The economy of Singapore in the early years after its independence was relatively small and as such this first series of banknotes were printed in very small quantity and over a period of 9 years. The Orchid notes were subsequently replaced by the Bird series in 1976.
The Orchid notes bear the signatory of three of our founding fathers who held the post of finance ministers: Mr. Lim Kim San, Dr. Goh Keng Swee and Mr. Hon Sui Sen.
Besides the historical importance of the Orchid series as the first series of banknotes, what’s most notable in the Orchid series was the absent of the seal of the finance minister during Mr. Lim’s tenure and the initial tenure of Mr. Hon. These were the only two periods in the history of Singapore that banknotes did not bear the seal of the finance minister (or Chairman of the BCCS in later years).
Date of Issues:
12 June 1967
Mr Lim Kim San – Signatory Only, No seal.
19 January 1970
Dr. Goh Keng Swee- Signatory & Seal
15 January 1971
Mr Hon Sui Sen- Signatory only, No Seal.
1 July 1972
Mr Hon Sui Sen- Signatory & Seal.
Looking at the above periods, banknotes produced under Dr. Goh's tenure is the rarest (1 year only), followed by Mr. Hon's signatory-only from January 1971 to July 1972 (1.5 years only).
If Orchid notes are rare by today’s standard, what about Specimen Notes, . . . ORCHID SPECIMEN NOTES?!
Specimen notes are printed for the central or note issuing bank and the printer, to be kept as samples.
Specimen notes are the “originals” of the entire series. It is used as an important reference for modification of the current series or as a basis of inspiration for future designs. Due to its importance, specimen notes are the foundation of national archives.
For this purpose, specimen notes are produced in very limited quantity and seldom released to the public. The serial numbers usually come with very low prefix and unique numbers e.g. A/1 000000, A/1 000001 to A/1 000010 and S 000XXX.
The word SPECIMEN is printed in black and red or punched on the note.
In 1989, the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Singapore (BCCS), issued THREE unique sets of the Orchid and ONE unique set of the Bird Series Specimen Notes to the public.
Orchid 5-Note Set, signed by Mr Lim Kim San (w/o seal) 77 Albums
Orchid 5-Note Set, signed by Mr. Hon Sui Sen (w/o seal) 89 Albums
Orchid 6-Note Set, signed by Mr. Hon Sui Sen (w seal) 82 Albums
Bird 6-Note Set, signed by Mr. Hon Sui Sen (w seal) 311 Albums
IMHO, this is the few remaining modern holy grail of Singapore banknotes collection.
Below are photographs of the Orchid 5-note Specimen Set
$100, $50, $10, $5, $1
Signed by Mr. Lim Kim San (signatory-only w/o seal)
All notes bear the serial no. A/1 00000
Uncirculated mint condition
Presented in special folder
Folder serial no. 012
Limited to 77 sets only
This is an extremely rare collector’s item. I’ve been keeping this for the last 19 years! Museum quality standard.
Singapore's banknote series:
Orchid Series 1967 to 1976 (10 years)
Bird Series 1976 to 1984 ( 9 years)
Ship Series 1984 to 1999 (16 years)
Portrait Series 1999 to present
All discontinued Singapore’s banknotes remain to be legal tender.
