Old Indian Bank notes Issued by Presidency Banks

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Old Indian Bank notes Issued by Presidency Banks
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• Private as well as semi-government banks such as
  the Bank of Hindostan, General Bank in Bengal and
  Bahar, Bengal Bank issued the earliest Indian
  bank notes in the 18th Century.
• These old bank notes of India can be majorly
  classified based on the presidencies for which
  they were issued, namely Bengal Presidency,
  Bombay Presidency and Madras Presidency.

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• Early banknotes of Bengal presidency featured
  designs only on one side and were termed as
  uniface notes. They were issued in different
  denominations such as gold mohur, Rs. 100, Rs.
  250, Rs. 500 etc.
• Commerce Notes featuring a vignette of an
  allegorical female figure personifying 'commerce'
  was introduced later with designs on both sides.
  Urdu, Bengali and Devanagari languages were used
  on the obverse side.

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• Commerce notes were replaced by the Britannia
  Series in the 19th century. These early bank
  notes of India featured more complex designs as
  the older versions in circulation were being
  duplicated.
• Bank of Bombay issued Indian presidency banknotes
  from 1850 to 1860. Private and presidency banks
  were not allowed to print paper promise notes
  after the new Currency Act was introduced in
  1861.

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• Bank of Bombay also issued Bank notes of India
  with uniface designs. They featured images of the
  Town Hall of Bombay and bore denominations like
  10, 15, 25, 100, 250, 1000, 5,000, and 10,000
  Rupees.
• The obverse side of these rare banknotes featured
  statues of Sir Mountstraut Elphinstone and Sir
  John Malcom. Bank of Western India, Oriental Bank
  and Commercial Bank of India also issued notes
  for Bombay Presidency.

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• Notes issued by the Bank of Madras are rare bank
  notes featuring the vignette of the Governor of
  Madras, Sir Thomas Munroe. Bank of Madras was
  formed in 1843 by merging Carnatic Bank, Madras
  Bank and Asiatic Bank.
• Many collectors dream of owning early Indian bank
  notes issued by the presidency banks. Some of
  these notes are sold by auction houses for
  thousands of rupees.