PREVIEW: ASIAN BANKNOTES: 19 JUNE

Founded in 1881 to administer and exploit the resources of North Borneo, the British North Borneo Company was modelled in part on the East India Company.

Its demise followed insuperable challenges after the Second World War when it waived its charter and handed control of the region to the British Colonial Office.

Before the war took its toll, the company issued its own currency, and a fine example appears in this sale, a $25 note, dated 1 January 1927, with the serial number C49251, and the signatures of Thomas William Rose (Currency Commissioner) and Arnold Russel Rivett (Financial Commissioner).

The obverse shows Mount Kinabalu top centre, with the dollar value in a green central panel, the reverse value in brown. The note has a small piece missing at the lower left margin, but this does not encroach on the design. Very fine and very rare, it has an estimate of HK$70,000-90,000 in this special auction to be held in the Crystal Room of the Holiday Inn, Golden Mile, Hong Kong.

A Worker and Peasants Bank (of China) 3 Strings dating to 1934 presents another extremely rare highlight. The currency was issued under the supervision of the Chinese Communist Party and in support of the Red Army, and much of the operation collapsed when the Communists had to abandon their southern stronghold and embark on the Long March.

With the serial number 012885, and an image of Vladimir Lenin at centre on the reverse, the note has a contemporary repair to one corner. The estimate is HK$60,000-80,000.

In 1915, Korea was five years into a period of severe Japanese overlordship that was to last until the end of the Second World War. The Japanese transformed the country into a modernised market for its own exports, while forcing farmers to grow rice to supply its demands.

At the heart of this Japanese expansionism was the Bank of Chōsen, established in 1909 and operating out of Seoul until moved to Tokyo in 1924. Among the highlights here is a Bank of Chōsen, 5 Yen note dating to 1915 – the serial number 489388. Very fine, and considerably above-average in appearance, it carries hopes of HK$4,000-5,000.