10 Rupees

The Currency Commissioners of Mauritius were a colonial administrative body, not a conventional central bank, and their notes from this period occupy an awkward transitional moment — the island was shifting away from a chaotic multi-currency environment where Spanish dollars, Indian rupees, and French colonial currency had all circulated interchangeably for decades. The 1848–49 issue was part of a deliberate effort to impose sterling-based order on that mess.

Survivors are exceptionally rare. Colonial paper from Mauritius at this date suffered badly from the tropical climate, and redemption rates after subsequent currency reforms were high.