World Banknotes: Albania National Bank of Albania, a partially-hand-painted obverse composite essay for an unissued 100 Franka Ari, ND (c.1945-6), serial number 000000, no signatures, predominantly blue and brown in colour with multicoloured underprint design at centre, and pink underprint in places elsewhere, columns and floral design at left and right, Gomsiqe bridge in Puka at lower centre, Gjergji Kastrioti ‘Skanderbeg’ at right with elaborate typeface of his name beneath, exclusively Albanian language throughout, laid down on thick grey card with Bradbury Wilkinson design label at lower left, entire essay and board with tracing paper covering, included in the lot is a template vignette of King Zog I in blue print that fits precisely over that of Skanderbeg, as well as an absolutely fascinating group of letters, ephemera, and correspondence between Bradbury Wilkinson and the National bank of Albania, all housed in an original vellum-like envelope, the letters in mixed condition, some torn, but overall perfectly legible and complete, the vignette with rusty paperclip mark, some wear and curling of the cover paper housing the essay, however the essay itself is absolutely immaculate, the whole group likely one of the most important pieces of Albanian banknote history ever to come to market, and the essay among the most beautiful items ever encountered by this cataloguer from any country, an utterly beguiling piece! (1 essay, 1 vignette, 2 envelopes, 9 letters and pieces of ephemera) BNB and Pick Unlisted, B104 and Pick 4 for the earlier note issued £5,000-£7,000 Provenance: From the personal collection of an ex-employee of a major UK printing firm While this design is, of course, strikingly similar to the note issued in 1926, the correspondence between Bradbury Wilkinson and the National Bank of Albania outlines how the company formerly designed notes for the Bank (the 1926 issue), and that they still possessed the plates to produce a new series post-WWII. The letters talk up, among other things, how successful this series was in deterring forgers. This essay was offered as an example of what they were proposing, however the nation of Albania underwent great upheaval in this time as the Kingdom became the People’s Republic, and the National Bank became the State Bank. The letters allude to this, including the ominous words ‘Paste-up has been sent...and returned.’ Bradbury Wilkinson’s efforts were, to the eternal disappointment of future collectors, in vain.