Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
100 Dollars - Charles Vyner Brooke
| Issuer | Government of Sarawak |
|---|---|
| Year | 1929 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Rectangular |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Printed in purple and multicolour, the obverse presents a central vignette of the Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke above the Sarawak coat of arms, flanked by palm tree motifs at left. Guilloche underprint patterns frame the central composition, with the denomination and issuer legends arranged across the note. The overall design reflects the intaglio printing style characteristic of Bradbury Wilkinson productions of this period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse carries the standard obligation text and denomination numerals within a decorative border, executed in multicolour guilloche work typical of early twentieth-century colonial currency issues printed by Bradbury Wilkinson. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Sarawak's 1929 currency was issued under the authority of Charles Vyner Brooke, the third and final White Rajah, whose family had ruled the territory as a personal fiefdom since James Brooke received it from the Sultan of Brunei in 1841. The Government of Sarawak operated its own currency entirely independently of British Malaya — a consequence of Sarawak's unusual status as a crown protectorate administered by a private dynasty rather than a colonial office.
Bradbury, Wilkinson produced the series to a high security standard, as they did for numerous colonial governments in this period. The 100-dollar denomination would have seen very limited hand-to-hand use in a territory whose economy ran largely on trade in rubber, sago, and pepper.
Vyner Brooke ceded Sarawak to the British Crown in 1946, ending the Brooke dynasty and rendering all currency issued in his name obsolete within a few years.