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100 Dollars
| Issuer | Chartered Bank of India, Australia & China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1912-1927 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 100 Dollars |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Green intaglio-printed note with a central text panel carrying the bank's name in bold letterpress and the promise clause reading 'Promises to pay the Bearer on Demand at its Office here ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS or the equivalent in the Currency of the Colony.' A heraldic Royal Arms vignette is set at the upper centre, flanked by scenic landscape vignettes — a mountainous river scene to the left and a coastal or harbour view to the right — all within an intricate guilloche border. Chinese characters appear in each corner and along the top and bottom margins, with the serial number, date line 'HONGKONG, 1st Mar. 1924,' and two manuscript signatures of directors printed below the central text block. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Watermark in the paper, visible when held to light. |
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| Comments |
The Chartered Bank of India, Australia & China occupied a peculiar position among the Eastern exchange banks: it held note-issuing rights in Hong Kong, where this dollar-denominated series circulated, but its charter was British and its ultimate authority the Bank of England's oversight framework. The $100 denomination was never a retail note — it moved between merchants, compradors, and the bank's own branches settling trade accounts across the treaty ports.
Waterlow & Sons produced the series with their characteristic intaglio depth. Surviving examples from this range are genuinely uncommon; the bank recalled and destroyed notes aggressively during periodic reissues, and the 1941 Japanese occupation created a hard terminus for much of what remained in circulation or vault storage.