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5 Pounds
| Issuer | National Bank of Egypt |
|---|---|
| Year | 1899 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is centred on an intaglio vignette of the Pyramids of Giza, with tall palm trees to the left and robed figures in the foreground; arabesque panels at either side of the heading bear the denomination numeral "5" and Arabic text. The bank title "NATIONAL BANK OF EGYPT" runs across the top, while below the vignette a promise-to-pay clause in English reads "I Promise to pay the Bearer on Demand THE SUM OF FIVE EGYPTIAN POUNDS," with place and date "Cairo 19th January, 1899" and a note of issue under Decree dated 25th June 1898. Serial number panels appear at lower left and lower right, with bilingual Arabic legends completing the design. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | NATIONAL BANK OF EGYPT I Promise to pay the Bearer on Demand THE SUM OF FIVE EGYPTIAN POUNDS Cairo 19th January, 1899 ISSUED UNDER DECREE DATED 25TH JUNE 1898 GOVERNOR البنك الأهلي المصري جنيه مصري ٥ |
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| Comments |
The National Bank of Egypt was established in 1898 by a British-led consortium — not by the Egyptian government — and began issuing notes the following year. Its founding came during the period of British financial control following the debt crisis of the 1870s, which had ended with Egypt effectively under Anglo-French fiscal supervision. These early notes were therefore instruments of a privately chartered institution operating under British influence, not a sovereign central bank in any meaningful sense.
Bradbury Wilkinson's engraved work from this period is among the finest commercial banknote printing of the late Victorian era. The P#3 is rare in any grade; surviving examples from the 1899 date are seldom encountered outside major institutional collections.