DALLAS, TX.- Rare banknotes from Islamic countries, including Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria will land in new collections when they are sold in Heritage’s The Ibrahim Salem Collection of Islamic Countries Part II & III Signature® Auction October 24-25.

The auction is the third featuring notes from Salem, whose collection of banknotes from around the globe is considered one of the finest anywhere. The November 2022 Ibrahim Salem Collection of Islamic Countries Part I Signature® Auction and the May 2023 Ibrahim Salem Banknote Collection of World Peninsulas and Islands each brought more than $1 million. Future auctions from his collection will feature United States Bank Notes, and notes from World Peninsulas and Islands.

“Ibrahim Salem’s collection of world paper money is on the short list of the finest assemblages in the world,” says Dustin Johnston, Vice President of Numismatics at Heritage Auctions. “He has spent a lifetime curating this remarkable collection, and it reflects the overlap between his professional career as one of Dubai’s most accomplished architects and his passion for collecting the beauty, geometry and cultural history found in banknotes.”

Of the 494 lots in the auction, nearly half (227) are from Egypt, where Ibrahim completed his graduate studies in architecture. Included among the Egyptian selections is an extraordinary Complete 1942 Specimen Set — a fantastic, historic and rarely offered group of nine Specimen banknotes that represented one aspect of Italy's colonial aspirations in the 20th-century. Italy conquered Somali and Eritrea in the late 19th century, followed by the Dodecanes Islands and then Libya, after the Italian-Turkish War. Joining forces with the Germans, Italy aspired to defeat the British in North Africa. Both Egypt and Sudan were on the docket, and for some time, Italian troops were making headway. Ultimately, the British defeated the Axis powers at El Alamein, which ended Italian expansion. In the leadup to this defeat, two banknote series were prepared and printed in Rome for the anticipated Italian territories in Egypt and Sudan. These notes were never issued, and only a few sets of issued banknotes were saved from destruction. Specimen are almost equally rare and seldom seen, as the print totals were certainly small. This complete set of denominations for Egypt is offered in Specimen format, illustrating the currency scheme to be adopted if Italy was victorious. Nine denominations are known to exist, all of which are offered here. Any example of this type is extremely rare.

Another rarity from Egypt, an Elwin Palmer 50 Piastres of 1899, features one of the nation’s most recognizable landmarks, the Great Sphynx, facing front in the motif that endears the note to collectors worldwide. Estimates suggest that only 400,000 notes were printed across both signature varieties for this type, which was issued until 1912. The Governor of the National Bank of Egypt from 1898 to 1906, Palmer’s signature is seen on a small print run compared to the second signature of Frederick Rowlatt, who presided over the bank from 1906-21. At the time of cataloging, PMG has graded only four Palmer signature 50 Piastres, compared to 19 of the Rowlatt signature variety. This auction marks the first time this magnificent banknote has been offered at Heritage.

Other top notes from Egypt in the auction include, but are not limited to:

• A National Bank of Egypt 10 Pounds 1946 Pick UNL Printer's Design PMG About Uncirculated 55

• A National Bank of Egypt 1 Pound 8.7.1928 Pick 20 PMG Choice Uncirculated 64 — the finest-graded 1 Pound of 1928

• A National Bank of Egypt 1 Pound (ND 1899) Pick 2s Specimen PMG About Uncirculated 50

The auction includes more than 100 lots from Libya, including an extremely rare Libya Treasury 10 Pounds 1951 (ND 1955) Pick 11 PMG Very Fine 25. The first series of notes issued in the United Kingdom of Libya was introduced in or around 1951, and this first series emission is extremely rare and very well may be the key note for the country. At the time of cataloging, the note offered in this auction is the finer of just two pieces currently graded in the PMG Population Report.

Also in play for the first time at Heritage is a Libya Treasury 1/2 Pound 1951 (ND 1955) Pick 8 PMG About Uncirculated 55, a key denomination from the United Kingdom series of 1951 that is seldom seen in any grade. In fact, at the time of cataloging, this example is second-finest of only 13 notes currently graded in the PMG Population Report.

Other top offerings from Libya include, but are not limited to:

• A beautiful and rarely seen Libyan 5 Pounds 1.1.1952 Pick 17 PMG About Uncirculated 55 EPQ — the second-finest example graded in the PMG Population Report of the second-highest denomination of the King Idris series

• A Libya Treasury 5 Pounds 1951 (ND 1955) Pick 10 PMG Very Fine 20

• A Libya Military Authority in Tripolitania 1000 Lire ND (1943) Pick M8s Specimen PMG Choice Uncirculated 64 — the first and lone example of this highest denomination Specimen graded by PMG.

Some four dozen lots feature banknotes from Sudan, including a Sudan Cassa Mediterranea Di Credito Per Il Sudan 50 Piastres ND (1940) Pick M3s Specimen PMG Choice Uncirculated 63 EPQ which was, at the time of cataloging, the first and only Specimen graded by PMG; the banknote series for Italian Sudan is available only in Specimen format, and even in prototype format, any denomination is exceedingly rare. When Italian forces in Somaliland and Eritrea failed in their attempt to invade Sudan via Kassala on the eastern border, British forces maintained control to their colony throughout World War II, which mean this proposed banknote series dated 1940 was never issued; only Specimen exist today.

Other Sudanese rarities in the auction include a Cassa Mediterranea Di Credito Per Il Sudan 5 Piastres ND (1940) Pick M1s Specimen PMG Choice Uncirculated 63 and a Cassa Mediterranea Di Credito Per Il Sudan 5 Lire ND (1940) Pick M5 Specimen PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ. The Cassa Mediterranea di Credito issued notes in Greek Isles, and it was planned to issue notes in Sudan upon an Italian military victory over British forces during World War II. But when the British defeated the Italian forces, no notes were issued for an Italian Sudan. The 1940 series of notes is known only in Specimen format. At the time of cataloging, the offered 5 Lire ND is the first and only example graded by PMG. This series of notes were never issued, and only Specimen exist, as Italy never wrestled Sudan away from the British.

Other top lots include, but are not limited to:

Algeria

• A Banque de l’Algerie 50 Francs 25.9.1913 Pick 79 PMG Very Fine 20
• A Banque de l’Algerie 500 Francs 3.3.1924 Pick 75b PMG Very Fine 30
• A Banque de l’Algerie 1000 Francs ND (1926-39) Pick 83s Specimen PMG Extremely Fine 40

Gambia

• A Serial Number 1 Gambia The Gambia Currency Board 5 Pounds ND (1965-70) Pick 3a PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ

• A Serial Number 1 Gambia The Gambia Currency Board 10 Shillings ND (1965-70) Pick 1a PMG Choice Uncirculated 64

• A Serial Number 1 Gambia The Gambia Currency Board 1 Pound ND (1965-70) Pick 2a PMG Choice About Unc 58 EPQ

Morocco

• A Banque d’Etat du Maroc 5000 Francs ND (1951) Pick 48s Specimen PMG Choice Uncirculated 63

• A Banque d'Etat du Maroc 5000 Francs 1.8.1943 Pick 32s Specimen PMG About Uncirculated 50 EPQ

• A Banque d’Etat du Maroc 1000 Francs 1.3.1944 Pick 28s Specimen PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ

Tunisia

• A Banque de l’Algerie 5000 Francs ND (1950-52) Pick 30s Specimen PMG Choice Uncirculated 64 EPQ

• A Banque Centrale 50 Dinars ND (c.1988) Picks Unlisted Front & Back Printer’s Models PMG Choice Uncirculated 64; Uncirculated 62