Test Banknotes: De La Rue & Company

[mitresh]

Test Banknotes are sample notes designed and printed by the Currency Printing Companies to showcase their capabilities (design, colour, security features etc) to Central Banks around the world or as souvenirs at various industry trade shows or collector events and expositions. These notes are not legal tender and any value indicated on the note is purely for presentation and marketing purpose.

Both the notes featured above pertain to De La Rue & Company, the worlds premier banknote printing company. The first note is the Year 2000 Millennium issue while the other note features Lord Nelson. Both notes are very attractively designed and bear complete security features like watermark, security thread, multi-colour intaglio design, serial number etc

[Coinsforever]

I've never actually seen an example of such note before. What an extraordinary thing.

I'm curious does it fit as "Banknote " if not at all issued for any bank /country , whilst  prepared as just a sample only.



Cheers

[Abhay]

My contribution - 1 Housenote from De La Rue.

Abhay

[Bimat]

There are quite a few varieties available in these so called specimen banknotes and they are not so hard to find...I believe that De La Rue sells it intentionally..

That doesn't make it less interesting though..

Aditya

[Harry]

Nice notes guys! I agree with Aditya, these are quite interesting.

De La Rue has been around for some time, they printed notes for some of the British Colonies for example Straits Settlements. They also printed stamps of the Straits Settlements.

[malj1]

De La Rue also produced the NAAFI penny and halfpenny tokens that were issued in 1946 for use by the British military in conjunction with their British Armed Forces vouchers.



They had previously made these half francs that were used in France and Belgium from 1944; they made four types of these of which this was the last and best.



All are printed on both sides of CP3 material which was an insulation board used in radio equipment etc at that time.

[mitresh]

The French half francs look very much like the Octagonal Assam coins.

[malj1]

I don't know those coins. 

Perhaps I should have mentioned De La Rue also printed most of the British Armed Forces vouchers.



A simple DE LA RUE signature appears on this last 6th series decimal issue. Bradbury Wilkinson also printed a batch of these but theirs were never used.

[mitresh]

Thanks Malcolm. Were these 'special' British Armed Services vouchers redeemed only within the military/cantonment area and were these World War (I or II?) issues?

[malj1]

The first series was issued 1946 just after WW2 for use in NAAFI canteens. They continued with a second series used in occupied territories, this series also has some scarce overprints that were used only in Japan. The third series was used for only two months in Egypt during the Suez crisis. The fourth and fifth series were not used. The sixth series were printed for the decimal changeover and used in conjunction with the second series which continued to be used in occupied Germany.

They are now discontinued. See my page here for an almost complete collection.

[mitresh]

Simply W W Malc lm, fantastic c llecti n!