Skip to main content

Bank of Bombay notes last issue

By Nilaish,
Member IBNS

Bank of Bombay last issue: signatures of Secretary: 

Indian paper money has a vast history with full of gaps and surprises. I am a collector of Indian Paper Money and World banknotes since 1998 and specializing in Indian paper money issued before 1861. When browsing through my collection, I found a very interesting banknote which highlights a remarkable breakthrough in the Indian currency issue. The new find is, BANK OF BOMBAY 10 Rupees note, dated 1 November 1860, signed by James Blair, Secretary & Treasurer (see Bagachi, pg. no. 210).  


Bank of Bombay, 10 Rupees, Uniface, 1 Nov. 1860, Last issue, Serial no. A14518, 
signed by James Blair, Secretary & Treasurer (1860-1865). 

Bank of Bombay, 10 Rupees, 20 March 1855, serial no. 65146, 
signed by John Stuart, Secretary & Treasurer (1842-1860). Image Courtesy: Todywalla Auctions. 


Bank of Bombay notes were issued without prefix with printed serial numbers till ca 1857. This example has serial number with 'A' prefix. It is pleasant to note from the work of Bagachi, that in the early 1860, Bank of Bombay issued, 100,000 ten rupees notes, later it begins with to mint notes with 'A' prefix. This issue was a result to fight the panic due to many stolen notes of Bank of Bombay from the Oriental Bank in February 1851.  

Sooner, Paper Currency Act of 1861 was passed therefore, presidency and private banks were not allowed to issue currency notes after this date (1860). The issue of currency notes was a subject of Government of India since then during British rule. 


References: 

Bagachi, A.K., ''The Evolution of the State Bank of India: The Roots 1806-1876'', Vol. 1, 1987, Oxford University Press, pp. 210-360. 

Razack, R.; Jhunjhunwalla, K., ''The revised standard reference guide to Indian paper money'', Currencies & Coins, 2012, First edition.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

British India One Rupee Notes

by Nilaish (Life Member of IBNS-IBCC) "One Rupee Notes: A legal tender for silver rupee coins to nickel rupee coins, in 1947 all silver content was gone from the rupee."  1917 First issue:  One rupee notes were first issued on 30th November 1917 representing 1917 one rupee silver coin. These notes were issued roughly in two types based on the following facts. Type 1:  The notes were issued in booklet of 25 notes with each note appearing as cheque leaf having perforations on the left. These notes were printed in England. Signed by A.C. Mc Watters. These booklets appeared like modern day cheque-books [see below]. 1917 One Rupee booklet with 25 notes signed by A.C. McWatters  Image Courtesy: Rezwan Razack  Prefixes issued in booklets were, Y and Z only. Sometimes inside cover, advertisements were printed. The obverse of the note has serial numbers diagonally left to right. ONE RUPEE in bold in the centre. On the left top we see obverse of rupee c...

Top Ten Rare Banknotes of India

By Nilaish "Paper money is fragile and when used a lot, loses it's life but collecting them is even a great challenge!"  It is known from various catalouges [1] and [2] that, Indian paper money originated in 19th Century from Bengal Presidency. Bank of Hindostan and Bank of Bengal were the earliest banks in the presidency who issued paper money. The earliest year of issue of Bank of Bengal is 1812. However, notes were issued since 1770 but there is no evidence to support these claims. Indian paper money is divided into roughly four periods, a) East India Company Period (1800-1860), b) British Government of India Issues (1861-1936), c) Reserve Bank of India British Issues (1937-1947) and d) Republic India RBI Issues (1949- ). In the following list, I will pick up some of my personal favourites which are exceedingly rare currency notes of India. The price is not the guiding factor solely for this ranking. One may reshuffle and consider them ... as you wish....funn...

The role of Perkins & Company in Indian Early Paper Money

By Nilaish, MBA Life Member of IBNS-IBCC  "Earliest Currency notes in India known so far by Bank of Bengal is dated 1812 and is an uniface note. Later issues after 1822 shows the name of the engraver and the printer of the currency notes."  A Brief Timeline of Perkins & Bacon Co. London  1808-1810 Jacob Perkins and Gideon Fairman produce the first known books in the USA to use steel plates. ~1816 Jacob Perkins has "soft steel" plates to engrave on, and a method to harden the plates, and a process. 1818 (April 15), Heath discussed the American bank notes printed by Perkins at the Society of Arts Committee on Forgery. Bank of England was offering a £20,000 prize for unforgeable notes. 1819 (May 31) Perkins sets sail for England after communicating with Charles Heath. 1819 (June 29) Perkins arrives in Liverpool, England. 1819 (July) Sir Joseph Banks met with Perkins. 1819 (December 20) The Heaths join Perk...