Prior to the formation of the State Bank of Pakistan, government officials had realized the necessity for an emergency issue of notes to cover the anticipated shortfall of notes available for circulation. Therefore, they commenced the preparation of an emergency issue shortly after the agreements between India and Pakistan had been suspended. Once the State Bank had been established, the responsibility for introducing the emergency issue fell to that authority.
The emergency issue of banknotes, in the denominations of Rs. 5/-, 10/-, and 100/-, was prepared by Thomas De La Rue & Company of Great Britain. These banknotes were issued on October 1st, 1948.
It is said that the first copies of these banknotes were presented to Quaid-i-Azam. All the banknotes have the serial number 000001 and perforation on the front side (CANCELLED). Also, the second copies of these banknotes with the serial number 000002 were presented to Liaquat Ali Khan, the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
An album containing the set of cancelled specimen banknotes with a serial number 000002 fetched Indian Rs. 1,840,000/- (around Pakistan Rs. 3,734,000/-) at an auction in 2018 in India.
