Rare One Pound - The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited 1959

This is one of the old one pound notes from 1959 when Southern Africa was still using pounds as a currency. These notes are quite rare and difficult to find.

THE STANDARD BANK OF SOUTH AFRICA LIMITED AT WINDHOEK

15TH JUNE 1959

Please see image below.

History of South African Bank Notes

Under German colonial administration (1884 - 1915), the German South West African Mark had been the territory's currency. With the end of German control, South African banks issued South West African Marks from 1916 to 1918, when the South African Pound was introduced to the territory. South West African Pounds were introduced in the 1930s, and were issued by three South African banks – Standard Bank, Barclays Bank (Dominion, Colonial and Overseas Bank), and Volkskas Bank. The last issue of South African Pounds was in 1959, and in 1961 the South West African Pound was replaced by the South African Rand.

The Republic of South Africa

In 1961, South Africa changed its currency from pound sterling to Rand and cents, and when in the same year the country became a republic, the new currency was retained.

The South African Reserve Bank thereafter commenced withdrawing the old Pound Sterling currency banknotes, replacing them with banknotes of the new currency.