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5 Pounds Sterling
| Issuer | African Banking Corporation Limited |
|---|---|
| Year | 1900-1920 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Pounds Sterling |
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| Obverse description | The obverse bears the bold uppercase title AFRICAN BANKING CORPORATION LIMITED within a central cartouche, above a promise-to-pay text in copperplate script reading 'Promise to pay the Bearer on Demand the sum of Five Pounds Sterling at their Office here,' with the place of issue given as Pretoria. To the left, an oval vignette contains a classical female allegorical figure with two putti at her base, framed by intricate guilloche borders and corner numeral tablets. The header panel carries the inscription TRANSVAAL ISSUE, and the denomination FIVE POUNDS appears in large letters at the foot of the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | TRANSVAAL ISSUE AFRICAN BANKING CORPORATION LIMITED Promise to pay the Bearer on Demand the sum of FIVE POUNDS Sterling at their Office here PRETORIA PRETORIA for African Banking Corporation Limited ACCOUNTANT MANAGER FIVE POUNDS |
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| Comments |
The African Banking Corporation was a British-chartered commercial bank operating across southern and eastern Africa, not a central or government institution — its right to issue notes derived from colonial banking ordinances, not from any treasury mandate. Bradbury Wilkinson printed for a substantial roster of colonial and private banks during this period, and the ABC was one of several such clients whose note designs were produced in London and shipped out to branch networks spanning Rhodesia, Natal, and the East African coast.
Private bank issues from this issuer are genuinely scarce in any grade. The ABC was absorbed into Barclays Bank (Dominion, Colonial and Overseas) in 1925, after which remaining stocks would have been called in and destroyed.