The Banknotes of Pakistan 1947-1972

This study looks at the bank notes issued in Pakistan from the time of independence in 1947 to 1972, the year after the civil war between East and West Pakistan (which led to East Pakistan becoming the new state of Bangladesh). Between 1947 and 1972 there were five series of bank notes issued. However, the first three series were released within a five-year period, inundating the people of Pakistan with a plethora of bank notes. This was followed by a period of relative stability that terminated in an emergency issue due to the separation of East and West Pakistan.

Following Great Britain’s decision to grant independence to India after the Second World War, groups that had previously agitated for a Muslim state, separate from Hindu India, increased their activity. It soon became apparent to the British that a separate state for Muslims would be required to satisfy the vast communities of Muslims in the Indian sub-continent. The need for partition became more apparent with the growing discord between the two religious communities in the period prior to the declaration of independence for India. The plan for the partition of India and Pakistan was announced on 3 June 1947, with the plan allowing for the separate dominions to come into existence on 15 August 1947. The Muslim state of Pakistan was formed by East Pakistan, created largely from East Bengal, and West Pakistan, formed predominantly from the Punjab, Sind, Baluchistan and North-west Territories. Because of the short time (just over two months) between the announcement of the plan for partition and the date declared for the partition, emergency arrangements were put into place for the circulation of currency in Pakistan.

Following advice from an expert committee, the Governor General of undivided India issued the ‘Pakistan (Monetary System and Reserve Bank) Order, 1947’ on 14 August 1947, the day before partition. Under this order, the Reserve Bank of India was to be the common currency authority for India and Pakistan until 30 September 1948, with notes issued by the Reserve Bank of India and the Government of India remaining legal tender in Pakistan until the same date. The order also allowed for notes issued by the Reserve Bank of India and the Government of India to be inscribed with ‘Government of Pakistan’ in Urdu and English, and placed into circulation from 1 April 1948 under the responsibility of the Government of Pakistan. So, following a seven-month period where notes of the Reserve Bank of India and the Government of India continued to circulate in Pakistan, modified notes of the Reserve Bank of India in the denominations of 2, 5, 10 and 100 rupees were introduced as planned, along with modified 1-rupee notes of the Government of India.

The modification to the Indian notes consisted of two inscriptions on the front of the notes. At the top of the white area reserved for viewing the watermark the words ‘GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN’ were inscribed in English, while at the bottom of the white area the Urdu rendition of the same phrase appears, i.e. ‘Hakumat-e-Pakistan’. It is important to note that these inscriptions are due to modifications to the printing plates and they are not ‘overprints’. This distinction is important, as there have been attempts to dupe collectors by overprinting notes of the Reserve Bank of India with the relevant inscriptions. All other details of the inscribed notes were the same as their counterparts, which continued to circulate in Pakistan as well as India.

Following the separation of Pakistan and India, unprecedented rioting and civil disturbances broke out across Pakistan. The targets of the riots were invariably Hindu communities and businessmen living in Pakistan. The disturbances caused a great deal of friction between the governments of India and Pakistan and led to the mass exodus of many Hindu communities. As relations between the two countries grew increasingly strained, it became apparent to the Government of Pakistan that it should expedite the introduction of Pakistan’s own central banking authority and its own currency. After consultation between the governments of India and Pakistan in early 1948, the ‘Pakistan (Monetary System and Reserve Bank) Order, 1947’ was amended to shorten the period in which the Reserve Bank of India was to be the monetary authority for Pakistan. The date on which this responsibility was to cease was changed from 30 September 1948 to 30 June 1948. In addition, it was mutually agreed that the undertaking by the Reserve Bank of India to supply the Pakistani Government with inscribed Indian notes, to replace the Indian notes circulating in Pakistan, was to be suspended from the same date.

In April 1948, staff from Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India were tasked with setting up the State Bank of Pakistan by 1 July 1948—a period of less than three months. This task was made all the more difficult because of a scarcity of skilled staff in the branch offices of the Reserve Bank of India in Pakistan. Following the partition of India and Pakistan, officers of the Reserve Bank of India who were stationed in Pakistan were given the choice of serving in either India or Pakistan. Unfortunately, most chose to work in India, leaving a great staff shortage in Pakistan; however, there was enough determination to overcome this problem.

Due to the short time allowed to establish the State Bank of Pakistan, no Act of Parliament could be passed authorizing the new bank, so the ‘State Bank of Pakistan Order, 1948’ was issued on 12 May 1948 under the authority vested in the Governor General of Pakistan by the provisions of Section 9 of the Indian Independence Act, 1947. The State Bank was established by the required date and immediately faced numerous problems, one of which was the shortage of inscribed notes to replace the Indian notes still in circulation. The mutual suspension of the agreement between the Indian and Pakistani governments, which had led to the early termination of the role of the Reserve Bank of India in Pakistan, had meant that insufficient inscribed notes had been delivered to Pakistan prior to the planned withdrawal of the Reserve Bank of India notes (on 30 September 1948).

Prior to the formation of the State Bank of Pakistan, government officials had realized the necessity for an emergency issue of notes to cover the anticipated shortfall of notes available for circulation. Therefore, they had commenced the preparation of an emergency issue shortly after the agreements between India and Pakistan had been suspended. Once the State Bank had been established, the responsibility for introducing the emergency issue fell to that authority.

The emergency issue of bank notes, in the denominations of 5, 10 and 100 rupees, was prepared by Thomas De La Rue & Company of Great Britain. The designs for the notes were similar to the 1-pound note of the Bank of England that circulated between 1948 and 1960. Thus, the patterns of the notes in the emergency issue were predominantly based on geometric designs. The 5-rupee note is deep blue, the 10-rupee note is officially described as red but is more an orange colour, and the 100-rupee note is rich green. To the right, on the front of each note, is a crescent and star in an oval, while to the left the denomination of each note is written in Urdu numerals in a similar oval. The denomination is repeated in Urdu at the bottom centre and in western numerals at the bottom right. On the front of the notes are panels at the bottom with the Urdu words for ‘Government of Pakistan’ repeated in small text. The promissory clause in Urdu on the front of the notes reads (for the 5-rupee note):

I undertake that I will pay five rupees to the bearer on request, from the Government Treasury Karachi.

The signatory was Ghulam Mohammed, Pakistan’s first Minister of Finance. The serial numbers for these notes commenced with a series that consisted of just six numerals. Once this sequence was complete, a serial number prefix of a single letter from the Latin alphabet was introduced, followed by six numerals to complete the serial number. Once this sequence was exhausted, a prefix of two Latin letters was introduced.

The back of the notes are dominated by geometric designs, with the words ‘Government of Pakistan’ written in English at the top of the note and the denomination written in English at the bottom of the note. The value is also repeated twice in Western and Urdu numerals. There is no watermark on any note in this series. Directed by clause 18 of the State Bank of Pakistan Order, the Bank released the emergency issue on 1 October 1948.

Under agreements with the Indian government, notes of the Reserve Bank of India that were not inscribed ‘Government of Pakistan’ were originally due to be withdrawn from circulation commencing on 30 September 1948. It appears that this agreement was honoured, despite the earlier suspension of the Reserve Bank of India as Pakistan’s monetary authority from 1 July 1948. This allowed the Reserve Bank of India notes to continue circulating between 1 July and 30 September.

On 1 March 1949, five months after the emergency issue was released, 1-rupee and 2-rupee notes were issued. Both notes were printed by Bradbury Wilkinson & Company of Great Britain. The 1-rupee note was issued on behalf of the Government of Pakistan, while the 2-rupee note was issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (and was the first note issued in the name of that authority).

The 1-rupee note is green with an orange, pink and green under-print—on both the front and back. The front of the note has a predominantly geometric design with a star and crescent moon to the right. The watermark of a star and crescent moon is at the left of the note. The Urdu promissory clause on the front of the note translates as:

The back of the note carries an illustration of the Naulakha Pavilion in the Lahore Fort, with Urdu text reading ‘Government of Pakistan’ at the top centre and ‘One Rupee’ below the circle encompassing the watermark. The denomination appears in Bengali numerals at the top left and bottom right, in Urdu at the top right and as a Western numeral at the bottom left.

The 2-rupee note is brown, with a blue, pink and green under-print. The front of the note carries an illustration of a tower, which forms part of the wall encircling the tomb of Jahangir in Lahore. The view of the tower is from within the courtyard and the fence on the top of the wall can be seen leading away from the tower. The Badshahi mosque in Lahore appears on the back of the note. The watermark, which appears to the left on the front of the note, is once again a star and crescent moon. The value of the note is written twice in Bengali numerals, once in Urdu and once in Western numerals—on both the front and back of the note. The Urdu text on the front of the note reads:

The Urdu name of the ‘State Bank of Pakistan’, which appears on all notes issued by that authority, is more properly translated as ‘Treasury Bank of Pakistan’, but the authority is usually referred to in English as the ‘State Bank of Pakistan’. On the 2-rupee note the title ‘Treasury Bank of Pakistan’ is followed by the literal phrase ‘State Bank of Pakistan’ in Urdu. This is the only note issued in Pakistan where this second phrase is used. The back of the note has the following text in Urdu:

The green 1-rupee note prepared by Bradbury Wilkinson & Co., and introduced in March 1949, was supplemented during the 1950-51 financial year by a blue and purple note of similar design prepared by Thomas De La Rue & Co. The front of the new note is blue with a pink, green and blue under-print; while the back is purple with a blue and pink under-print. Apart from the different colours, the front of the notes prepared by Bradbury Wilkinson and Thomas De La Rue are very similar, although there are distinct differences. On the newer note, the design of the star and crescent moon has the star positioned towards the centre of the note, whereas on the previous issue the design is mirrored, with the star near the edge of the note. Also, while the border patterns on the front and back of the notes are similar, different designs are used for the borders on each note. In addition, the under-print on the front of the newer note is less ornate than its predecessor. Finally, the rendition of the Bengali numeral for ‘one’ is different on each note. Similar minor differences appear on the back of the notes.

The 1- and 2-rupee notes were issued after the foundation of the State Bank of Pakistan and were issued by the authorities that were to take long term responsibility for their issue—the Government of Pakistan for the 1-rupee note and the State Bank of Pakistan for the 2-rupee note. However, their preparation probably preceded the establishment of the State Bank. The reason for supposing this, is that the deliberations that subsequently took place concerning the designs for the higher denomination notes released by the State Bank, did not include the two lower denomination notes.

Once the State Bank had been established, it not only took over the responsibility for the introduction of the emergency issue of Government notes and the new 1- and 2-rupee notes, but it also began investigations into the preparation of a permanent issue of bank notes. Under the direction of Shaikh Ahmed, the Vice Principal of the Mayo School of Arts and Crafts in Lahore, an assessment of the possibilities of design for a permanent issue were examined. In assessing the possibilities, various notes of existing central issuing authorities were studied, taking account of their design and the subjects depicted in the designs. It was ultimately decided that the subject of the illustrations on the notes of the State Bank should be either historical monuments or commodities of commercial importance.

A series of proposed designs was put to the Central Board of the State Bank by the Governor on 16 August 1948. Following some alterations to the designs and notice to Thomas De La Rue & Co. (the printers engaged for producing the notes), proofs were submitted to the Government for approval. Endorsement of the designs for the 5- and 10-rupee notes was given by the Government on 26 September 1949, but the design for the 100-rupee note was rejected. The reason for the rejection lay in the choice of illustration for the front of the note.

The 100-rupee note presented to the Government for approval had an illustration of the building used as the headquarters of the State Bank of Pakistan in Karachi on its front and the Mangla Regulator of the Upper Jhelum Canal in West Punjab on its back. The Government rejected this design because the building occupied by the State Bank in Karachi was a rented building, and they decided that a building not owned by the State Bank should not be depicted on a bank note.

10 rupees Front—The Shalimar Gardens, Lahore, a beautiful garden built during the Moghul period of rule

The suggested colour of brown for the 10-rupee note was accepted by the Government, but they did not approve the suggested colour of blue for the 5-rupee note. Having rejected the suggested colour, they left the decision on the colour to the Board of the State Bank, with the colour purple being the ultimate choice.

The promissory clause on the front of the 5- and 10-rupee notes was the same for each note (except for the denomination). The Urdu text reads:

The 5- and 10-rupee notes each carry the watermark of the crescent moon and star, and both notes have a solid security thread running to the right of centre. The two notes were issued on 1 September 1951.

Due to the failure to obtain approval for the design of a new 100-rupee note and due to the length of time required to gain approval from the Government for a new design, in March 1951 the Board of the State Bank decided to release a 100-rupee note in a similar pattern to the current issue as a temporary measure. Changes were therefore made to the design of the note which was currently circulating, with the new note being released on 15 September 1953—four years after the government had rejected the proposed new design. The changes to the note included the addition of a security thread, the change of colour from green to mauve, the replacement of the star and crescent on the right with a watermark (of the same symbols) and modifications to the text. Alterations to the text included the change in name of the issuing authority, from ‘Government of Pakistan’ to ‘State Bank of Pakistan’, and replacement of the promissory clause to that which was used on the new 5- and 10-rupee notes.

The new 100-rupee note has two varieties, with the varieties being determined by the area of issue being printed at the bottom of the note. When the State Bank of Pakistan had been founded, it had established three administrative regions that were administered by local boards who carried out duties as delegated to them by the central board of the Bank. The three regions were: Karachi, Lahore and Dhaka. When the 100-rupee note was modified, the Urdu text for ‘Karachi’ or ‘Dhaka’ was included at the bottom of the note. While this inclusion identified only two of the administrative regions, they were the principal cities in West and East Pakistan. Each variety of the 100-rupee note has two signature varieties.

There were two serial number sequences used in this series, one for the two lower denomination notes and one for the higher denomination notes. The higher denomination notes commenced with a sequence containing a single letter prefix, followed by a six-digit number. Once this sequence was complete, a serial number prefix of two letters was introduced. Once this sequence was complete, a fractional prefix of two letters over a number was introduced. The number below the letters starts at one, and increased as each cycle of the two letters was completed. For the 1- and 2-rupee notes, the serial number prefix is always a fractional prefix. The sequence commences at A/1 and increments to A/99 before moving to the next letter, i.e. B/1. Once each letter of the alphabet had been used, a sequence of two letters is used, e.g. AA/1.

Until 1952 the notes produced for Pakistan had come from a variety of sources. The inscribed notes of the Reserve Bank of India, which were prepared for circulation in Pakistan, had been produced at the Government of India’s Security Printing Press at Nasik. The emergency issue of 5-, 10- and 100-rupee notes and the new 5- and 10-rupee notes had been produced by Thomas De La Rue and Company in Great Britain, while the 1- and 2-rupee notes had been produced in Great Britain by Bradbury Wilkinson and Company.

Shortly after independence the Government of Pakistan undertook to establish a security printing works for the production of bank notes, postage stamps and security documents. This resulted in the founding of the ‘Pakistan Security Printing Corporation’, which was owned partially by the British security printing company Thomas De La Rue & Co. Ltd. (40%) and partially by the Government of Pakistan (60%). The paid up capital for the Corporation was 7.5 million rupees. The foundation stone for the new printing works was laid in Karachi by the Governor General of Pakistan on 11 March 1949.

In deciding what methods of printing might be undertaken by the Pakistan Security Printing Corporation, the government weighed up the better quality intaglio process against the cheaper lithographic process. The decision came down in favour of the intaglio process, due to the ever-increasing problem of counterfeiting. Pakistan feared not only the counterfeiters of the criminal world, but since the partition of India and Pakistan, and the subsequent tensions between the two dominions, Pakistan feared the possibility of bank notes being printed by its neighbour in an effort to destabilize its economy. Consequently, it was felt that the printing method that provided the highest security for the notes was the option that should be chosen. This choice was perhaps aided by the knowledge that India’s printing presses used the lithographic process.

The first bank notes prepared by the Corporation were the 1- and 5-rupee notes, and they were released into circulation during the financial year 1952-53. These notes were of the same pattern as those previously prepared by Thomas de la Rue & Company in England; however, there was a change to the 1-rupee note printed by the Security Printing Corporation. Instead of the purple back that appeared on the notes printed in Britain, the notes printed in Pakistan had a blue back with no under-print. This new version of the 1-rupee note was placed into circulation on 31 January 1953.

Many years later, on 14 December 1963, the State Bank of Pakistan began operating its own printing press. This facility ultimately produced all bank notes issued by the State Bank. At some time after the new printing press went into production, the back of the 1-rupee note was modified to adopt the purple back with pink and blue under-print that had previously been used on the 1-rupee notes printed in Britain by Thomas De La Rue. Thus, there are two varieties of the 1-rupee note with purple backs. The simple distinguishing feature between the earlier Thomas De La Rue notes and the later notes printed in Pakistan is the change in font used for the serial numbers, with the De La Rue issue using a different, heavier font. The De La Rue issue has two signatories, Victor Turner and Abdul Qadir, with the notes signed by Abdul Qadir having a line separating the number beneath the letter in the serial number prefix. This line continued to be used with the 1-rupee notes with the blue back printed by the Security Printing Corporation, but only on notes up to series ‘E’ with the signature of Mumtaz Hasan, after which its use ceased.

Although the Pakistan Security Printing Corporation had commenced printing all lower denomination notes by July 1953, the 100-rupee notes of the third series, released in September 1953, were initially printed by Thomas De La Rue in the United Kingdom. This note was later produced by the Security Printing Corporation with the difference in printers being distinguished by the change in font for the serial numbers.

The fourth issue commenced with a completely new 100-rupee note that was introduced on 24 December 1957. This new note possessed a dramatically different design to that of the notes already in circulation. When the first notes of the State Bank of Pakistan were being prepared, there was a strong Muslim influence that demanded no portraits or depictions of people be included on the bank notes—as Muslims reject the depiction of people due to concern that it may lead to idolatry. It is probable that the original artwork for some of the earlier designs had people in them, but when the illustrations were created for the bank notes, the people were omitted. An example of this might be the boat on front of the 5-rupee note of the third issue. Almost certainly, the original picture, from which the illustration was drawn, would have had a man holding the oar at the back of the boat. However, he is omitted in the illustration on the bank note.

When the new 100-rupee note was introduced, the front was dominated by a portrait of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, or the Quaid-e-Azam (Great Leader) as the Pakistanis refer to the founder of their nation. The inclusion of the portrait of Ali Jinnah on this bank note goes directly against the precept that portraits should not be used, but it also indicates the regard held for Jinnah. The use of the portrait of Ali Jinnah on this note set the trend for further releases in this series, a trend ultimately followed by all subsequent issues of the State Bank of Pakistan.

The 100-rupee note is green with an under-print of orange, purple and green. A watermark of Ali Jinnah appears at the bottom left and a solid security thread to the right of centre. On the back of the note is an illustration of the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore. The Urdu promissory clause on the front of the note reads:

On the new 100-rupee note, and for the first time on a bank note issued in Pakistan, Bengali text is used on the front of the note. Previous issues had displayed only the value of the note in Bengali numerals on the front of the notes, while the notes of the third issue had the denomination written in Bengali text on their backs. This was scant recognition given to the language that was spoken by the people of East Pakistan, who constituted over half the population of Pakistan.

It is also interesting to note that the while the currency of Pakistan is the ‘Rupee’, this was not the name used by the people of East Pakistan for the currency, they called it the ‘Taka’. While the Urdu and English text on the bank notes refer to ‘Rupees’, the Bengali text refers to ‘Taka’. (The Taka ultimately became the national currency of Bangladesh following East Pakistan’s secession from Pakistan.)

The fourth issue continued with the introduction of a new 50-rupee note on 12 June 1964. This note introduced a design that carried the full details of the promissory clause and the designation of the signatory in Urdu and Bengali. The use of two languages for the promissory clause was subsequently adopted for all other notes issued in this series. The promissory clause, which appears to either side of the portrait of Ali Jinnah, was modified slightly to that used on the 100-rupee note and read (in Urdu on the right and Bengali on the left):

On the back of the note, English was used for the name of the issuing authority and the denomination of the note. The back also bears an illustration of three jute laden boats on a river, with stands of jute drying on the bank of the river. The watermark is once again of Ali Jinnah and the security thread is to the right of the note.

The next note to be issued in the fourth series was the 500-rupee note, which was introduced on 28 October 1964. This note is very similar to the 50-rupee note, introduced just four months earlier. The note is red with a yellow, pink and green under-print, with a portrait of Ali Jinnah on the front and the new headquarters of the State Bank of Pakistan on the back. The watermark and security thread are the same as for the 50-rupee note.

On 19 September 1966 the 5-rupee note was introduced and its design followed the pattern of the 50- and 500-rupee notes released two years earlier. Purple, with a blue, pink and purple under-print, the note has a tea garden illustrated on its back.

The final note to be introduced in this series, some thirteen years after the 100-rupee note was introduced, was the 10-rupee note, which was released on 16 November 1970. Differing in design from the previous three notes, the portrait of Ali Jinnah appears at the left, while the promissory clauses in Bengali and Urdu appear in the centre of the note. The watermark of Ali Jinnah is on the right and the security thread is now at left of centre. Predominantly brown, the front of the note has a blue, green, pink and orange under-print. The back of the note carries the same picture of the Shalimar Gardens that appeared on the front of the previous 10-rupee note.

The 100- and 500-rupee notes in this issue each have a number of varieties, which are based on the use of the name of an administrative region of the State Bank. The 100-rupee note was initially issued with the name of one of three administrative regions printed in Urdu at the bottom centre of the note, either ‘Karachi’, ‘Lahore’ or ‘Dhaka’. However, this feature was discontinued after a number of years, and the fourth variety of this note has no regional name printed on it. The 500-rupee note also has one of three regional names printed on it, but the region’s name is printed in Urdu and Bengali. Unlike the 100-rupee note, the 500-rupee note was not issued without a region’s name; so there are three varieties of the 500-rupee note and four varieties of the 100-rupee note.

The serial number sequence for the notes of the fourth issue repeats the sequence used by the third issue. However, only the 5-rupee note appears to have progressed its sequence to the point where a fractional prefix was required.

The fifth series of bank notes issued in Pakistan was an emergency issue, prepared due to the civil war that resulted in independence for East Pakistan—as the new country of Bangladesh. In March 1971 East Pakistan had declared itself independent, following the imposition of martial law after the Pakistani government had failed to recognize the results of an election; an election that had given power to the dominant political party in East Pakistan.

During the war, which lasted nine months, the banks in East Pakistan were subject to capture and looting by various groups in East Pakistan. This meant that many bank notes of the State Bank were stolen, posing a liability to the Bank. As well as the outright theft of currency, there were Bengali nationalists who were using the bank notes as instruments of propaganda. Bundles of bank notes were being stamped with slogans in Bengali and English, slogans such as ‘Joy Bangla’ and ‘Bangla Desh’, then being released into circulation in East Pakistan.

Shortly after the war commenced, the Pakistani government decided to take action against the looters and propagandists. In a surprise announcement on 8 June 1971 the Pakistani authorities declared that all currency carrying inscriptions of ‘Joy Bangla’, ‘Bangla Desh’ or any similar expression, were no longer legal tender and, in addition, all 100- and 500-rupee notes were no longer to be legal tender. This action, although causing a great deal of consternation amongst the public of Pakistan, was a decisive measure taken to protect the stability of the Pakistani currency. The State Bank allowed a short period whereby people could present the demonetized large denomination notes for credit by way of receipt (for later redemption in lower denomination notes), but the public was warned that the serial numbers of all notes presented would be checked to ensure that the notes were not part of any looted currency.

After Bangladesh had gained its independence, Pakistan realised that it was necessary to demonetize the remaining notes in circulation and prepare a new issue of bank notes that would be unavailable to the people of Bangladesh. As long as Bangladesh continued to use the notes of the State Bank of Pakistan, there existed a liability that the State Bank would be loathe to cover. In order to introduce a new series of bank notes, the existing designs for the 1-, 5-, 10- and 50-rupee notes were utilized, but the colours were changed. The 1-rupee note became brown, the 5-rupee note became ochre, the 10-rupee note became green and the 50-rupee note became blue. The only new note not based on an existing design was the 100-rupee note, which was produced from a design prepared after the demonetization of the previous 100-rupee notes. This design is similar to the 10-rupee note, with Ali Jinnah to the left. That this design was intended for use in unified Pakistan, even though it was issued after Bangladesh’s independence, can be seen from the use of Bengali and Urdu text on the notes, whereas all notes issued after this emergency issue carried only Urdu text.

Unable to produce all notes of the emergency issue with the necessary immediacy, the larger denomination notes were the first to be released. The 50- and 100-rupee notes were issued on 1 March 1972, less than three months after Bangladesh had gained its independence on 16 December 1971. Three months later, on 5 June 1972, the 5- and 10-rupee notes were released. A short time later the new 1-rupee note was issued. The serial number sequences for this issue are the same as for the previous two issues.

This brings us to the end of the notes issued in Pakistan from the period 1947 to 1972. Following several years in which the fifth issue circulated, Pakistan released a new series of notes, based on entirely new designs.

The following lists detail the signatories of the bank notes, the bank note types, and the signature varieties of the bank notes described above. There are three lists of signatories, these being: the early signatories, the Governors of the State Bank of Pakistan, and the Secretaries of the Ministry of the Treasury.

Signature	Name	Period of office
	C. E. Jones (Secretary, Finance Department — Govt. of India)	(Unknown)
	C. D. Deshmukh (Governor, Reserve Bank of India)	15 August 1947 to 30 June 1949
	Ghulam Mohammed (Minister of the Treasury, Pakistan)	1948 to 1951

Signature	Name (and reference id)	Period of Office
	G1. Zahid Hussain	June 1948 to 19 July 1953
	G2. Abdul Qadir	20 July 1953 to 19 July 1960
	G3. Shujaat Ali Hasnie (Urdu signature)	20 July 1960 to 19 July 1967
	G4. Shujaat Ali Hasnie (English signature)	As above
	G5. Mahbubur Raschid (Bengali & Urdu signatures)	20 July 1967 to 30 June 1971
	G6. Shakirullah Durrani	1 July 1971 to 21 December 1971
	G7. Ghulam Ishaq Khan	22 December 1971 to November 1975
	G8. S. Osman Ali	December 1975 to 14 July 1978

Notes carrying signature No. G5 have often been described as a peculiar variety with ‘two signatures’, as if two different people had signed the notes. While there are in fact two signatures, they belong to the same man, with one being in Benagli and the other in Urdu. Therefore, notes carrying this signature variety should not be distinguished as anything but a signature variety.

Signature	Name (and reference id)	Period of office
	S1. Victor Turner	14 January 1947 to 1 February 1950
	S2. Abdul Qadir	1 February 1950 to 25 July 1952
	S3. Mumtaz Hussain	25 July 1952 to (Unknown)
	S4. Shujaat Ali Hasnie	(Unknown)
	S5. Mohammed Ayub	(Unknown)
	S6. Hafiz Abdul Majid	1 November 1958 to 19 June 1961
	S7. Mumtaz Mirza	19 June 1961 to 28 February 1963
	S8. Mirza Muzaffar Ahmad	6 March 1963 to 30 May 1966
	S9. Ghulam Ishaq Khan	31 May 1966 to 8 September 1970
	S10. A. G. N. Kazi	8 September 1970 to 20 August 1973
	S11. Abdur Rauf Shaikh	20 August 1973 to 6 October 1977

It can be seen that a number of the Governors of the State Bank of Pakistan were also, at some stage, Secretary of the Ministry of the Treasury.

* The 2-rupee note has black serial numbers, however the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money lists a second variety of this note with red serial numbers. The existence of such a variety is in doubt. While it may exist, it has not appeared on the collector market and it is suspected that notes of the Reserve Bank of India with red serial numbers may have been overprinted by someone trying to produce counterfeit inscribed notes.

b. Blue front and back (State Security Printing Corporation). Issued 31 January 1953.