Catalog
50 Cents Green print
| Issuer | The British North Borneo Company |
|---|---|
| Year | 1901-1910 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Printed in green. The company coat of arms appears at the left, with the denomination below and the serial number above. The central field carries the issuer's full name and value statement within a promissory text panel, with the Chinese character 半元 (half dollar) incorporated into the legend. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Blank. |
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| Comments |
The British North Borneo Company held a royal charter from 1881, governing what is now the Malaysian state of Sabah as a private commercial territory — one of the last chartered companies to exercise quasi-sovereign administrative functions in the British colonial world. Its banknotes were a practical necessity in a territory where coinage was scarce and barter still common in the interior.
Pick 8 belongs to the second series of Company notes, spanning nearly a decade of issue. The absence of a central bank or Crown treasury meant the Company itself stood as guarantor — an arrangement that made these notes legally unusual even by colonial standards.