A pair of rare 10-rupee banknotes that were salvaged from a 1918 shipwreck and auctioned by Noonans Mayfair in London. These notes, discovered floating away from the wreckage of the SS Shirala, are estimated to fetch between GBP 2,000 and 2,600.
One ₹10 note fetched ₹6.9 lakh and another sold for ₹5.8 lakh, totaling ₹12.7 lakh for the two Indian ₹10 notes, according to Zee News DNA
The SS Shirala was on its way from Bombay to London when it was sunk by a German U-boat on July 2, 1918. The cargo included whole blocks of these 10-rupee notes, along with various provisions ranging from marmalade to ammunition.
Thomasina Smith, Worldwide Head of Numismatics at Noonans, explained, "Many notes floated to shore, including unsigned 5 and 10 Rupees, and signed 1 Rupees – one of which also features in this auction. Most were recovered and subsequently destroyed by the authorities, and new ones were printed to replace them. However, a very few examples remained in private hands."
Smith noted that these banknotes only resurfaced after the Bank of England mentioned the 1918 shipwreck on social media. "These notes are in excellent condition – they must have been in the middle of a tightly bound bundle, so they didn't come into contact with the sea. It's also remarkable that they bear consecutive serial numbers," she added.
The World Banknotes auction also featured a rare 100-rupee note from the British colonial administration of India, estimated to sell for between GBP 4,400 and 5,000. This note, signed and stamped from Calcutta and dated between 1917 and 1930, has "100 rupees" spelt out in various Indian languages, including Hindi and Bengali.
Another notable item in the auction is a "Reserve Bank of India, Persian Gulf Issue," a 5-rupee note featuring the iconic Ashoka emblem, dated 1957-62. This note was expected to sell for between GBP 2,200 and 2,800.
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