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20 Dollars
| Issuer | The Chartered Bank of India, Australia & China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1860 |
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| In circulation to | Yes |
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| Obverse description | Blue letterpress note with a central royal coat of arms vignette encircled by the legend "INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER", flanked by denomination panels reading "$TWENTY" at upper left and right. A large guilloche underprint of the word "TWENTY" spans the lower half, with the promise-to-pay text and signature lines for Entd., Acct., and Manager at foot. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | $ TWENTY INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER SINGAPORE THE CHARTERED BANK OF INDIA, AUSTRALIA & CHINA Promises to pay the Bearer on Demand at its OFFICE here Twenty Dollars or the equivalent in the Currency of the Island. Value received. BY ORDER OF THE COURT OF DIRECTORS Entd. Acct. MANAGER |
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| Comments |
The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China received its Royal Charter in 1853 and opened branches across the Eastern trade routes almost immediately. By 1860 it was competing directly with the Oriental Bank Corporation and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation — not yet a decade old itself — for dominance in the colonial dollar markets of Hong Kong, Singapore, and the treaty ports. This note predates the bank's 1912 reorganization by half a century and belongs to the earliest stratum of its paper issue.
Batho, Sprague & Co. handled a significant portion of British colonial banknote printing in the mid-Victorian period before the larger security printers consolidated the market. Their work for this series is among the more documented examples of their colonial output.