Catalog
500 Dollars
| Issuer | Asiatic Banking Corporation |
|---|---|
| Year | 18xx |
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| Value | 500 Dollars |
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| Obverse description | Orange and green note with an elaborate guilloche border framing the central panel. Two oval green vignettes bearing the legend FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS flank a central armorial vignette of the Asiatic Banking Corporation, with manuscript serial number fields marked 'No.' to either side. The promise-to-pay text reads 'THE ASIATIC BANKING CORPORATION promise to pay the Bearer on Demand at their Branch in HONG KONG, in Local Currency the Sum of FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS value received,' with a large green underprint numeral '500' at the foot of the note and signature lines for Entd., Acct., and Manager below, all above the imprint of the issuing branch at HONG KONG and a date line reading '18__'. Chinese characters 亞西亞國銀行 appear at top and bottom, and 大銀伍百員 vertically on each lateral margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 亞西亞國銀行 ASIATIC BANKING CORPORATION FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS THE ASIATIC BANKING CORPORATION promise to pay the Bearer on Demand at their Branch in HONG KONG, in Local Currency the Sum of FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS value received. HONG KONG 18 By order of the Court of Directors. 大銀伍百員 500 |
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| Comments |
The Asiatic Banking Corporation was a British overseas bank chartered in 1863 and primarily active in China, Japan, and the Straits Settlements. It collapsed in 1866 during the severe credit crisis that swept through the Eastern trade banking sector, taking several institutions down with it — meaning this note's window of possible issue is extremely narrow, less than three years.
A $500 denomination from a failed colonial bank that operated for under a decade places this among the rarest categories of 19th-century Asian banking paper. Bradbury, Wilkinson's involvement confirms London production, though the note would have circulated in the Far East.