From the Grading Room

The South African Reserve Bank was established in 1921 by an act of Parliament. It issued paper money, introducing notes for 10 shillings as well as 1, 5, 20 and 100 pound notes. 20 pound notes were last issued in 1933, and 10 pound notes were added in 1943. The interesting thing about these notes is you hardly ever see the higher denominations. Also, beginning in 1948, all banknotes were printed bilingual in English and Afrikaans – with the odd numbered notes written in the language Afrikaans at the top and the even number notes written in English at the top. Afrikaans is a language fairly similar to Dutch that is spoken by 13.3% of the population in South Africa.

These 1952 100 pound notes are printed in multiple colors and feature Jan van Riebeecka, a Dutch colonial administrator and founder of Cape Town and a sailing ship on the obverse.

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

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