Catalog
5 Pounds
| Issuer | Cape of Good Hope Bank Limited |
|---|---|
| Year | 1880 |
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| Currency | Pound sterling (1694-date) |
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| Obverse description | The obverse carries a large oval vignette on the left with a classical allegorical female figure standing, rendered in fine intaglio engraving. To the right, the bank title CAPE OF GOOD HOPE BANK LIMITED is set in bold letterpress, with the branch designation KING WILLIAM'S TOWN and the denomination £5 in ornate numeral panels at upper right and lower right. A printed promise-to-pay text in script and letterpress occupies the centre, with a red guilloche underprint, serial number No. 01609 appearing twice, a manuscript date, and a signature for the Board of Directors at lower right; the overprint KIMBERLEY ISSUE appears at top and bottom margins. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | No reverse image was provided; the reverse layout of this note is not described. |
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| Comments |
The Cape of Good Hope Bank Limited was one of several competing commercial banks operating in the Cape Colony during the 1870s and 1880s, each issuing their own notes in a largely unregulated environment. The bank collapsed in 1882, just two years after this note was printed, making surviving examples from this series genuinely rare — most circulating stock would have been called in or destroyed during the liquidation process.
Bradbury Wilkinson's involvement is worth noting. The firm was already well established as a security printer by this date, handling work for numerous colonial and dominion issuers across the British Empire.