RARE OLD SA 1961 ISSUED R10 NOTE (C1 SERIES 205591) ENGLISH OVER AFRIKAANS - MH DE KOCK SIGNATURE - JAN VAN RIEBEECK PORTRAIT (OR IS IT?)

AN OLD JAN VAN RIEBEECK R10 BANKNOTE FROM 1961 ISSUED WHICH FORMED PART OF SOUTH AFRICAS FIRST DECIMAL ISSUE OF BANKNOTES AND COINS IN 1961. THIS OLD R10 NOTE ARE LARGE IN COMPARISON TO LATER R10 NOTES.
 
FROM 1948 TO 1977 NOTES WERE ISSUED IN TWO LANGUAGE VARIANTS AFRIKAANS OVER ENGLISH AND ENGLISH OVER AFRIKAANS.
THE C1 205591 NOTE IS WRITTEN IN ENGLISH OVER AFRIKAANS. CONDITION VERY FINE.
 
CONDITION OF THIS NOTE IS JUDGED AS VERY FINE UNDER THE FOLLOWING GUIDELINES (Visible wear from handling, though some crispness remains. Several vertical and horizontal folds as well as slight dirt or smudging visible. Importantly no tears on the edges, though the corners may have some folds.) 

Signature: President Governor - Dr. Michiel Hendrik de Kock (29 January 1898 18 September 1976) was the third Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. His term of office was from 1 July 1945 to 30 June 1962.

Obverse: Portrait of Jan van Riebeeck (1619-1677 or is it? - see story below).

At lower left corner an Allegory of Hope in the form of a seated allegorical female with an anchor symbolizes hope of Voortrekkers for best and richer future.
At the bottom center a Voortrekkers wagons train drawn by oxes.
At the lower right corner of the banknote is a depiction of a lemon tree (Citrus limon). On the left from the Lemon tree are two Golden Wildebeest (male - foreground and female - on background). 

Reverse: The South Africa's iconic ship "Dromedaris" at center.
The "Dromedaris" was one of the three ships (Dromedaris, Rejiger and De Goede Hoop) landed by Jan van Riebeeck at the future Cape Town site. The Dromedaris landed on 6 April 1652 and the Reijger and De Goede Hoop on 7 April 1652. They commenced to fortify it as a way station for the Dutch East India Company (VOC "Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie") trade route between the Netherlands and the East Indies. 

This old R10 note is part of the withdrawn South African Rand banknotes series. The South African Reserve Bank started issuing these South African Rand banknotes in 1961. They were withdrawn from circulation in 1966.

NUMISTA RARITY INDEX NUMBER 91: Numista produces an index to show the approximate rarity of coin, banknote. This index ranges from 1 to 100, with 1 representing the most common items and 100 representing the rarest items. 

SIZE: 170mm x 96mm
 
JAN VAN RIEBEECK OR SOMEONE ELSE?
There are an interesting true story of the portrait on 30 different old South African banknotes since 1948 to 1994.
Chiselled features, flowing locks and a manicured moustache. Its a face that has been immortalized in South African history books.
But, as it turns out, this portrait is not of Jan van Riebeeck, but most likely of another Dutch local Bartholomeus Vermuyden who never even set foot in South Africa.
The image of the supposed Jan van Riebeeck at a time before computers or Google was derived from a portrait painting of Dirck Craey which is now in the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum. In 1984 it was concluded that the painting from which the image was borrowed was not of Van Riebeeck, the man who arrived with three ships in Table Bay in 1652 but probably that of another Dutchman named Bartholomeus Vermuyden.
In what is believed to be an actual portrait of the Dutch settler, also on display at the Rijksmuseum, Van Riebeecks appearance is markedly different from the face on South Africas old currency.

IN THIS CONDITION THIS NOTE IS VALUED AT AROUND R500.

ASKING R300 FOR THIS NOTE OR NEAREST OFFER.