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1 Pound Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd.
| Issuer | Commercial Bank of Australia Limited |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914-1919 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by a central intaglio vignette of a seated allegorical female figure holding a globe and caduceus, framed by elaborate guilloche scrollwork and floral ornamental borders executed in gold and black. The bank title 'THE COMMERCIAL BANK OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED' arches across the top, with 'ONE' at upper left and right corners and 'NEW ZEALAND' running vertically along both side margins; two serial number panels flank the central vignette. The bold 'ONE POUND' obligation text and the place of issue 'Wellington' appear in manuscript style above two manuscript signatures at the lower left. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | ONE THE COMMERCIAL BANK OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED 1 POUND ONE ONE |
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| Comments |
The Commercial Bank of Australia Limited was one of the major trading banks operating under private issue rights before the Commonwealth Bank gradually absorbed that function. This series straddles a peculiar window: private banknote issue in Australia effectively ended with the Australian Notes Act of 1910, which imposed a punitive ten percent tax on all private notes in circulation — yet certain institutional arrangements allowed some private paper to persist in limited form into the following decade.
Pick S271 belongs to the "S" prefix of the Pick catalogue, denoting notes issued by private commercial banks rather than state or central authorities. Surviving examples are genuinely uncommon; the combination of wartime hoarding pressures and the active redemption policy pursued by the bank itself thinned the population considerably.