Catalog
10 Pounds Bank of Australasia
| Issuer | Bank of Australasia |
|---|---|
| Year | |
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| Currency | Pound (1840-1967) |
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| Obverse description | The note is framed by an intricate guilloche border with ornamental corner rosettes. At upper centre, the Royal Arms of Great Britain — supported by a lion and unicorn with the motto DIEU ET MON DROIT — is engraved within a circular surround inscribed INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER, 1835. Two circular guilloche medallions bearing the word TEN flank the arms at upper left and right, while a rectangular guilloche panel at centre carries the promise-to-pay text in cursive script, with TEN POUNDS in bold letterpress and the overprint SPECIMEN at lower centre beneath the bank's signature line. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE BANK OF AUSTRALASIA INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER, 1835. PROMISE TO PAY THE BEARER TEN POUNDS STERLING ON DEMAND HERE OR AT FOR THE BANK OF AUSTRALASIA TEN SPECIMEN MANAGER |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Australasia was a British-chartered institution, incorporated in London in 1835 and operating branches across the Australian colonies and New Zealand. Its banknotes were private commercial issues, not government obligations — a distinction that mattered enormously during the colonial banking crises of the 1890s, when dozens of Australian banks suspended payments and note-holders found themselves holding paper of suddenly uncertain value.
The Bank of Australasia was among the solvent survivors of 1893. It eventually merged into the ANZ banking group in 1951, long after private banknote issue had ceased following the Commonwealth Bank's consolidation of the currency.