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5 Pounds / Pond
| Issuer | Union of South Africa, Treasury |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Issued under the Currency and Banking Act, 1920. Gold Certificate. Union of South Africa This Certifies that there have been deposited in the Treasury of the Union of South Africa IN GOLD COIN OR Five Pounds GOLD BULLION Pretoria SECRETARY FOR FINANCE FIVE |
| Reverse description | Afrikaans-language face of this bilingual Gold Certificate, issued under the Betaalmiddelen en Bankwet 1920. The layout mirrors the English obverse: the Union coat of arms appears at upper centre above the script legend 'Unie van Zuid Afrika', with the '£5' vignette panel at upper left. The central cursive text certifies the deposit in the Thesaurie van de Unie van Zuid-Afrika, and the denomination 'Vijf Pond' is set within an ornate cartouche flanked by 'In Gemunt Of' and 'Ongemunt Goud'. A guilloche-bordered 'VIJF' panel appears at lower right, with the Sekretaris vir Finansiën signature at lower centre. |
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| Comments |
The Union Treasury's warrants to print currency in Pretoria rather than contract the work to London or Edinburgh was a deliberate administrative choice rooted in the post-Union settlement of 1910 — keeping production domestic was a political statement as much as a logistical one. By 1920, the Pretoria printing operation was well established, though output quality remained uneven across the series.
Pick 70 is among the scarcer Treasury issues of this period. The South African Treasury relinquished note-issuing authority to the newly formed South African Reserve Bank in 1922, making this a short-lived series with a hard end date.