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10 Dollars The Chartered Bank
| Issuer | Chartered Bank of India, Australia & China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1931-1956 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Intaglio-printed bust of a helmeted classical warrior in three-quarter view occupies the left vignette, set against a fine guilloche underprint in red and olive. The centre of the note carries the bank's royal arms flanked by the promise-to-pay text, the denomination TEN DOLLARS in bold letterpress, and the place and date of issue; Chinese characters 拾 appear in red at both vertical margins. The upper border bears a Chinese-character legend in red above the bank's full English title arched across the upper field, with the notation INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER 1853 in small capitals beneath. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The central vignette, framed within an ornate arched border, presents an intaglio scene of three agricultural workers harvesting rice in a paddy field, with a Chinese pagoda and trees visible in the background. Numeral 10 panels and Chinese character 拾 medallions anchor the four corners of the red guilloche border, with small circular vignettes at each corner. The denomination TEN DOLLARS appears in bold letterpress along the lower margin, and the bank name runs along the arch above the central scene. |
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The Chartered Bank of India, Australia & China occupied an unusual position in Hong Kong's currency architecture — one of only three note-issuing commercial banks authorized to circulate paper money in the colony under the Note Issue Ordinance. This $10 was the workhorse of that franchise, spanning a 25-year issue window that absorbed the Japanese occupation, post-war reconstruction, and the early Cold War refugee influx that roughly doubled Hong Kong's population by the early 1950s.
Notes from the Japanese occupation period (1941–1945) were withdrawn and theoretically demonetized, though some pre-war Chartered Bank stock survived in circulation afterward. Waterlow & Sons handled the printing throughout, their banknote division having maintained the bank's plate work continuously since earlier series.