REVIEW: THE FRANK GOON REFERENCE COLLECTION OF BRITISH MALAYAN BANKNOTES - PART ONE 25 MARCH

With a hammer price of S$100,000 each for the top two lots in the sale, the first of three parts of The Frank Goon Reference Collection proved a significant success when it sold in the inaugural Noonans Singapore venture on 25 March.

In all, the auction took S$2.3m (£1.4m) hammer, and as expected, it was two great rarities from Singapore and the Straits Settlements that led the way as bidders gathered for this unprecedented opportunity.

The two top notes – both in superb condition – were produced 40 years apart. The first was a very high denomination specimen $1000, dated 8 December 1933, and produced for the Government of the Straits Settlements. In green and violet, it featured a tiger and the crowned head of George V in a violet tablet at centre.

The second was a replacement S$10,000, from 1973, for the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Singapore. It was very large and vibrantly coloured note, with an Aranda Majulah orchid at its centre, and Hon Sui Sen signature, with the reverse showing the Presidential building. The serial number was the lowest ever seen on the market, Z/1 000517. This was an excessively rare replacement note for an already rare type, and by far the finest of only five examples graded by PMG. 

"One of the jewels of the Frank Goon collection," said specialist Barnaby Faull.

Other headline sales included a set of colour trials for the 1942 issue from Malaya.  This consisted of a $50, $100, $1000 and $10,000, in various unissued colours, with the portrait of George VI. These beautiful and extremely rare notes sold for a total of S$204,000.  

From Malaya & British Borneo, an exceptional $10 featuring a water buffalo, with the incredible serial number A/68 000001 sold for S$44,000.

Finally, from Sarawak, an incredible $10 of 1922, featuring the portrait of the ‘last White Rajah’, Charles Vyner Brook, sold for S$42,000.