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20 Pounds Bank of New Zealand
| Issuer | Bank of New Zealand |
|---|---|
| Year | 1907-1926 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Pound (1840-1967) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | At upper left, a vignette of two Māori figures flanked by palm trees and a volcanic cone; two kiwi birds appear at lower left. The denomination is repeated multiple times in an underprint across the centre, with the bank title and promise-to-pay text arranged in the traditional British promissory note layout throughout. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | POUNDS 20 SPECIMEN |
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| Comments |
The Bank of New Zealand operated as a private trading bank during this period — not a central bank — yet its notes circulated as everyday currency throughout New Zealand and parts of the Pacific. The £20 denomination was rarely seen in ordinary trade; it functioned almost entirely in mercantile and interbank settlements, which is precisely why surviving examples from this series are so uncommon. High-value notes of this type were typically cancelled and destroyed after single-use transactions rather than re-entering circulation.
Bradbury Wilkinson printed the entire series from their New Malden works in Surrey, and their engraving quality on colonial banking contracts of this period was consistently among the finest available to Southern Hemisphere issuers.