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10 Pounds

Issuer National Bank of South Africa Ltd.
Year 1920
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Currency Pound sterling (1694-date)
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Obverse description The obverse is printed in a blue-grey intaglio style with an elaborate guilloche border. A central vignette presents a seated female allegory in period dress, surrounded by agricultural and pastoral scenes including livestock and a waterfall landscape. The bank title 'The National Bank of South Africa Limited' arcs across the upper register, with the promise text, office of payment at Pretoria, denomination 'TEN POUNDS' in bold letterpress, serial number, and date inscriptions arranged around the central vignette; the printer's imprint of Waterlow & Sons Ltd., London appears at the base.
Obverse lettering The National Bank of South Africa Limited
Promise to pay the Bearer on Demand at their Office of
PRETORIA
TEN POUNDS
VALUE RECEIVED
No C 78493
FOR THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
TEN POUNDS
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Comments

The National Bank of South Africa Ltd. was a commercial bank, not a central bank — it operated under private charter and issued its own notes, a common arrangement in South Africa before the Reserve Bank was established in 1921. This note was issued in the final year before that transition effectively ended the era of private bank currency in the country. The National Bank itself was eventually absorbed into Barclays Bank (Dominion, Colonial and Overseas) in 1926.

Waterlow & Sons produced high-quality intaglio work throughout the British colonial banking world and held several South African printing contracts during this period. High-denomination private bank issues from this moment of institutional changeover survive in comparatively small numbers.

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