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1 Pound Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd.
| Issuer | Commercial Bank of Australia Limited |
|---|---|
| Year | 1926-1930 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | A reclining allegorical female figure occupies the left portion of the note, holding a caduceus as an emblem of commerce. The central vignette presents a composite scene of a sailing vessel and a steam locomotive, evoking the bank's role in trade and transport. The note carries the issuing institution's title and promise-to-pay legend in letterpress across the face. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ONE POUND THE COMMERCIAL BANK OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED PROMISE TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND THE SUM OF ONE POUND HERE. VALUE RECEIVED WELLINGTON FOR THE COMMERCIAL BANK OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED NEW ZEALAND NEW ZEALAND ONE POUND |
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| Comments |
The Commercial Bank of Australia Limited was absorbed into the National Bank of Australasia in 1981, but by 1926 it was already one of the older surviving colonial-era trading banks, having operated since 1866. Australian private banknote issue was on borrowed time during these years — the Commonwealth Bank had held a monopoly on new note issue since 1911, and trading banks were restricted to circulating only notes they had outstanding before that cutoff. This series therefore represents the tail end of a contracting pool of legitimately circulating private paper.
Waterlow & Sons printed the series in London, as they did for numerous British colonial and dominion banking clients throughout this period.