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10 Shillings Bank of Australasia
| Issuer | Bank of Australasia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1895-1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 10 Shillings (1/2) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette at upper centre shows two allegorical seated women in an intaglio engraving, framed by an ornate guilloche border with star and rosette corner ornaments; the bank title arches above in script lettering over the legend INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER 1835. The note body carries a manuscript promise-to-pay text with place, date, and denomination in letterpress, flanked by numeral 10 counters at left and right within star-burst frames, with NEW ZEALAND lettered vertically in the side borders and a bold TEN SHILLINGS panel at lower centre. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain paper reverse with no printed design, bearing two oval violet ink cancellation stamps reading THE BANK OF AUSTRALASIA and WELLINGTON / THE BANK OF AUSTRALASIA, along with manuscript endorsement signatures in black ink. The note is uniface in terms of engraved design, consistent with the issue type. |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Australasia was a British-chartered institution, incorporated by royal charter in 1835 and headquartered in London throughout its existence — which is why Perkins, Bacon & Petch handled the printing rather than any colonial facility. The bank operated across multiple Australian colonies and later states, with branches from Melbourne to Perth, but the notes themselves never left London until they were shipped out for issue.
Perkins Bacon's security printing reputation rested heavily on their siderographic transfer process, which allowed multiple identical steel-engraved impressions to be produced from a single master die — a technique they had refined since the early nineteenth century and sold to governments worldwide.
The Bank of Australasia merged with the Union Bank of Australia in 1951 to form ANZ, making this series one of the longer-lived private bank issues on the continent.