Lot 828: AUTOGRAPHS: GORDON CHARLES: (1833-1885) British

AUTOGRAPHS: GORDON CHARLES: (1833-1885) British Army officer, known as Chinese Gordon. Rare D.S., C G Gordon, being a partially printed bank note, 12mo, Khartoum, 25th April 1884. The bank note, in Arabic, is for a sum of Egyptian piastres, also known as a Gordon note. The note bears several official stamps and is signed by Gordon with his name alone in ink to a clear area in the lower right corner. Some very light age wear, otherwise VG When Gordon arrived in Khartoum he found a depleted treasury and issued his own bank notes in order to pay troops and secure supplies. Although Gordon held off defeat for ten months, Khartoum fell around nine months after the issue of the Gordon notes, and the General died defending the city. A large number of the Gordon notes were burned and it became a punishable offence to possess one. As such, any surviving notes are rare and desirable.