PREVIEW: WORLD BANKNOTES: 27 NOVEMBER

One of the real rarities – indeed, a ‘holy grail’ of British Commonwealth collecting – is the
Government of Saint Lucia, specimen 10 Shillings. In fact, it is only known in specimen form because its issue was so short lived.

This sale includes a fine example inscribed for Castries and dated 1 October 1920, with the serial number A/1 00000, and Wilfred Bennett Davidson-Houston and George Douglas Mackie signatures.

Perforated CANCELLED across the denominations and portrait of King George V, it carries a small purple SPECIMEN stamp at lower right, and the ink numeral 246 at the upper right corner. The light brown reverse shows the coat of arms, the mountainous Pitons on the island, and a banner with Latin motto translating to ‘A Safe Harbour for Ships’.

This is the first opportunity to acquire this note on the market for almost a decade, and the guide price is £20,000-24,000.

Compulsory segregation was a necessary fact of life for sufferers in leprosy colonies. These self-contained communities, which barred residents from leaving because of the risk of spreading infection, could also be centres for research into the disease, as proved the case at the Sungei Buloh Leprosarium Settlement.

The National Leprosy Control Centre or Valley of Hope, as it was also known, opened on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur in March 1930 following British endorsement of the Lepers Enactment of 1926.

The leprosarium or leper hospital conducted early drug trials and developed treatments for residents who rose in number to over 2,400 at their height across a site of nearly 230 hectares.

Cut off from the outside world in terms of day-to-day living, and with the risk of spreading infection always present, the community naturally soon developed its own administration and currency.

An early uncirculated example of this is offered as a highlight of this sale: a Sungei Buloh Leprosarium Settlement, $1, dated 15 January 1936, with serial number 000533. The estimate is £5,000-7,000.