Catalog
5 Florins - George V
| Issuer | East African Currency Board |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Reverse description | Printed in green on white paper, the reverse is divided into two horizontal registers. The upper register contains a rectangular panel with ornate guilloche border bearing the denomination 'FIVE FLORINS' in white serif lettering on a solid ground. The lower register presents a wide vignette of an East African lion walking left within a central oval medallion, flanked by elaborate guilloche scrollwork and the numeral '5' in circular cartouches at each side. |
| Reverse lettering | FIVE FLORINS |
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| Comments |
The East African Currency Board was established in 1919 specifically to bring monetary order to a region that had been running on a chaotic mix of rupees, heller notes from the former German East Africa, and various wartime expedients. This 5 Florin note belongs to the Board's first issue — the florin denomination itself was short-lived, dropped in 1921 when the board shifted to a shilling-based system pegged to sterling at 20 shillings to the pound.
Bradbury Wilkinson produced the plates in London. The florin series is genuinely scarce; low original print runs combined with heavy tropical attrition in East Africa's humidity means survivors in any condition are thinly spread across collections.
Pick lists only a handful of confirmed examples.