India Paper Money

British India 10 Rupees shipwreck watermarked paper Uncut Sheet

British India 10 Rupees shipwreck watermarked paper Uncut Sheet
British India 10 Rupees shipwreck watermarked paper Uncut Sheet
British India 10 Rupees shipwreck watermarked paper Uncut Sheet
British India 10 Rupees shipwreck watermarked paper Uncut Sheet

British India 10 Rupees shipwreck watermarked paper Uncut Sheet

This makes a great curiosity that you can display in your home or make a great gift for someone that loves history. The watermarked paper was recovered from SS Breda shipwreck and dried. So it is not uncirculated or perfect.

Some of the sheets will have discoloration, creases and won't have perfect edges. Each sheet will have atleast 20 full or partial notes depending on the cut and will have 2-5 inch tears along the edges. Built in 1921, Breda was 400 feet long and weighed about 7,000 tons.

Bound for India to help build an air strip, her manifest included Tiger Moth motorcycles, cement, leather and a Rolls Royce. As they tried to tow her to safety, she listed and sank, with her masts still well above water. For years, divers practiced on her, as she was a well known shipwreck. Breda lay there, dived on, but in many ways undiscovered because of the darkness of the loch.

Then the Tralee Bay Diving and Watersports Club made a most amazing discovery. In one of the long hidden cargo holds was found the remains of paper, but not just any paper can survive 50 years under water. This was fine quality paper used for the printing of banknotes! Portals, who was owned by the Bank of England, had manufactured special paper for the printing of Indian banknotes, watermarked with the portrait of King George VI. The wooden boxes had been eaten away and the edges of the uncut sheets were a little ragged, but this treasure was still intact!

In order to keep the find secret, the divers refilled their air tanks at three different locations some ten miles apart. That part of Scotland is close knit and they wanted to protect their treasure find for as long as possible. Over the years, salvage rights to the hull had been obtained but no one had thought to get the rights for the contents. This was quickly rectified and on the 11th September, 1992, when the Deputy Receiver of Wrecks, Oban, gave those rights to the diving crew. This banknote paper is an authentic relic of that shipwreck.

It was originally destined to become an India ten rupee banknote. The water mark shows a likeness of King George VI, the denomination and the words, "RESERVE BANK OF INDIA". The paper that was recovered from the shipwreck were whole sheets and this listing contains a single cut 10 rupees note from the shipwreck.

This item is in the category "Coins & Paper Money\Paper Money: World\Asia\India". The seller is "brokencompass" and is located in this country: US. This item can be shipped worldwide.

  • Certification: Uncertified
  • Country: India
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: India
  • Circulated/Uncirculated: Circulated
  • Grade: Ungraded
  • Type: Uncut Sheets


British India 10 Rupees shipwreck watermarked paper Uncut Sheet