1933 East African Currency Board Five Shillings Banknote Pick Number 20 Nice F++
Description: A nice and fairly uncommon fine or much better banknote from East Africa. The banknote, which was issued by the East African Currency Authority in Nairobi (the current capital of Kenya in east Africa) is dated 1st January 1933. The banknote is dark blue and black over orangish-brown background. It depicts the image of King George V of Great Britain at eft with the denomination to the right of the front. The front of the note is written in English, Arabic, and Gujarati while the back is written in English. The back is reddish-orange in color with the image of a lion in the center with Mount Kenya in the background. The front of the note has three signatures, the date, the denomination, the name of the issuing authority, and the serial number. This particular note has the serial number 40194 and is series H/1. The note has a watermark with the letters EACB in a horizontal honeycomb pattern. The note was printed by Thomas De La Rue & Co. Ltd. in England. Please carefully review the scans presented as they are part and parcel of our description.
Date: 1st January 1933.
Printer: Thomas De La Rue & Co. Ltd., London, England.
Size: The banknote measures ~6" by ~3 3/4".
Pick Number: P 20. It is also listed in The Banknote Book as B209b.
Condition: I would grade this banknote as a good fine or much better with all the details being well preserved. The note is soiled and lost the color vividness. It has several vertical and horizontal folds and general wrinkling. It is stained along the vertical folds on the back but not as evident on the front. The note has general roughness along the edges and its corners show considerable rounding as well as some losses. The note has no long tears instead it has a couple of 1/8” tears or breaks along the edge, which are stable and do not reach the design. The note has no splits, no pinholes, and no graffiti. It does have losses along the edges and small nicks where they penetrate for a short distance into the margins but again do not reach the design. Be that as it may, this is still a rather nice example of this elusive banknote worthy of a spot in your collection. Please see the scans for additional condition information.
