Produced under siege conditions in late 1884, these notes were authorized by General Charles Gordon after Mahdist forces cut Khartoum off from the outside world in March of that year. With no supply lines and no banking infrastructure to draw on, Gordon improvised a local currency using whatever paper and printing materials were available inside the garrison — effectively a personal guarantee backed by nothing except his own authority and the assumption that Khartoum would be relieved.
It was not. Khartoum fell on 26 January 1885, two days before the British relief column arrived. Gordon was killed. Any notes that survived the siege and the chaos following it did so largely by chance.
Gordon's own signature is the sole meaningful authentication on this issue — the official stamp notwithstanding.
Produced under siege conditions in late 1884, these notes were authorized by General Charles Gordon after Mahdist forces cut Khartoum off from the outside world in March of that year. With no supply lines and no banking infrastructure to draw on, Gordon improvised a local currency using whatever paper and printing materials were available inside the garrison — effectively a personal guarantee backed by nothing except his own authority and the assumption that Khartoum would be relieved.
It was not. Khartoum fell on 26 January 1885, two days before the British relief column arrived. Gordon was killed. Any notes that survived the siege and the chaos following it did so largely by chance.
Gordon's own signature is the sole meaningful authentication on this issue — the official stamp notwithstanding.