Catalog
20 Pounds
| Issuer | Commercial Bank of Tasmania |
|---|---|
| Year | ND (1910) |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Intaglio-printed note with a fine guilloche border bearing the vertical letterpress inscription HOBART TOWN on both lateral margins. Upper left vignette shows a classical seated female figure beside a globe and anchor; to the right, an oval panel encloses the denomination £20 in bold numerals. Centre text reads COMMERCIAL BANK / HOBART TOWN / TASMANIA with a manuscript promise-to-pay clause for TWENTY POUNDS Sterling Value received, signed for the Director. |
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| Obverse lettering | COMMERCIAL BANK HOBART TOWN TASMANIA. 1st January 18 Promise to pay the Bearer on Demand the Sum of TWENTY POUNDS Sterling Value received Ent. TWENTY FOR THE COMMERCIAL BANK, Director. HOBART TOWN |
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| Comments |
The Commercial Bank of Tasmania was absorbed into the Bank of Australasia in 1921, making any notes from its final decade of independent operation relatively late survivors of a diminishing Tasmanian private banking sector. High-denomination notes like this £20 example would have seen limited hand-to-hand circulation — used primarily for interbank settlement and large commercial transactions, they tended to move through fewer hands and return to the bank more quickly than lower values.
The undated format was standard practice for Australian colonial and post-Federation private bank issues of this period, with individual notes dated by hand or rubber stamp at the time of issue — or not dated at all for treasury reserve stock.