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20 Pounds National Bank of New Zealand Limited
| Issuer | National Bank of New Zealand Limited |
|---|---|
| Year | 1912-1916 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Pounds |
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| Obverse description | The face is printed in green and orange, with the Royal Arms vignette at centre flanked by the denomination "£20" in the upper corners, and circular bank seal medallions bearing the "NBZ" monogram at left and right. A bold orange guilloche underprint carries the large-letter legend "TWENTY POUNDS" across the centre of the note, overlaying the promise-to-pay text. The bank title arcs across the top in letterpress, with the incorporation clause and the place and date of issue handwritten in the central field, above a manuscript signature and the printed title "MANAGER" at lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE NATIONAL BANK OF NEW ZEALAND LIMITED INCORPORATED UNDER THE COMPANIES ACTS AND THE NEW ZEALAND ACT 1. 1873 WELLINGTON WE PROMISE TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND TWENTY POUNDS STERLING FOR THE NATIONAL BANK OF NEW ZEALAND LIMITED TWENTY |
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| Comments |
The National Bank of New Zealand Limited was a privately chartered bank incorporated in London in 1872, which is why its notes were printed in Britain throughout its early decades rather than in the colony itself. Perkins, Bacon & Petch — the firm behind some of the most technically sophisticated intaglio work of the Victorian and Edwardian periods — handled the production, bringing the same security printing expertise they applied to postage stamps across the Empire.
A twenty-pound denomination in New Zealand private banking was not a retail instrument. At a time when a working man's weekly wage rarely exceeded two pounds, this note moved between merchants, station owners, and banks. Surviving examples in any condition are genuinely rare; high-denomination private issues of this period circulated in narrow channels and were seldom kept.