PREVIEW: THE FRANK GOON COLLECTION PART THREE: 22 MARCH

Founded in London in 1853, The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China looked to expand its operations from India across the Far East as a finance operation for British Empire interests in the second half of the 19th century.

From Calcutta and Bombay, it established branches or agencies in Singapore, Shanghai and Hong Kong, becoming heavily involved in the opium trade before acting as a principal issuer of foreign banknotes in Shanghai.

 

It first issued notes in Hong Kong in 1862, and went on to issue notes in China and Malaya, eventually opening branches across Asia, supporting the trade in cotton, indigo, tea, rice, sugar, tobacco, hemp and silk.

Such was its growing influence that it was the first foreign bank to win an operating licence in New York, when it opened there in 1912.

A specimen Kwala Lumpur $10 Post Bill from the bank's early days c.1889, forms a highlight of this sale. Printed without serial numbers, in blue and green, it carries the British Royal coat of arms at the top centre flanked by a lion and a unicorn, with the value in underprint at the centre. The reverse is green, with the bank title and arms at centre, the oval handstamp at low right. It is perforated CANCELLED. About uncirculated and extremely rare, it has an estimate of S$38,000-S$42,000.