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 King George V 6.5.1910 - 20.1.1936 |
 King George VI 11.12.1936 - 6.2.1952 |
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Hyderabad-India P.S265 Ten Rupees FE1327(1916). “Sea Salvage“ banknote
from the vessel SS Egypt, which sunk in 1922 and was recovered in 1932.
The recovery ship ARTIGLIO was a steamship used as a salvage ship by the
shipping company SO.RI.MA. (Society for Maritime Recovery) of Genoa,
Italy. Great condition perhaps because it was held in the “bullion room”
that included gold and silver bullion and gold sovereigns worth over £1
million. So why would this Hyderabad-India 10 Rupee banknote would be on a steamship traveling from London to India. Also how did it keep from being ruined in 400 feet of water for 10 years? After a little research, here's what I found: the note was kept in the ship’s fireproof and thief-proof strong room, along with 2,318 gold and silver bars and a mass of gold sovereigns together valued at over a million pounds in 1922. They were the property of the British government and were destined for India and the Far East. Why there was a Hyderabad banknote in that group is still a mystery to me. But the fact that they were the property of the British gouvernment partially explains why later there was a stamp placed on the banknote declaring that it now had no monetary value. Apparently Lloyd's of London had insured the shipment and paid the gouvernment for its loss, therefore the banknotes became of "no monetary value." Recovering the valuables in 1932 presented a huge challenge as divers at that time could not go below 150 feet of water. A cast iron diving shell was constructed and used successfully to reach the sunken ship. During the recovery period, which took several years, ironically the recovery ship ARTIGLIO also sunk doing another recovery operation. The Egypt's treasure was shared by the mastermind of the salvage operation, Peter Sandberg, along with Lloyd’s, the insurers and Sorima, the salvagers. Now how can I find out why there was a Hyderabad-India 10 Rupee kept in the vaults on board the ill fated Egypt? Image compliments of numismatist Percy Siganporia. (2) India, Hyderabad P.UNL, 1,000 Osmania Sicca Rupees ND(1939). A beautiful unlisted Princely State issue. Printer: Currency Notes, Nasik with 50,000 notes issued; signature Fakhr Yar Jung. Denomination in Persian, Marathi, Telugu. |
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* We
gratefully acknowledge Stephen Prior and Don Cleveland
WK We gratefully acknowledge the late William N. Keijzers for these images.
PS
We gratefully acknowledge numismatist
Percy Siganporia for
these images. |
for these images.