1 Pound National Bank of New Zealand Limited

The National Bank of New Zealand Limited was a London-registered institution from the outset, incorporated in 1872 under British company law and operating as a colonial trading bank rather than a central or government authority. This note predates the Advances to Settlers Act and the broader push toward state banking that would eventually erode the private note-issuing privileges these commercial banks had long enjoyed in New Zealand.

Perkins, Bacon & Petch — the firm transitions through several name variants across this period — were the dominant security printers for colonial banking paper throughout the British Empire, their intaglio work being essentially the industry standard for forgery resistance at the time. Plates produced in London were used to supply branches across the Pacific.