20 Pounds National Bank of New Zealand Limited

The National Bank of New Zealand Limited was a London-incorporated institution, founded in 1872 with British capital and British directors — which explains the Perkins, Bacon plate work. The firm had deep experience in colonial currency printing, having produced postage stamps and banknotes for territories across the British Empire throughout the nineteenth century.

The twenty-pound denomination would have seen negligible retail circulation; at that value it functioned almost entirely in interbank settlement and large mercantile transactions. The thirty-five-year issue span reflects how slowly note designs turned over in colonial banking practice, not active continuous printing across the full period.