5 Pounds

Sudan Government notes from this period occupy an odd transitional space: issued after the 1953 Anglo-Egyptian Agreement set the country on course for independence, but before the formal declaration of January 1956. The currency authority was essentially a caretaker arrangement, with the Sudan Currency Board managing issuance through the handover period. Waterlow & Sons produced the series in London, as they had for numerous colonial and near-colonial administrations across Africa and the Middle East.

The 5 Pounds was the highest denomination in the series — a significant sum in daily Sudanese commerce — meaning these circulated infrequently and often returned to bank vaults quickly, which cuts both ways on survival rates.