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1 Pound National Bank
| Issuer | The National Bank Limited |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918-1919 |
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| Size | 152 × 91 mm |
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| Obverse description | At the top centre, a vignette of Hibernia seated with harp, flanked by decorative guilloche borders and the bank's title in an ornate cartouche. The arms of the bank appear at the upper left, while the body of the note carries a dense block of branch listings in letterpress. The denomination ONE POUND is printed in large letters at the foot of the note, with the promise-to-pay legend and manuscript date inscribed across the centre field. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | The National Bank Limited Unlimited for Note Issue I Promise to pay the Bearer on Demand One Pound at Dublin For the Directors and Company |
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| Comments |
The National Bank Limited was an Australian trading bank, not a central authority, and its right to issue notes was already living on borrowed time when this note was printed. The Commonwealth Bank Act of 1911 had set the machinery in motion for a government monopoly on note issue, and by 1910 the Commonwealth had already imposed a prohibitive 10% tax on all private bank notes — making their continued issue functionally uneconomic for most institutions.
That this note was still being issued in 1918–1919 reflects the slow administrative wind-down rather than genuine commercial circulation. The National Bank merged into the Colonial Bank group and ultimately into what became the Commonwealth Banking Corporation.