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Auction: CSS72 - A Collection of South East Asian Coins and Banknotes Part II
Lot: 282

Sarawak, $5 never issued, undated but prepared late 1944/early 1945, PMG 58, serial number A/3 000.000. (Pick Unlisted), Late in World War II, as it became clear that it would only be a matter of time before Allied forces would prevail over those of Imperial Japan, it was decided in London to prepare currencies for release on the liberation of several countries and territories.
In these territories Japanese "banana currency" was circulating, and had depreciated greatly in value in comparison to the hard currency notes that it replaced.
As each territory or colony was liberated, commencing in August of 1945 good money would be required to maintain confidence in the Allied occupation. These essentially had to be printed, packaged, shipped and stored at the nearest point to each, so that issue could take place virtually in tandem with Allied liberators taking the Japanese surrender.
Thus we see notes prepared in advance for Malaya, Indochina, Netherlands Indies, Sarawak, and the Philippines. In the Netherlands East Indies interestingly Australian soldiers were paid in banana currency as no Dutch notes were available.
While it was until now not generally known, financial preparations were undertaken for the liberation of Sarawak -- Rajah Vyner Brooke's state having being captured three and one half years earlier by the Imperial Japanese forces in early 1942.
The $5 note illustrated here represents a "survivor" of the issue planned for liberation and printed in Britain on the instructions of the Sarawak government in exile.
Most interestingly, the pre-war banknotes of Sarawak had long been guaranteed by its government's deposits in London, and thus were entirely redeemable there at full face value.
Banknotes issued in British North Borneo by the Borneo Company were issued on a different basis: they were not backed by bonds or other investments in London, and this presented a redemption problem to the Allies.
Thus the question arose of how to redeem, replace, or re-issue pre-war notes in British Borneo after August 1945.
The immediate issue in Sarawak was by the British military authority of 1 cent to 50 cents Malayan fractional currency.
Vyner Brooke arrived in Kuching in April 1946.
The damage caused by the wartime Japanese occupation and military hostilities ultimately lead Rajah Vyner Brooke to the difficult decision that he could not afford to rebuild his territory and, slightly less than a year after liberation, on 1 July 1946 he surrendered Sarawak to the British crown.
Sarawak thus became a crown colony.
The question of what to do with the 1944-45 notes remained in play until Sarawak ultimately decided in 1951 to join the Malayan currency union.
This lead to the issue of new notes for British South East Asia under the aegis of the Board of Commissioners of Currency of Malaya and British Borneo. The new Board formally came into existence on 1st January 1952.
With its inauguration all discussion regarding Sarawak and its proposed or planned note issue permanently terminated.
Fortunately original records have now been uncovered by the author relating to five years of deliberations regarding the issue of these notes.
In addition, six years ago a Bradbury Wilkinson archival photograph of the 1944-45 Sarawak series appeared at auction at Spink London in October 2014. The $5 is illustrated here.
Most interestingly as originally the notes were not dated and little was known of them, the archival images of the $5 note dated 1 July 1949 provided evidence of the firm intention at least at this late date to place them into circulation in Sarawak, four or five years after the issue was initially prepared!
Interestingly these two old photographs brought several thousand Pounds.
However, it is with the discovery of original records that the story of Sarawak's last notes will be told, and the purchaser of this note will be entitled to a complete set of in excess of 100 documents.
Pedigree: This $5 note, together with a 1 Dollar and 10 Dollar of the "A" series and another 1, 5, and 10 of the "B" series, all in different colours, was first announced in the collection of the great Malaysian numismatist, Dr. Chan Chin Cheung. They are illustrated in the volume of the Chan collection, entitled "Paper Currencies of the Straits Settlements, Malaya, British North Borneo, Sarawak, and Brunei: The Collection of Dr. Chan Chin Cheung", published in 1991.
The breakup of the Chan Collection not long afterwards led to the sale of these spectacular notes.
The notes were acquired by William Barrett and have remained in his collection to this day. At the time of acquisition, however, he could only speculate as to the purpose of the printing of these fully printed specimen banknotes.
At about the same time, William Barrett was shown by Lucas Chin, Director at Sarawak's national museum, Muzium Sarawak, one note -- or at least one note -- in a glazed frame caked in dust, what he recalls being one original note or a reproduction thereof.
Whether this item is still at Muzium Sarawak is not presently known.
*A unique opportunity to acquire a note of the region printed during the Japanese occupation for circulation on liberation, held back during the next uncertain year leading up to Sarawak's cession by Vyner Brooke to the British crown, and then intended to be circulated in the new crown colony during the late 1940's and into the early 1950's.
Regretfully the printer, Bradbury Wilkinson & Company, lost or disposed of many of its records, and according to their archivist twelve years ago there is apparently absolutely no reference to the printing of these magnificent notes in their surviving archives. Only the unique sets of A and B, and the old photographs with the new archival records, remain to tell the story.
It is interesting to note that while the note offered here is from Series 3, implying two previous series of one million, and perhaps another million for the third series, that the note in the 1st July 1949 dated image is in fact "A/1". How many notes accordingly may have been printed is left to conjecture, at least until the Sarawak note ordering, printing, storing, and issuing records are analysed.

Estimate
HK$530,000 to HK$950,000

Starting price
HK$450000