Catalog
20 Dollars
| Issuer | Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1890 |
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| In circulation to | Yes |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | $ 20 INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER SINGAPORE THE CHARTERED BANK OF INDIA, AUSTRALIA & CHINA Promise 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 SPECIMEN W.W. SPRAGUE & Co. LONDON Entd. Acct. MANAGER |
| Reverse description | Uniface green letterpress print with an intricate guilloche framework. A central oval panel carries the bank name and denomination, flanked by symmetrical ornamental vignettes including a crowned medallion at top centre and animal motifs at the sides. The word "TWENTY" and numerals "20" repeat in each corner within decorative cartouches. |
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| Comments |
The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China operated under a Royal Charter granted in 1853, giving it the right to issue notes across its branch network — a privilege that made these dollar-denominated notes legal tender in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Straits Settlements simultaneously. By 1890, the bank's note-issuing activity was centred on Hong Kong, where the dollar unit had long displaced sterling in everyday commerce.
W.W. Sprague & Co. handled banknote printing for numerous colonial and Eastern exchange banks during this period, working from London while producing currency intended for circulation thousands of miles away. Their work on this series is technically accomplished, though the firm is less studied than contemporaries like Perkins Bacon or De La Rue.
Surviving examples from this 1890 issue are genuinely rare — attrition in humid tropical climates was severe, and the Chartered Bank itself routinely destroyed returned notes rather than reissuing them.