paper) marked with a filigree containing a postal horn in a crowned shield and the company (name) of the paper mill. It is extremely rare to find treasury tickets (so far only those with denominations of 5 and 50 zlotys) printed on paper created at other manufactories, characterized by a different filigree. Within them, the AD Schut paper mill is not among the least represented, but is undoubtedly found on very few of the 50 zloty stamp tickets produced. To date, I have been able to reach only 8 such tickets with a denomination of 50 zlotys with the auxiliary filigree present on them (as on the offered piece) containing an inscription with the name of the paper mill, which illustrates well the scale of rarityformat_quote
