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5 Dollars
| Issuer | The Chartered Bank of India, Australia & China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1890-1893 (1890-1903) |
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| Value | 5 Dollars |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed entirely in green, the reverse is composed of an elaborate engine-turned guilloche framework with the bank name "THE CHARTERED BANK OF INDIA, AUSTRALIA AND CHINA" arranged in an oval at the centre, enclosing a dense rosette guilloche panel with the word "FIVE" in a horizontal cartouche. The word "FIVE" appears four times in large letters diagonally in the corners, with numeral "5" in ornamental roundels at each corner and small vignettes including a crown, a sailing ship, an elephant, and a bull interspersed within the border design. |
| Reverse lettering | 5 FIVE THE CHARTERED BANK OF INDIA, AUSTRALIA AND CHINA SPECIMEN |
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| Comments |
The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1853 and operated as one of the principal British exchange banks across Asia, handling trade finance at a time when sterling bills on London underpinned almost all commerce between East and West. By the 1890s, the Hong Kong dollar had been effectively pegged to silver, and the bank's note-issuing operations in the colony were directly exposed to the volatility of the silver market — when silver depreciated sharply through the 1890s, the real value of circulating notes fell with it.
The 1890–1893 dating range places this note in the period just before the bank's charter was renewed in 1894 under revised terms.