20 Pounds National Bank of New Zealand Limited

The National Bank of New Zealand Limited was a privately chartered institution incorporated in London in 1873, and its banknotes occupied an unusual legal position — they circulated as valid currency in New Zealand despite the bank being a British registered company. Perkins, Bacon & Petch had by the 1920s a long relationship with colonial and dominion-era issuers, and their intaglio work was considered difficult to counterfeit in markets where sophisticated forgery infrastructure was scarce.

The £20 denomination was rarely encountered in everyday commerce. High-value private bank notes of this period were predominantly used for interbank settlement and large commercial transactions, meaning surviving examples with genuine circulation wear are the exception.