Catalog
1 Pound
| Issuer | National Bank of Egypt |
|---|---|
| Year | 1926-1930 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | An oval intaglio portrait medallion at right contains a bust of a bearded Fellah (Egyptian peasant) wearing a traditional turban. The central field carries bilingual text comprising the promise-to-pay legend in English above the denomination numeral, with Arabic inscriptions above and below, all enclosed within an intricate guilloche border. Date and place of issue appear at lower left alongside the Governor's signature, with a serial number repeated at lower right. |
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| Reverse lettering | البنك الأهلي المصري جنيه مصري |
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| Comments |
The National Bank of Egypt was a private institution — not a state central bank — when it issued this series, having held the right of note issue since its founding in 1898 under British-influenced concession terms. That arrangement persisted well into the interwar period, with Bradbury Wilkinson producing the plates in Surrey while Egypt nominally managed its own monetary affairs under the 1922 nominal independence settlement.
P#20 spans a four-year window that saw considerable political turbulence between the Wafd Party and the Palace, though the notes themselves changed little. Bradbury Wilkinson's intaglio work on Egyptian issues of this period is consistently fine — the firm had held the contract since the early twentieth century.