Inaugural Banknote Series

W.H. Clegg Issues – 1921–1931

First Issue Printer

St Luke's Printing Works (London) for £1, £5, £20, £100; Bradbury Wilkinson for 10/–

Denominations

10/–, £1, £5, £10, £20, £100

Issues

Four distinct issues under Clegg

Unissued Series

C/2 (£20) and D/2 (£100) – destroyed

Library Home Pre‑1921 Banknotes

First SARB Banknotes (1921–1930s) – The W.H. Clegg Issues

The inaugural notes of the South African Reserve Bank, issued under the signature of the first Governor, W.H. Clegg. This page provides a detailed issue-by-issue breakdown, including serial number ranges, language variations, and printer information.

Explore First Issue

Language Codes Key

E – English
D – Dutch
A – Afrikaans
E/D – English predominating over Dutch
E/A – English predominating over Afrikaans
E/A/D – English predominating over Afrikaans, with Dutch in background security print
A/E – Afrikaans predominating over English

W.H. Clegg – First Issue

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 a unilingual note 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 note: The first Clegg issue, except for the Ten Shilling note, was printed by the Bank of England printers, St Luke's Printing Works, London. The Ten Shilling note was printed by Bradbury Wilkinson & Co. Ltd., Surrey, England. This position prevailed until 1939 when Bradbury Wilkinson took over all printing.

Ten Shillings

First Serial Number	Language	Dated	Last Serial Number	Language	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 Serial Number	Language	Dated	Last Serial Number	Language	Dated
A/1-000 001	E/D	17 Sep 1921	A/12-250 000	E/D	5 Jul 1922

Five Pounds

First Serial Number	Language	Dated	Last Serial Number	Language	Dated
B/1-000 001	E/D	27 Sep 1921	B/3-550 000	E/D	6 Jul 1922

Twenty Pounds

First Serial Number	Language	Dated	Last Serial Number	Language	Dated
C/1-000 001	E/D	29 Sep 1921	C/1-125 000	E/D	29 Sep 1921

One Hundred Pounds

First Serial Number	Language	Dated	Last Serial Number	Language	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.

W.H. Clegg – Second Issue

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.

Ten Shillings

First Serial Number	Language	Dated	Last Serial Number	Language	Dated
E/4-000 001	E/D	20 Sep 1926	E/6-1 000 000	E/D	15 Dec 1926

One Pound

First Serial Number	Language	Dated	Last Serial Number	Language	Dated
A/13-000 001	E/D	1 Sep 1925	A/17-1 000 000	E/D	4 Apr 1928

Five Pounds

First Serial Number	Language	Dated	Last Serial Number	Language	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

In this issue, the designs of the reverse of the One Pound and Five Pound notes were changed.

One Pound

First Serial Number	Language	Dated	Last Serial Number	Language	Dated
A/18-000 001	E/D	1 Sep 1928	A/18-1 000 000	E/D	1 Sep 1928

Five Pounds

First Serial Number	Language	Dated	Last Serial Number	Language	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

In this issue, the second language was changed from Dutch to Afrikaans, except for the word "Shillings". Some notes were trilingual, with the Dutch words "Zuidafrikaanse Reservebank" still appearing in the background security print.

Ten Shillings

First Serial Number	Language	Dated	Last Serial Number	Language	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)

First Serial Number	Language	Dated	Last Serial Number	Language	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

First Serial Number	Language	Dated	Last Serial Number	Language	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)
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

First Serial Number	Language	Dated	Last Serial Number	Language	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

First Serial Number	Language	Dated	Last Serial Number	Language	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

First Serial Number	Language	Dated	Last Serial Number	Language	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 W.H. Clegg's Governorship

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.

Sources

List-of-Changes---Clegg-WH.pdf (primary source document).
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 .

Revision History

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

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