Description and research notes
Set of four original cheques issued by The Anglo-Egyptian Bank Limited, Alexandria branch, spanning the years 1922 to 1927. Each piece is printed on period cream banking stock with engraved borders, full branch listings, manuscript completions, and clearing stamps, offering a detailed view of interwar British banking operations in Egypt. The cheques include three distinct color printings-black, blue, and red-reflecting the evolving design and internal accounting systems used by the bank before its rebranding to Barclays DCO.
All four cheques share the large engraved left-side vignette featuring an obelisk, palm trees, a sphinx, and a pedestal listing the bank’s far-reaching branches across the Mediterranean, Middle East, and Africa. Beneath the vignette, the printer's line 'Société des Publications Égyptiennes, Alexandria' is visible on several examples. The cheques are numbered by hand at the upper left and completed in slanted fountain-pen script typical of the 1920s, with amounts stated both numerically and in longhand French.
The 23 June 1922 example is printed in black ink, with a crisp violet date stamp and bold manuscript entries. The 4 August 1926 cheque is rendered in blue ink, showing a sharper plate impression and bearing a green BARCLAYS BANK (DOMINION, COLONIAL AND OVERSEAS) overstamp at lower right, marking the institutional transition then underway. Two 1924 examples appear in red ink, each showing slight differences in plate tone, line thickness, and layout spacing. One carries the caption 'Under Usual Reserve' in blue, while the other shows heavier handwritten settlement notes, likely added during back-office reconciliation.
All pieces retain original margins, intact engraved details, and authentic banking usage signs, including period folding, light offsetting, and multiple manuscript signatures from the cashier, accountant, or controller. No modern markings or alterations are present. Together, the cheques document the progressive shift from Anglo-Egyptian Bank control to Barclays DCO while also preserving rare color variants that seldom survive as a unified group.
Complete multicolor sequences of Anglo-Egyptian Bank cheques are uncommon, as most were discarded after clearing or destroyed during institutional consolidation. This set provides a comprehensive visual and administrative record of interwar banking in Alexandria, linking British overseas finance, Egyptian commercial practice, and evolving branch networks across the region.