Catalog
5 Pounds
| Issuer | Government of Cyprus |
|---|---|
| Year | 1955-1960 |
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| Composition | Cotton paper |
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| Reverse description | Printed entirely in green, the reverse presents a formal symmetrical composition centred on the GOVERNMENT OF CYPRUS inscription within an ornate cartouche. A circular medallion to the left encloses the £5 denomination numeral within a laurel wreath, while a corresponding medallion to the right bears the three-lion passant arms of Cyprus within a matching wreath. The entire design is contained within an intricate guilloche border with decorative corner rosettes. |
| Reverse lettering | GOVERNMENT OF CYPRUS £5 |
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| Comments |
Cyprus was still a British Crown Colony when this series was authorized, and the notes circulated through a period of acute political violence — the EOKA campaign for enosis began in April 1955, the same year the first signatures on this type appear. The Government of Cyprus, rather than a central bank, remained the issuing authority because no independent central bank yet existed; that would only come with the Republic in 1960.
Bradbury Wilkinson printed the full run from their New Malden works, a house that handled colonial and dominion currency for much of the British world. The shift from Jenkin's signature to Thomaides' in 1960 marks the constitutional transition precisely — Thomaides signed as the island moved from colony to republic.