Two rare 10-rupee banknotes, recovered from a 1918 shipwreck, are set to be auctioned in London next week. Noonans Mayfair will offer these banknotes as part of its ‘World Banknotes’ sale on Wednesday, May 29, starting at 10 AM.

According to the auction house, these notes are estimated to fetch between GBP 2,000 and 2,600. The ship, traveling from Bombay to London, carried wine and ammunition.

The 10-rupee banknotes, dated May 25, 1918, were recovered from the wreck of the SS Shirala, sunk by a German U-boat on July 2, 1918. Thomasina Smith, Worldwide Head of Numismatics at Noonans, mentioned that entire blocks of these notes, along with other provisions, were aboard the ship when it sank.

Many notes floated ashore, including unsigned five and 10 rupees, and signed 1 rupee notes. Most were recovered and destroyed by authorities, with new ones printed as replacements. However, a few notes remained in private hands.

Smith highlighted that she had never seen notes like these before. The rarity only came to light after the Bank of England mentioned the 1918 shipwreck on its social media accounts. The notes are in very good condition, likely because they were in the middle of tightly bound bundles, preventing direct contact with the sea.

Another highlight of the auction is a rare 100-rupee note from the Government of India under British colonial administration, expected to fetch between GBP 4,400 and 5,000. This note, signed and stamped in Calcutta, dates from 1917 to 1930 and features “100 rupees” spelled out in various Indian languages, including Hindi and Bengali.

Additionally, the auction includes a rare “Reserve Bank of India, Persian Gulf Issue” 5-rupee note, featuring the Ashoka emblem, dated between 1957 and 1962. This note is expected to sell for GBP 2,200 to 2,800.

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