Catalog
20 Pounds
| Issuer | Bank of Adelaide |
|---|---|
| Year | ND (1910) |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Blue and black intaglio note centred with a vignette of allegorical figures in a pastoral scene. The bank title 'The Bank of Adelaide' arches across the top in ornate script, flanked by guilloche rosettes and numeral '20' panels at each corner. The denomination 'TWENTY POUNDS' appears in large letterpress text across the centre, with serial number panels, treasury payability clause, and Manager signature line in the lower portion. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE BANK OF ADELAIDE TWENTY POUNDS For the Bank of Adelaide, Manager AUSTRALIA Ent'd Acc't |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Adelaide was one of South Australia's oldest private trading banks, established in 1865. By 1910, the private banknote-issuing era in Australia was already in terminal decline — the Commonwealth Bank Act of 1911 would soon reshape the issuing landscape, and the trading banks' circulation rights were progressively curtailed through the following decades. A £20 denomination was a high-value instrument in circulation terms, intended for commercial and interbank settlement rather than everyday trade.
Perforated cancellation on surviving examples typically indicates official withdrawal from circulation rather than destruction, which is how most specimens reached collectors.