By Nilaish
"Watermark papers of currency notes were sent by Portals to India in S.S. Breda (Ship), the paper had two different Kings watermark for the 5 & 10 Rupees notes!"
"Watermark papers of currency notes were sent by Portals to India in S.S. Breda (Ship), the paper had two different Kings watermark for the 5 & 10 Rupees notes!"
S.S. Breda History:
The Breda was a 5 hold cargo steamship of
6941 GRT and 402 feet long, built in 1921 by the New Waterway Shipbuilding
Co at Schiedam. She has a single screw and power by turbines, with four boilers
producing the steam. After the invasion of the Netherlands during WW2, she
escaped to Britain and taken over by P&O lines. At this time she was armed
with a single 4.7″ (120mm) gun and used in convoys as she had considerable hold
space and could take nearly 90 passengers. Shaken by nearby bombs dropped from a
German Heinkel 111 bomber, her engine rooms flooded and as they tried to tow
her to safety, she listed and sank, 23rd December 1940. Lying at 30 metres (100
ft) deep at the mouth of Loch Etive just north of Oban, on the west coast of
Scotland.
Indian Currency Notes Watermark Paper:
Around
1992 the Tralee Bay Diving and Watersports Club made a most amazing discovery.
In one of the long-hidden cargo holds which was found and the remains of currency paper
manufactured by Portals, who had a contract to make paper for the Bank of
England, specially watermarked with the portrait of King Edward VIII? (5
Rupees) [see below] and King George VI intended for the printing of 10 rupee notes [see below] of India pre 1938. If we closely examine the side profiles in below two images of the
Kings then we find them different persons.
Reserve Bank of India, 5 Rupees watermark paper, Notice the profile of the King towards left.
It looks like King Edward VIII's side profile. It appears that 5 Rupees watermark papers were produced earlier than 10 Rupees watermark paper?
Reserve Bank of India, 10 Rupees watermark paper, Notice the profile of the King towards left.
It looks like King George VI's side profile.
Currency notes were purported to be issued in early 1936, it got delayed due to abdication of Edward VIII from the British Throne. Thus, it resulted in delay of issue of currency notes in India which did not happened until 1938.
The 5 Rupees note was issued in 1938 with signature of J.B. Taylor
(second governor of RBI) [see below] and again in 1944 with signature of C.D.
Deshmukh. I find myself convinced that the side profile in the watermark used in 5 Rupees notes is of Edward VIII. However, 10 Rupees notes have different side profile of the King George VI [see above], who was successor of Edward VIII. It is also known that, an essay of 100 Rupees of Edward VIII watermark design which exists in the Bank of England Museum collection (Razack et al. 2012: 568).
Because of wartime secrecy the banknote paper was not listed on the ship's manifest. The paper had survived over a half-century of being underwater with no more than a bit of edge deterioration. The wooden boxes the paper had been packed in, however, were almost completely eaten away and the edges of the uncut sheets were a little ragged, but this paper was still in usable condition! The majority of the recovered sheets were auctioned in London in 1993.
Rupees 5, Reserve Bank of India, Issued in 1938, signed by J.B. Taylor
It contains the similar Edward VIII looking side profile in the watermark
Because of wartime secrecy the banknote paper was not listed on the ship's manifest. The paper had survived over a half-century of being underwater with no more than a bit of edge deterioration. The wooden boxes the paper had been packed in, however, were almost completely eaten away and the edges of the uncut sheets were a little ragged, but this paper was still in usable condition! The majority of the recovered sheets were auctioned in London in 1993.
Notes & References:
1. Razack, R., Jhunjhunwalla, K. (2012) "The revised standard reference guide of Indian Paper Money", Currencies & Coins, Mumbai, India (private), p. 568.
2. This assumption is based on the watermark images seen of many examples and the one which was designed for King Edward VIII's Rupees 100 essay. However, it is open question for researchers to find out it in complete sense that the profile of King used on 5 Rupees watermark paper is of King Edward VIII.
3. Ashish Sejpal, a fellow collector, debated with author that the later issue with C.D. Deshmukh signature which was issued in 1944 should have different watermark paper but after observation it was the same. The matter is open for research.
3. Ashish Sejpal, a fellow collector, debated with author that the later issue with C.D. Deshmukh signature which was issued in 1944 should have different watermark paper but after observation it was the same. The matter is open for research.
Copyright by Nilaish, Esq. 2015.
