Catalog
5 Shillings Sterling
| Issuer | Cape of Good Hope Bank, Cape Town |
|---|---|
| Year | 1828 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Rectangular |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | The note is printed in black on plain paper with an ornate engraved border of interlocking circular guilloche patterns running along the left margin and corners. A central vignette in the upper portion shows a sailing ship at sea, flanked by the bold script inscription 'Cape of Good Hope Bank'; an oval cartouche at upper right bears the denomination '5 SHILLINGS STERLING' in relief. The promise-to-pay clause reads in copperplate script 'Promise to pay the Bearer on demand FIVE SHILLINGS STERLING', with the place, date, and issuing agent 'Per Corden & Company' inscribed below, and a rectangular panel at lower left repeats the denomination 'Five Shillings St°'. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Cape of Good Hope Bank Promise to pay the Bearer on demand FIVE SHILLINGS STERLING Cape Town the 7 day of July 1828 Per Corden & Company Five Shillings St° 5 SHILLINGS STERLING |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Cape of Good Hope Bank was established in 1825, making it one of the earliest joint-stock banks in southern Africa. By 1828 it was already competing with the older Lombaard Bank and the newly chartered South African Bank for the limited commercial activity of a still-colonial Cape Town. Notes of this denomination circulated primarily in local retail trade, though the sterling designation reflects the Cape Colony's formal adoption of British sterling as its official monetary standard following the end of Dutch East India Company rule.
Local printing at Cape Town at this date was technically rudimentary. The note predates any significant security printing infrastructure at the Cape, which makes surviving examples exceptionally fragile and prone to ink oxidation along fold lines.