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10 Shillings
| Issuer | Commonwealth of Australia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1913-1918 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The left field carries the Commonwealth coat of arms within an oval medallion, balanced by a corresponding oval medallion on the right bearing the denomination value. Four HALF SOVEREIGN overprints are applied across the face, with intricate guilloche latticework forming the continuous background underprint. Inscriptions in letterpress identify the issuing authority and promise of payment in gold coin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A central vignette of Goulburn Weir in Victoria, enclosed within an ornate oval frame of scrollwork and guilloche latticework, shows a solitary figure at the water's edge. The words TEN and SHILLINGS are set in large letters flanking the central vignette and repeated in each corner. A dense guilloche underprint carrying the repeated text HALF SOVEREIGN covers the entire reverse field. |
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| Comments |
Australia's first nationally issued banknotes, authorized under the Australian Notes Act of 1910, were a deliberate move to replace the private bank notes that had circulated across the colonies and states since the nineteenth century. The Commonwealth took full control of note issue, and the Treasury — not a central bank, which Australia would not establish until 1920 — was the responsible authority. These early notes were printed at the Melbourne facility of the Commonwealth Bank's note printing branch, making Australia one of very few countries at the time printing its own government currency entirely domestically from the outset.
The 1910 legislation also imposed a tax of ten percent on private bank notes still in circulation, effectively killing the competing issues within a few years.