Description and research notes
Earliest known issued high-denomination note from the Mauritius Commercial Bank, dated 9 April 1839 and denominated Twenty Dollars / Four Pounds Sterling.
Printed by Myers Frs. & Co. of London, this note features the same Port Louis harbor vignette used across the series — a detailed panorama of ships, docks, and colonial buildings symbolizing trade and stability.
The sterling equivalent ('Four Pounds Sterling') appears only in black text beneath the main dollar value, as the red reverse overprint had not yet been introduced at this stage. This makes the 1839 design the earliest variant in the Mauritius dual-currency lineage — a forerunner to the later $10 issues that formalized the two-sided system.
Hand-numbered, fully signed, and stamped CANCELLED after redemption, this note confirms genuine use in early circulation and captures the first working format of the bank’s colonial paper money. Its presence predates even the better-known $10 notes of 1842–1843, establishing it as one of the very first functional banknotes of the institution founded in 1838.