1 Pound 1921, South Africa
| in Krause book | Number: 75 |
| Years of issue: | 20.09.1921 (17.09.1921 - 05.07.1922) |
| Edition: | 4 000 000 |
| Signatures: | Governor of the South African Reserve Bank: Mr. William Henry Clegg (in office from 17 December 1920 until 31 December 1931) |
| Serie: | 1921 - 1922 Issue |
| Specimen of: | 17.09.1921 |
| Material: | 100% raw cotton |
| Size (mm): | 152 x 83 |
| Printer: | Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company Limited, New Malden |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
Jan van Riebeeck (or Bartholomeus Vermuyden). On right and left sides are wavy lines.
The engraving on banknote is made after this portrait by Dirck Craey, 1650. Oil on panel, size 74 × 57. Today is in Amsterdams Rijksmuseum.
There are one interesting story about a mistake, made with this portrait on South African banknotes.
"Chiselled features, flowing locks and a manicured mustache. It’s a face that has been immortalized in South African history books, not to mention the paper currency introduced after the country became a republic in 1961.
But, as it turns out, the portrait, a symbol of national pride during the apartheid era, is not of Jan van Riebeeck, but most likely of a Dutch local who never even set foot in the country.
Jonkheer van Kretschmar, a genealogist, concluded in 1984 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.
He stated that the portrait, which was painted by Dirck Craey and is now in the possession of Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, was probably of another Dutchman named Bartholomeus Vermuyden.
On Rijksmuseum this painting is labelled as “A Portrait of a Man, presumably Bartholomeus Vermuyden”. Similarly, a painting believed to be of Van Riebeeck’s wife is also a case of mistaken identity.
A few scenarios have been posited in abstracts and articles online, but the most likely answer seems to be that it was a rushed job during the acquisition process.
In what is believed to be an actual portrait of the Dutch settler, also on display at the Rijksmuseum, Van Riebeeck’s appearance is markedly different from the face on South Africa’s old currency. Van Kretschmar’s rewriting of history may be less flattering, but it is at least more accurate.
And given that we’re now not at all sure what Van Riebeeck looked like, who was the model for his statue on the Foreshore, which was donated to the city by the Dutch Jan van Riebeeck Society in 1952, 300 years after Van Riebeeck first set foot at the Cape to start a refreshment station for the Dutch East India Company? (Business Report)
Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck (21 April 1619 - 18 January 1677).
He was a Dutch colonial administrator and founder of Cape Town. In 1651 he volunteered to undertake the command of the initial Dutch settlement in the future South Africa. He landed three ships (Dromedaris, Reijger and Goede Hoop) at the future Cape Town on 6 April 1652 and fortified the site as a way-station for the VOC trade route between the Netherlands and the East Indies. The primary purpose of this way-station was to provide fresh provisions for the VOC fleets sailing between the Dutch Republic and Batavia, as deaths en route were very high. The Walvisch and the Oliphant arrived later in 1652, having had 130 burials at sea.
Van Riebeeck was Commander of the Cape from 1652 to 1662; he was charged with building a fort, with improving the natural anchorage at Table Bay, planting cereals, fruit and vegetables and obtaining livestock from the indigenous Khoi people. In the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town there are a few Wild Almond trees still surviving. The initial fort, named Fort de Goede Hoop (Fort of Good Hope) was made of mud, clay and timber, and had four corners or bastions. This fort was replaced by the Castle of Good Hope, built between 1666 and 1679 after van Riebeeck had left the Cape.
Avers:
At the top is the name of the bank in English.
An inscription: "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the Sum of ONE POUND For the South African reserve Bank".
Below is a picturesque picture showing the entire history of the development of South Africa.
From left to right:
The ship "Dromedaris" off the coast of South Africa, in the background - Table Mountain, sailors unload cargo ashore, boats with a crew.
Next: a woman at a burning fire, on which a cauldron boils. Kibitka and cart in the background. A cow by the fire, a man in the field and crops, in the lower right corner - all this shows the first settlers, most likely - Voortrekkers.
On the right, slightly above - pipes of factories and factories, mines - symbolize the industrialization of South Africa.
Sailing ship "Dromedaris". From this ship Jan van Riebeeck have been landed on future Cape colony coast.
In 1651 he volunteered to undertake the command of the initial Dutch settlement in the future South Africa. He landed three ships (Dromedaris, Reijger and Goede Hoop) at the future Cape Town on 6 April 1652 and fortified the site as a way-station for the VOC trade route between the Netherlands and the East Indies. The primary purpose of this way-station was to provide fresh provisions for the VOC fleets sailing between the Dutch Republic and Batavia, as deaths en route were very high. The Walvisch and the Oliphant arrived later in 1652, having had 130 burials at sea.
Denominations in numerals are in all corners, centered in words.
Revers:
At the top is the name of the bank in Afrikaans.
An inscription: "Ek beloof op aanvraag te betalen aan Tonder EEN POND Voor de Zuidafrikaanse Reservebank".
Below is the same picture. as on the English side, but the image goes from right to left.
Denominations in numerals are in all corners, centered in words.
Comments:
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