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10 Shillings Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd.
| Issuer | Commercial Bank of Australia Limited |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923-1929 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Pound (1840-1967) |
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| Obverse description | A reclining allegorical female figure holding a caduceus occupies the left vignette, set against an elaborate guilloche underprint in red-brown tones. The central field carries a promise-to-pay text with serial numbers flanking the legend, above the bold denomination TEN SHILLINGS, with a decorative oval cartouche at right bearing the NEW ZEALAND overprint. The legends HALF-SOVEREIGN appear at top and bottom margins, with TEN SHILLINGS repeated vertically in the side borders. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | HALF - SOVEREIGN THE COMMERCIAL BANK OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED I PROMISE TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND THE SUM OF TEN SHILLINGS HERE VALUE RECEIVED NEW ZEALAND TEN SHILLINGS HALF - SOVEREIGN |
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| Comments |
The Commercial Bank of Australia was one of the few Australian trading banks still issuing its own notes into the 1920s, a practice that the Commonwealth Bank was actively working to eliminate. The Note Issue Act of 1910 had imposed a prohibitive tax on private bank notes, and by the time this series was produced, the handwriting was clearly on the wall — private issuance would end in 1910 effectively, with final notes circulating into the early 1930s before being wholly displaced.
Waterlow & Sons handled the printing from their London operation, a long-standing arrangement for Australian private banks that lacked domestic security printers of comparable capability. The CBA itself collapsed in 1925 and was absorbed into the National Bank of Australasia — notes already in circulation continued to be honored through the transition.