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06
Jan
The Zanzibar Government, One Rupee, 1st September 1920, serial number A/1 00350, left panel featuring a traditional dhow sailing along the coast, at right, vignette depicting clove harvesters at work using a three-legged ladder, two printed signatures of John Sinclair and Jasper Corbett Davis below. Pick 1, BNB 101.
Provenance:
“The note was acquired by New Zealand dealer Peter Eccles (IBNS Life Member 24) for an undisclosed five-figure sum. Recognizing the note's exceptional global significance, Mr Eccles has appointed Joshua Lee, the country's appointed agent for Spink & Son, to coordinate its international sale” - Spink Insider Autumn 2025
According to Jonathan Callaway, the leading authority on Zanzibari currency, only 21 examples of this issue have been previously recorded. This newly discovered note-bearing the remarkably low serial A/1 00350, now confirmed as the earliest-numbered example recorded, thus surpassing the former record of A/1 18707.
In the world of paper money, few issues are as sought after as those of Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous territory in modern-day Tanzania. Over the last five centuries, the archipelago was successively occupied by Great Britain, Oman, and Portugal, rising to global fame in the nineteenth century as the world's largest exporter of cloves.
In 1890, the Sultanate of Zanzibar formally became a British Protectorate. Monetary reforms followed in 1908 with the introduction of the Zanzibar Rupee, replacing the earlier Ryal and fixed at a 1:1 ratio to the Indian Rupee. In 1936, all Zanzibari banknotes were withdrawn from circulation and demonetised upon the nation’s entry into the East African Currency Board monetary zone.
While other denominations of this series were printed by Waterlow & Sons, the 1 Rupee stands apart as the sole issue printed by Thomas De La Rue & Company. As an unremarkable, low-denomination note at the time of issue, it was heavily used in everyday circulation within a tropical climate, resulting in an exceptionally low survival rate.
Unlike most rarities, where collectors can usually obtain at least a representation of the country of issue, any banknotes of Zanzibar are, regardless of denomination or condition, exceptionally scarce and seldom encountered.
What elevates the present example is the combination of one of the world’s greatest banknote rarities with an exceptionally low serial number. Quite simply, this is not a note that the chance to possess it will likely present itself again.
Spink Auctions will present the note in their 2026 NY INC World Banknotes sale on 16th January 2026.
Aventine Numismatics
