10 Company Rupees Union Bank, Calcutta

The Union Bank of Calcutta was one of the so-called Presidency banks' rivals — a joint-stock bank operating under a royal charter granted in 1829. By 1847, it was already in serious financial trouble; the bank collapsed entirely in 1848, making this note part of the final year of issue before failure. Notes from this institution rarely survived the ensuing scramble for redemption, and most were either presented for payment or destroyed in the liquidation process.

Pick S196 falls within the private bank issues catalogued under British India — a category where survivors are genuinely uncommon rather than merely scarce by collector convention.