10 Pounds Bank of New Zealand

The Bank of New Zealand was a private institution during this period — the Reserve Bank of New Zealand wouldn't be established until 1934 — so notes like this one circulated as genuine commercial bank currency rather than state-issued legal tender. Bradbury Wilkinson's engraved work for colonial and dominion banking clients was among the finest intaglio production of the interwar period, and the BNZ series of the 1920s ranks among their more technically accomplished commissions.

A £10 denomination in this era represented roughly two weeks' wages for a skilled New Zealand worker, meaning circulated survivors took genuine punishment. The P#S237 prefix reflects its private bank classification in the Pick system.