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5 Dollars
| Issuer | Chartered Bank of India, Australia & China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1865-1879 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Dollars |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The note is printed on light pink paper with a dark green ornamental border. At the centre top, the bank's royal charter emblem — a crowned lion and unicorn supporting a shield — serves as the principal vignette, flanked by two oval $5 denomination tablets in dark green. The text is rendered in a combination of copperplate script and letterpress, with the bank's full name, place of issue (HONGKONG), promise-to-pay clause, and the authority line 'BY ORDER OF THE COURT OF DIRECTORS' arranged across the note's face, with manuscript date and manager's signature at lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE CHARTERED BANK OF INDIA, AUSTRALIA & CHINA INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER Promises to pay the Bearer on Demand at its OFFICE here FIVE DOLLARS or the equivalent in the Currency of the Island Value received BY ORDER OF THE COURT OF DIRECTORS HONGKONG $5 MANAGER |
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| Comments |
The Chartered Bank of India, Australia & China received its royal charter in 1853 and was among the earliest British overseas banks issuing currency across multiple Asian ports simultaneously. Its Hong Kong notes from this period circulated alongside those of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation — itself only founded in 1865 — in an environment where no single institution held a monopoly and merchant confidence in the issuer mattered as much as face value.
Pick 21 spans a fourteen-year window, meaning individual surviving examples can vary considerably in branch, signatory, and manuscript dating. Identifying the specific issuing office is essential before attribution.