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5 Dollars
| Issuer | Government of the Straits Settlements |
|---|---|
| Year | 1898-1900 |
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| Reference(s) | P#2 |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 5 THE GOVERNMENT OF THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS Promises to pay the bearer on demand FIVE DOLLARS at Singapore Local Currency for value received. 1st September, 1898 CURRENCY COMMISSIONERS 票銀庫國叻典功 وان رڠڬيت دبايركن كڤد سي ممباوا اتس ڤرمينتاءن دڠن واڠ تمڤتن سيڠاڤورا |
| Reverse description | Black print on cream paper, with no textual inscriptions. A central intaglio vignette set within an ornate cartouche shows a tiger stalking left through rocky, grassy terrain; the surrounding field is filled with a densely worked guilloche of floral rosettes, scrollwork, and foliate ornaments extending to all four corners, with crocodile vignettes worked into the corner medallions. The printer's imprint THOS. DE LA RUE & CO. LTD. LONDON appears in small type at the lower centre of the design. |
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| Comments |
The Straits Settlements government notes of this period were a direct response to the chronic shortage of reliable currency across Penang, Malacca, and Singapore — Mexican and other foreign silver dollars had long filled that gap, and confidence in paper was slow to build. De La Rue's involvement brought the same intaglio security standards the firm was applying to colonial issues across the British Empire in the 1890s.
Pick 2 is genuinely scarce. The 1898–1900 window was brief, and the series was superseded relatively quickly as the currency framework for the Straits evolved. Surviving examples in any grade are rarely encountered at auction.