Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
10 Shillings Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd.
| Issuer | Commercial Bank of Australia Limited |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917-1919 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| 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 |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | At left, an oval vignette depicts a seated allegorical female figure with a globe and caduceus, set within an ornate engraved border with guilloche work. The central text area carries a manuscript-style promise-to-pay inscription stating the sum of Ten Shillings, payable at Wellington, on an ochre-tinted underprint. The bank title 'THE COMMERCIAL BANK OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED' appears in a curved cartouche at top, with 'HALF SOVEREIGN' in an oval cartouche at right and 'TEN SHILLINGS' in bold letterpress along the lower panel, flanked by 'NEW ZEALAND' printed vertically on both side margins. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE COMMERCIAL BANK OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED PROMISE TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND THE SUM OF TEN SHILLINGS HERE VALUE RECEIVED WELLINGTON HALF SOVEREIGN NEW ZEALAND NEW ZEALAND TEN SHILLINGS |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Commercial Bank of Australia's wartime shilling notes were issued under the Commonwealth's 1910 Australian Notes Act framework, which had already moved to nationalise the currency — yet private banks retained limited note-issuing rights in practice through the war years, creating an awkward dual circulation that legislators never fully resolved. Sands and McDougall, primarily known as Melbourne stationers and calendar printers, produced several Australian private bank issues of this period and brought a distinctly commercial-house quality to the work rather than the security printing pedigree of dedicated banknote firms.
The series was short-lived. By 1920, private bank note issuance in Australia was effectively dead.