VALUE OF BANKNOTES

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 20 February 1935, Page 6

VALUE OF BANKNOTES

Dispute Over Salvage From Liner Egypt

CLAIM TO BE WORTH £500,000

PROBLEM FOR LAW COURTS From Our Own Correspondent. (By Air Mail). LONDON, Feb. 2. A problem which is to be .solved shortly in the Milan courts is whether Indian rupee notes salvaged from the P. and O. liner Egypt, which sank off Ushant nearly thirteen years ago, are worth their face value—£soo,oo6 —or merely their value as paper. Tho salvors claim that they are worth £500,000. The. underwriters say they are only worth their value as paper—which is nothing at all. The Italian salvage steamer Artiglio 11 salvaged about £1,000,000 in gold and silver bullion from the Egypt. One of the Artiglio’s divers also brought up several bundles of sodden paper.

No one took much notice of it. All thoughts were concentrated on the gold and silver. The sodden paper was laid on one side—forgotten. Then recently largo numbers of rupee notes printed specially for one Indian State were found to he circulating on the Continent. It was discovered that the sodden paper salvaged from the Egypt was £500,000 worth of these notes.

The salvors made a claim on the underwriters. Tho underwriters had •‘paid up” cheerfully enough on the gold and silver. They declined to pay on the rupee notes. How the notes came to bo put into circulation lias not been discovered.