20 Pounds Bank of New Zealand

The Bank of New Zealand was a private commercial bank when this note was issued — New Zealand would not establish a central bank until 1934, meaning institutions like the BNZ retained note-issuing rights well into the twentieth century. The £20 denomination was a high-value instrument, rarely handled by ordinary depositors and primarily used for interbank settlement and large commercial transactions.

Bradbury Wilkinson's New Malden works produced notes for colonial and dominion banks across the British world throughout this period, and the BNZ maintained a long relationship with the firm. The P#S238 prefix signals private bank issue — the series was superseded when the Reserve Bank of New Zealand assumed sole note-issuing authority in 1934.