1000 Dollars

The Straits Settlements $1000 note of 1911 occupied the extreme upper end of a currency system built to service one of the busiest entrepôt ports in the British Empire. At that denomination, it was not retail money — these notes moved between merchant houses, agency firms, and the government treasury, settling accounts in tin, rubber, and opium revenue that the colonial administration was careful not to discuss too loudly in London.

De La Rue's production records confirm London printing for this series. Surviving examples are exceptionally rare; high-denomination colonial notes were routinely cancelled and incinerated once redeemed, and few escaped that process intact.