Catalog
50 Cents
| Issuer | The British North Borneo Company |
|---|---|
| Year | 1938 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Green note with the issuer's title THE BRITISH NORTH BORNEO COMPANY printed across the top in bold lettering, below which THE TREASURY, SANDAKAN is inscribed. To the left, a vignette displays the Company's armorial seal flanked by vertical panels bearing the denomination FIFTY CENTS in green letterpress. The central text panel bears the bearer promise dated 1st January 1938, with Arabic and Jawi script inscriptions beneath, flanked by two manuscript signatures over printed titles CURRENCY COMMISSIONER and FINANCIAL CONTROLLER. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE BRITISH NORTH BORNEO COMPANY THE TREASURY, SANDAKAN 1st January 1938 Promises to pay the Bearer on Demand the sum of Fifty Cents Value received CURRENCY COMMISSIONER FINANCIAL CONTROLLER |
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| Comments |
The British North Borneo Company retained its chartered authority to issue currency long after most private colonial trading companies had lost theirs — a quirk of British imperial administration that persisted until the Japanese occupation of 1941–42. This 1938 fractional note belongs to a late peacetime series; within three years, Japanese Military Administration currency would displace all Company paper across the territory.
Most surviving examples of this series show pronounced wear along vertical fold lines, the result of tight folding habits common in local small-denomination handling. The 1938 date places this issue in the Company's final undisturbed fiscal period.