Catalog
1 Pound Asiatic Banking Corporation
| Issuer | Asiatic Banking Corporation |
|---|---|
| Year | 1865-1866 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | යෙසියාතික්බැන්කිඬ්කොර්පොරේෂන් 1 ASIATIC BANKING CORPORATION ONE POUND THE ASIATIC BANKING CORPORATION promise to pay the Bearer on Demand at their Branch in Colombo in the Currency of the Island ONE POUND, value received. COLOMBO By order of the Court of Directors. Entd Manager පවඬ් එකයි பவுண்ட் ஒன்று රුපියල් දහයයි ரூபாய் பத்து யெசியதிக் பெங்கிங்கொர்ப்பொறேஷன் (Translation: Asiatic Banking Corporation. One pound. Ten rupees. Asiatic Banking Corporation.) |
| Reverse description | Blank. |
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| Comments |
The Asiatic Banking Corporation was a British overseas bank incorporated in 1863 with ambitions to compete in the China and India trade corridors, but it collapsed in 1866 — one of several casualties of the Overend, Gurney & Co. crisis that triggered a severe London banking panic that May. Notes from this issuer almost certainly had negligible circulation before the bank went under, meaning surviving examples were likely never spent.
Smith, Elder & Co. are better remembered as publishers — Thackeray, Charlotte Brontë — than as banknote printers, which makes their involvement here an oddity worth noting.