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1 Pound Bank of Australasia
| Issuer | Bank of Australasia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1901 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Central upper vignette in intaglio engraving shows two seated allegorical female figures in a pastoral landscape, flanked left by the bank's quartered heraldic arms and right by a guilloche medallion bearing the numeral "ONE". The bank's name in ornate script arcs above the central vignette, with the founding legend "INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER, 1835" beneath it. The border is composed of intricate guilloche lacework with corner medallions and the words "NEW ZEALAND" running vertically on both lateral margins; the promise-to-pay text and denomination "ONE POUND" appear in bold script across the lower half, with a countersignature line at lower left. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE BANK OF AUSTRALASIA INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER 1835 DUNEDIN 1st Jan.y 1901 PROMISE TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND ONE POUND HERE OR AT WELLINGTON FOR THE BANK OF AUSTRALASIA NEW ZEALAND NEW ZEALAND ONE ONE Countersigned |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Australasia was a British-chartered bank — incorporated in London in 1834 — not an Australian institution in any regulatory sense. Its notes circulated alongside those of dozens of competing private banks in the colonies, all operating without a central authority to backstop them. When Federation arrived on 1 January 1901, nothing changed overnight for private bank currency; the Commonwealth Bank wouldn't open until 1912, and private banknote issue continued until the Notes Act of 1910 effectively ended it.
A 1901-dated Australasia pound sits right at that hinge point — issued under colonial banking habits, destined to be squeezed out within a decade by federal policy.