5 Pounds

The Southern Rhodesia Currency Board was established in 1938, replacing the earlier commercial banking arrangements that had served the territory since the British South Africa Company era. This note, printed by Bradbury Wilkinson at their New Malden works, entered circulation during a period when Southern Rhodesia's economy was being reshaped by wartime production demands — tobacco, chrome, and asbestos exports surged, yet the colony remained tightly bound to sterling area controls throughout.

Four different signatures appear across the series' lifespan, reflecting board membership changes over thirteen years. The Bessle and Fox signatures are the earlier pairings; Munro-signed examples date toward the final issues before the Currency Board was absorbed into the new Central African Federation arrangements of 1953.