Catalog
100 Rupees
| Issuer | Government of the Union of Burma |
|---|---|
| Year | 1948 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | P#37 |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A large intaglio vignette occupies the centre, illustrating a Burmese farmer guiding a wooden plough drawn by two water buffaloes through flooded paddy fields, with a rural landscape and distant treeline in the background. The border is composed of intricate traditional Burmese scroll and floral ornamental designs. Denomination numerals '100' appear in all four corners. |
| Reverse lettering | GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF BURMA ONE HUNDRED RUPEES |
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| Comments |
The Union of Burma came into existence on 4 January 1948, just days after independence from Britain, and this note belongs to the first sovereign issue — a transitional series that retained the rupee as the unit of account before Burma eventually moved to the kyat in 1952. De La Rue was the natural choice for a newly independent government without its own printing infrastructure, a pattern repeated across dozens of former British territories in this period.
Pick 37 is notably scarce in high grades. The tropical climate of Burma was brutal on circulating paper, and wartime disruption to banking infrastructure had already conditioned much of the population toward hoarding or rapid disposal of large-denomination notes rather than careful preservation.