A note previously unknown, even to specialists, a British India 1,000-rupee issue from Jan. 27, 1925, was certified and graded Very Fine 25 by Paper Money Guaranty at the firm’s June on-site grading event in Hong Kong. The note was submitted by Spink’s and will be offered at the firm’s world bank note sale in London on Oct. 2. 

Until this discovery note, the only known bank branches issuing 1925 1,000-rupee notes were the ones in Bombay (now Mumbai) and Calcutta (Kolkata). This note was issued in Kurrachee, now Karachi, a city that has been part of Pakistan since the British partitioned British India into the dominions of India and Pakistan in 1947.

Spink’s global head of bank notes and bonds, Kelvin Cheung, estimates the note to be worth about $100,000, and not surprisingly adds, “This note is a significant discovery that will be highly sought by advanced India collectors.”

The large-size, white, gray, and green uniface bank note is the highest denomination of the series. Its denomination is stated in five languages. A more common 1,000-rupee note from the Bombay branch, given a Very Fine 25 grade by PCGS Currency, recently sold for $11,400.  

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