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5 Pounds
| Issuer | Government of Cyprus |
|---|---|
| Year | 1953 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Pound (1879-1955) |
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| Obverse description | Printed in green on a light ground, the obverse carries a right-facing portrait vignette of King George VI set within an elaborate ornamental frame at right, with the denomination £5 below the portrait. The trilingual title inscription appears across the centre, with the serial number repeated at upper left and lower right. A manuscript signature of the Commissioner of Currency appears at lower left alongside the date 1st November 1953. |
|---|---|
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| Signature(s) | S.M. Lih, Commissioner of Currency |
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| Comments |
Cyprus was still a British Crown Colony in 1953, and the Currency Commissioner arrangement — rather than a central bank — reflects that directly. The Government of Cyprus did not establish a central bank until 1963, three years after independence, so these notes carried the authority of the colonial administration through the Commissioner of Currency structure.
Thomas De La Rue produced this series using the same high-quality intaglio work they were supplying to dozens of colonial currency boards at the time. S.M. Lih's tenure as Commissioner is the anchoring fact for dating unissued stock versus circulated examples within this Pick 32 series.