250 Mils

Cyprus gained independence from Britain in August 1960, and this note — issued the following year — was among the first produced for the newly established Central Bank. Bradbury Wilkinson, a specialist in security printing with long ties to British colonial currency production, was the natural choice for a newly sovereign state still operating within the sterling area. The 250 Mils denomination itself is a product of the decimal subdivision Cyprus had used since 1955: 1000 Mils to the pound, an arrangement that persisted until metrication pressure eventually killed it in 1983.

The single signature belongs to Christos Stefanis, the Central Bank's first Governor.