10 Pounds 1957, South Africa
in Krause book | Number: 99 |
Years of issue: | 06.11.1957 |
Edition: | |
Signatures: | President Governor: Dr. Michiel Hendrik de Kock (01.07.1945 - 30.06.1962) |
Serie: | 1948 - 1959 Issue |
Specimen of: | 18.12.1952 |
Material: | 100% raw cotton |
Size (mm): | 177 x 103 |
Printer: | Local print, South Africa |
* 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)
Avers:
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.
At the top are the name of the bank in Afrikaans, lower in English.
An inscription: "I promise to pay the bearer on demand at Pretoria, Ek beloof op aanvraag te betaal aan toonder te Pretoria".
Low, centered, is antelope Springbok.
Rams may weigh up to 50 Kg., and ewes only up to 37 Kg. Their striking body colour renders them easily recognizable. Shoulders appear lower than the hindquarters. Cinnamon coloured upper body, white underparts and a broad dark brown stripe on either flank stretching from the front legs to the rear legs. The short white tail is brown tufted. The rump is marked by a triangular-shaped white patch, framed by a dark brown stripe with the apex on the top of the hindquarters. Horns of ewes are more slender and shorter than those of rams..
Right of anthelope is the sitting chacma baboon female.
The chacma baboon (Papio ursinus), also known as the Cape baboon, is, like all other baboons, from the Old World monkey family. It is one of the largest of all monkeys.
Located primarily in southern Africa, the chacma baboon has a wide variety of social behaviors, including a dominance hierarchy, collective foraging, adoption of young by females, and friendship pairings. These behaviors form parts of a complex evolutionary ecology.
In general the species is not threatened, but human population pressure has increased contact between humans and baboons. Hunting, accidents and trapping kill or remove many baboons from the wild. This has reduced baboon numbers and disrupted their social structure.
Above are zebra and the Golden Wildebeest.
On banknote is Burchell's zebra (Equus quagga burchellii).
Burchell's zebra (Equus quagga burchellii) is a southern subspecies of the plains zebra. It is named after the British explorer and naturalist William John Burchell. Common names include bontequagga, Burchell's zebra, Damara zebra, and Zululand zebra (Gray, 1824). Burchell's zebra is the only subspecies of zebra which may be legally farmed for human consumption in the UK.
Golden Wildebeest naturally occurred along the Limpopo River basin, adjacent to the Tuli-Block of Botswana. Early farmers in the 1920’s, called them “Vos Wildebeest”.
The first Golden Wildebeest Bull was captured by Alec Rough in the early 1990’s on the game farm Swinburne, in the Limpopo Valley. This is the area where the majority of Golden Wildebeest originate from. They formed an integral part of the large migratory herds that once moved freely between South Africa and Botswana.
Golden Wildebeest were first referred to as “Red” or “Yellow” Wildebeest by pioneer breeders. The decision to change the name of these colour variants was as a direct result of false accusations made by Nature Conservation officials that game farmers created these animals by cross-breeding Black and Blue Wildebeest. Wildebeest hybrids (Black and Blue Wildebeest Crossbreds) were also referred to as "Red Wildebeest" by Nature Conservation officials. Due to extensive DNA sampling and research done by Dr Antoinette Kotze, the Yorks could clearly show that no Black Wildebeest genes occurred amongst any of their Wildebeest herds.
By disproving this accusation, Barry York (founding member of Golden Breeders) decided to distance himself from any further confusion and founded the name “Golden Wildbeest”. This name was soon adopted by all in the wildlife industry. (Waterberg Bushveld Retreat)
Under the portrait of Jan van Riebeeck are the vines and oranges.
Between the flowers on banknote is, visible, (under words 10 Pounds) the national flower of South Africa - Giant or King Protea (Protea cynaroides).
Extended to the south-west and south of the Western Cape, from the mountains Cedarberg to Grahamstown. Flower head, reminiscent of artichoke, was the reason that in Latin it was called "Cynaroides", which means "similar to an artichoke". There are exist different colors and leaf shapes, but the most beautiful is a Pink Protea.
Under the letter D are the flowers Adenandra uniflora.
Adenandra is a genus of evergreen shrubs of the family Rutaceae, commonly known as Buchu (plural Buchus). The genus is native to South Africa. The plants are related to the citrus family, and have oil glands in the leaves which give off a distinctive aroma. The name Adenandra derives from Greek aden, a gland; ander, a man. The leaves are small and almost scale-like, being sessile or subsessile (stalkless of almost stalkless). The conspicuous flowers have five petals, and are pink or white. Adenandra are cultivated by gardeners for their ornamental and aromatic value.
Under the Giant Protea is, visible, the flower of Osteospermum.
Osteospermum is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the Calenduleae, one of the smaller tribes of the sunflower/daisy family Asteraceae.
Osteospermum used to belong to the genus Dimorphotheca, but only the annual species remain in that genus; the perennials belong to Osteospermum. The genus Osteospermum is also closely related to the small genus Chrysanthemoides, such as C. incana and C. monilifera.
The scientific name is derived from the Greek osteon (bone) and Latin spermum (seed). It has been given several common names: African daisy, South African daisy, Cape daisy and blue-eyed daisy.
There are about 50 species, native to Africa, 35 species in southern Africa, and the southwestern Arabian Peninsula. They are half-hardy perennials or subshrubs. Therefore they do not survive outdoor wintry conditions, but there is still a wide range of hardiness.
Above the word TIEN is the globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus).
It is a variety of a species of thistle cultivated as a food. The edible portion of the plant consists of the flower buds before the flowers come into bloom. The budding artichoke flower-head is a cluster of many budding small flowers (an inflorescence) together with many bracts, on an edible base. Once the buds bloom the structure changes to a coarse, barely edible form. Another variety of the species is the cardoon. It is a perennial plant native to the Mediterranean region. Both wild forms and cultivated varieties (cultivars) exist.
The other flowers till now have not been recognized.
In lower right corner are Zulu woman with child, carrying a vessel on top of her head.
The Zulu (Zulu: amaZulu) are a Bantu ethnic group of Southern Africa and the largest ethnic group in South Africa, with an estimated 10-11 million people living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Small numbers also live in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique. Their language, Zulu, is a Bantu language; more specifically, part of the Nguni subgroup.
Denominations in numerals are in all corners, centered in words.
Revers:
Line Conveyors (Conveyor belt) at a gold mine.
Presumably, on banknote is Witwatersrand Basin.
The Witwatersrand Basin is a largely underground geological formation which surfaces in the Witwatersrand, South Africa. It holds the world's largest known gold reserves and has produced over 1.5 billion ounces (over 40,000 metric tons), which represents about 50% of all the gold ever mined on earth. The basin straddles the old provinces of Transvaal and the Orange Free State, and consists of a 5000-7000 m thick layer of Archean, mainly sedimentary rocks laid down over a period of about 260 million years, starting about 3000 million years ago.
The entire series of rocks, known as the “Witwatersrand Supergroup’’ consists of quartzites, banded ironstones, mudstones, tillites, conglomerates and some marine lava deposits. Most of the basin is deeply buried under younger rocks, but outcrops occur in Gauteng, the Free State, as well as in some of the surrounding Provinces. The outcrop in Gauteng forms the Witwatersrand ridge, from which the basin and its rocks derive their name. It was on the southern portion of this ridge that gold was first discovered on the farm Langlaagte in 1886, 5 km. west of Johannesburg.
Since this gold was embedded in a conglomerate, it was first assumed that this was alluvial gold in an old riverbed, that had been tilted as a result of earth movements. However, when it was found that, traced downdip, the conglomerate was not merely developed for the narrow width of a river, but continued in depth, there came the realization that this conglomerate zone was part of a sedimentary succession. The conglomerate was quickly traced east and westward for a total continuous distance of 50 km to define what became known as the “Central Rand Gold Field”.
It has since been established that the rocks that make up the Witwatersrand Ridge dip downwards and southwards to form the largely underground “Witwatersrand Basin” which covers an elliptical area with a 300 km long major axis from Evander in the north-east to Theunissen in the south-west, and 150 km wide stretching from Steynsrus in the south-east to Coligny in the north-west, with a small subsidiary basin at Kinross. Gold occurs only along the northern and western margins of this basin, but not in a continuous band. The gold bearing rocks are limited to 6 sites where Archean rivers from the north and west formed fan deltas, with many braided channels, before flowing into the “Witwatersrand Sea” to the south, where the earlier sediments that form the older rocks of the Witwatersrand Supergroup had been deposited. Some of these gold bearing fan deltas are now at depths of 4 km. below the surface. Although many of the older mines, around Johannesburg, are now nearly exhausted, the Witwatersrand Basin still produces most of South Africa's gold and much of the total world output. Silver, uranium, and iridium are recovered as gold-refining by-products.
Conveyor belt is continuously active transport device, united with the load-carrying mechanism and the driving mechanism in the form of closed flexible band. Throughout its length the conveyor belt rests on the fixed roller and is set in motion due to friction between the belt and the driving drum. They used in mines and quarries for lifting of minerals from the inside faces of mining companies to the surface and subsequent delivery to the concentrator or loading point external transport. Just conveyors can be used for transportation of minerals directly to the consumer.
Two denominations in words, in English and Afrikaans, are in top right and lower left corners. In numerals are in all corners.
Comments:
The government of the Cape of Good Hope issued a 1 pound note in 1835 and a 20 pound note in 1834. Between 1869 and 1872, the ZAR in Transvaal issued notes for 6 pence, 1, 2½, 5 and 10 shillings, 1, 5 and 10 pond. The National Bank of the ZAR issued 1 pond notes between 1892 and 1893. During the Second Boer War, government notes were issued in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 pond.
In 1920, Treasury gold certificate notes were issued in denominations of 1, 5, 100, 1000 and 10,000 pounds. From 1921, the South African Reserve Bank took over the issuance of paper money, introducing notes for 10 shillings, 1, 5, 20 and 100 pounds. 20 pound notes were last issued in 1933, with 10 pound notes added in 1943.
All banknotes were bilingual in English and Afrikaans. From 1948, two variants of each note were issued, one with English written first and the other with Afrikaans written first.
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