500 Francs Neuchâtel Commercial Bank

The Banque Commerciale Neuchâteloise was one of several cantonal and regional private banks operating in Switzerland before the Swiss National Bank's founding in 1907 effectively ended the era of plural note issuance. This 500-franc denomination sat at the high end of what a regional commercial bank would put into circulation — a sum that in the 1890s represented serious money, more likely to move between merchants and notaries than through everyday retail trade.

Bradbury Wilkinson's involvement is worth noting: the New Malden firm held printing contracts with dozens of smaller European issuers precisely because they could deliver security-print quality that in-house cantonal production could not match. The plate work would have been engraved in London regardless of where the issuing authority sat.

The series spans a full decade, suggesting reorders rather than a single print run.