1 Pound Bank of Australasia

The Bank of Australasia was a London-incorporated colonial bank operating across multiple Australian colonies simultaneously, which created an unusual situation: notes issued under a single authorizing framework had to circulate as legal tender in jurisdictions with different banking regulations. This note predates Australian federation by nearly four decades.

Perkins, Bacon & Petch were the preeminent security printers of the mid-Victorian period, responsible for early British colonial postage stamps as well as banknotes across dozens of issuing authorities. Their steel-engraved intaglio work was specifically chosen to defeat the colonial forgery trade, which had plagued earlier Australian note issues printed by less sophisticated means.