1/2 Pound (2nd issue)

Libya's transition from the pound to the dinar didn't happen until 1971, so this 1963 Bradbury Wilkinson note circulated through the early years of the Kingdom under Idris I — a period of rapid oil revenue growth following the Esso concessions of the late 1950s. The Bank of Libya itself had only been established in 1956, replacing the National Bank; this second issue reflects the young institution consolidating its currency framework.

Bradbury Wilkinson's New Malden facility was the dominant supplier to Commonwealth-adjacent governments through this period, and Libya's continued use of the firm into the 1960s was partly a legacy of British administrative involvement during the UN trusteeship years.