Catalog
1 Pound - Zakynthos / Zante
| Issuer | Ionian Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1840 |
| Type | Pattern or trial banknote |
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| Obverse description | Bank arms vignette at top centre, flanked by the flags of Great Britain and Greece. Bilingual text in Greek and English fills the note face, consistent with the bank's dual administrative identity under the British Protectorate. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Blank. |
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| Comments |
The Ionian Bank was chartered in London in 1839 specifically to serve the Ionian Islands, then a British protectorate. This 1840 issue is among the earliest notes the bank produced, and the Zakynthos branch was one of several island branches that maintained distinct place-of-payment designations — a practical necessity given the fragmented geography of the protectorate and the near-total absence of reliable inter-island banking infrastructure.
The Ionian Islands were ceded to Greece in 1864. Notes issued from the Zakynthos branch that survived into the transition period were still redeemable, but the bank's operational focus shifted sharply, and early branch-specific issues were rarely preserved with any care. Survivors from 1840 are genuinely rare.