Jardines Galleries · Banknotes · Inaugural SARB series · W.H. Clegg · Four issues · 1921 – 1931

First SARB banknotes (1921 – 1930s).

The W.H. Clegg issues · Four distinct issues under the first Governor

The inaugural notes of the South African Reserve Bank, issued under the signature of the first Governor, W.H. Clegg. Four distinct issues document the language transition from English/Dutch through bilingual and briefly trilingual notes to the eventual Afrikaans-led format. Serial number ranges, language codes, and dates per denomination follow. The unissued C/2 (£20) and D/2 (£100) series were printed but destroyed. For the man whose signature replaced Clegg's, see Dr. Johannes Postmus; for the printers behind these notes, see Banknote Printers.

First issue Second Third Fourth

— The printer split · 1921 – 1939 —

St Luke's & Bradbury Wilkinson

Bank of England printers · Surrey · The arrangement until 1939

The Clegg issues were printed by two firms. All denominations except the Ten Shilling note went to the Bank of England's own printers, St Luke's Printing Works (London). The Ten Shilling note alone was printed by Bradbury Wilkinson & Co. Ltd., Surrey.

The arrangement prevailed until 1939, when Bradbury Wilkinson took over all SARB printing.

St Luke's£1 · £5 · £20 · £100

Bradbury10/-

1939Bradbury takes all

— The destroyed series · Unissued —

C/2 & D/2 — destroyed

Printed but unissued · Twenty Pound & One Hundred Pound second series

Two series were printed but not issued. The C/2 Twenty Pound series and the D/2 One Hundred Pound series were destroyed when SARB decided to change the designs.

These remain a point of interest for advanced collectors and historians. No examples are known to survive.

4 issues— Under Clegg · 1921 – 1931 —

6 denominations— 10/-, £1, £5, £10, £20, £100 —

E → E/D → E/A/D → E/A— Language transition arc —

19 April 1922— First SARB notes issued —

— Language code key · Reference for all serial tables — Language codes

E English

D Dutch

A Afrikaans

E/D English predominating over Dutch

E/A English predominating over Afrikaans

E/A/D English over Afrikaans, Dutch in security print

A/E Afrikaans predominating over English

7 codes Across four Clegg issues

W.H. Clegg — First issue

1921 – 1922 · Unilingual 10/- & bilingual E/D · Five denominations · Unissued C/2 & D/2

The first notes issued by the South African Reserve Bank. The Ten Shilling note differed from the other denominations in watermark and printing — it was unilingual with English and Dutch alternating every one hundred thousand notes. All other denominations had English on the obverse and Dutch on the reverse, with printing on both sides in perfect "registration".

— Printer · 10/- —: Bradbury Wilkinson & Co. Ltd., Surrey, England
— Printer · others —: St Luke's Printing Works, London (Bank of England printers)
— Languages —: 10/- unilingual alternating E and D every 100,000 · others bilingual E/D
— Date range —: 17 Sep 1921 – 5 Jul 1922

Ten Shillings — First issue · Unilingual alternating E & D —

First serial	Lang	Dated	Last serial	Lang	Dated
E/1-000 001	E	30 Nov 1921	E/3-900 000	E	31 Jan 1922
E/1-100 001	D	30 Nov 1921	E/3-1 000 000	D	31 Jan 1922

One Pound — First issue · Bilingual E/D —

First serial	Lang	Dated	Last serial	Lang	Dated
A/1-000 001	E/D	17 Sep 1921	A/12-250 000	E/D	5 Jul 1922

Five Pounds — First issue · Bilingual E/D —

First serial	Lang	Dated	Last serial	Lang	Dated
B/1-000 001	E/D	27 Sep 1921	B/3-550 000	E/D	6 Jul 1922

Twenty Pounds — First issue · Bilingual E/D · 125,000 notes —

First serial	Lang	Dated	Last serial	Lang	Dated
C/1-000 001	E/D	29 Sep 1921	C/1-125 000	E/D	29 Sep 1921

One Hundred Pounds — First issue · Bilingual E/D · Just 2,734 notes —

First serial	Lang	Dated	Last serial	Lang	Dated
D/1-000 001	E/D	30 Sep 1921	D/1-002 734	E/D	30 Sep 1921

— Unissued series — The C/2 Twenty Pound series and the D/2 One Hundred Pound series were printed but not issued. These two series were destroyed when it was decided to change the designs. No examples are known to survive.

W.H. Clegg — Second issue

1925 – 1926 · Both sides bilingual · E/D · Three denominations redesigned

In this issue, the designs of the Ten Shilling, One Pound, and Five Pound notes were changed. Both sides of the notes were made bilingual with English predominating over Dutch. The £20 and £100 denominations carried over from the first issue with no design change at this stage.

Ten Shillings — Second issue · Bilingual E/D both sides —

First serial	Lang	Dated	Last serial	Lang	Dated
E/4-000 001	E/D	20 Sep 1926	E/6-1 000 000	E/D	15 Dec 1926

One Pound — Second issue · Bilingual E/D both sides —

First serial	Lang	Dated	Last serial	Lang	Dated
A/13-000 001	E/D	1 Sep 1925	A/17-1 000 000	E/D	4 Apr 1928

Five Pounds — Second issue · Bilingual E/D both sides —

First serial	Lang	Dated	Last serial	Lang	Dated
B/4-000 001	E/D	7 Apr 1926	B/4-1 000 000	E/D	7 Apr 1926

W.H. Clegg — Third issue

1928 · Reverse designs changed · One Pound & Five Pounds only

The third issue saw the reverse designs of the One Pound and Five Pound notes changed. No new Ten Shilling or higher-denomination notes were introduced in this issue. The change was specifically to the back-side imagery while retaining the bilingual E/D arrangement.

One Pound — Third issue · New reverse design · E/D —

First serial	Lang	Dated	Last serial	Lang	Dated
A/18-000 001	E/D	1 Sep 1928	A/18-1 000 000	E/D	1 Sep 1928

Five Pounds — Third issue · New reverse design · E/D —

First serial	Lang	Dated	Last serial	Lang	Dated
B/5-000 001	E/D	2 Apr 1928	B/5-1 000 000	E/D	2 Apr 1928

W.H. Clegg — Fourth issue

1928 – 1931 · Dutch replaced by Afrikaans · Trilingual transition · Final Clegg issue

The major linguistic shift. The second language was changed from Dutch to Afrikaans — except for the word "Shillings". Some notes were briefly trilingual (E/A/D), with the Dutch words "Zuidafrikaanse Reservebank" still appearing in the background security print. This is the issue most collectors target for the language transition narrative.

Ten Shillings — Fourth issue · Bilingual E/A · "Shillings" retained —

First serial	Lang	Dated	Last serial	Lang	Dated
E/7-000 001	E/A	1 Sep 1928	E/11-1 000 000	E/A	9 Sep 1931
— Bilingual notes (E/A) —

Five Pounds · overprinted date — Fourth issue · Bilingual E/A · 17 Nov 1931 overprint —

First serial	Lang	Dated	Last serial	Lang	Dated
E/12-000 001	E/A	17 Nov 1931*	E/12-800 000	E/A	17 Nov 1931*
E/12-800 001	E/A	17 Nov 1931*	E/12-1 000 000	E/A	17 Nov 1931*
— * Date overprinted —

One Pound — Fourth issue · Trilingual E/A/D then bilingual E/A —

First serial	Lang	Dated	Last serial	Lang	Dated
A/19-000 001	E/A/D	3 Dec 1928	A/22-1 000 000	E/A/D	30 Nov 1929
— Trilingual notes (E/A/D) — Dutch in security print —
A/23-000 001	E/A	30 Apr 1930	A/29-1 000 000	E/A	30 Nov 1931
— Bilingual notes (E/A) —

Five Pounds — Fourth issue · Bilingual E/A —

First serial	Lang	Dated	Last serial	Lang	Dated
B/6-000 001	E/A	2 Sep 1929	B/7-1 000 000	E/A	17 Apr 1931
— Bilingual notes (E/A) —

Twenty Pounds — Fourth issue · Trilingual E/A/D · 50,000 notes —

First serial	Lang	Dated	Last serial	Lang	Dated
C/3-000 001	E/A/D	3 Sep 1928	C/3-050 000	E/A/D	3 Sep 1928
— Trilingual notes (E/A/D) —

One Hundred Pounds — Fourth issue · Trilingual E/A/D · Just 5,000 notes —

First serial	Lang	Dated	Last serial	Lang	Dated
D/3-000 001	E/A/D	4 Sep 1928	D/3-005 000	E/A/D	4 Sep 1928
— Trilingual notes (E/A/D) —

Summary of Clegg's governorship

1921 – 1931 · Four issues · Language transitions · The unissued series

W.H. Clegg served as the first Governor of the South African Reserve Bank from 1921 to 1931. The four issues under his signature document the evolution of South Africa's national currency — from the initial unilingual and English/Dutch bilingual notes to the eventual transition toward Afrikaans, including the fascinating trilingual notes that briefly retained Dutch in the background security print.

The unissued C/2 and D/2 series that were destroyed remain a point of interest for advanced collectors and historians — no examples are known to survive. Clegg's successor, Dr. Johannes Postmus, took office on 1 January 1932 and his signature replaces Clegg's on subsequent issues.

The British-aligned Clegg inadvertently helped Afrikaner farming interests through his policies, while the Dutch-connected Postmus harmed them — a fascinating irony of South African economic history. — After Bordiss, Padayachee & Rossouw (2021) · The 1931 – 1932 crisis

Sources

Primary documents · SARB · Auction archives · Museum collections

— Reference works for this page —

List of Changes — Clegg, W.H. (primary source document — serial number ranges and issue dates)
South African Reserve Bank. "History" · sarb.co.za
Greysheet. "South African Reserve Bank Currency & Banknote Values & Prices"
Noonans Mayfair. Auction catalogue, 2 March 2023
Spink. Auction 15008, World Banknotes
British Museum. Collection: banknote, 1984,0605.222

Library cross-references

Banknote cluster · Predecessor era · Successor Governor · Printers

— What came before —

Revision history

Build dates · Editorial updates

22 Feb 2026 Updated with detailed Clegg issue data from primary source document

11 May 2026 Converted to v3 editorial format

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