5 Dollars Barclay's Bank

Barclays Bank (Dominion, Colonial and Overseas) was formed in 1925 through the merger of Colonial Bank, the Anglo-Egyptian Bank, and the National Bank of South Africa — a consolidation that gave Barclays a sweeping presence across British territories at a moment when sterling-denominated private bank notes still circulated freely in many colonies. This note belongs to that interwar period of commercial bank issue, before postwar monetary reorganizations progressively stripped private institutions of their note-issuing rights across the Empire.

Bradbury Wilkinson printed extensively for colonial and dominion issuers throughout this period from their New Malden works. The P#S101 designation — the "S" prefix indicating a private or semi-official issuer rather than a central authority — reflects the note's status as a commercial bank obligation rather than government currency.