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20 Pounds - Victoria Union Bank of Australia
| Issuer | Union Bank of Australia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1852-1860 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | At upper left, a crowned bust portrait of Queen Victoria in profile; at centre, a vignette of Britannia seated with shield, spear, and lion, with a sailing ship in the background; at lower right, the bank's arms. The handwritten date appears in the body of the text, consistent with period-issued New Zealand colonial banknote practice. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | UNION BANK OF AUSTRALIA AUCKLAND NEW ZEALAND AUCKLAND NEW ZEALAND WE PROMISE TO PAY THE BEARER HERE IN DEMAND TWENTY POUNDS STG. AUCKLAND FOR THE DIRECTORS & COMPANY |
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| Comments |
The Union Bank of Australia was a British-registered colonial bank incorporated under an 1837 Act of Parliament, with its notes circulating across the Australian colonies long before any local central authority existed to regulate them. High-denomination issues like this £20 were instruments of intercolonial commerce and pastoral trade — squatters settling accounts with wool brokers, not everyday currency. The date range 1852–1860 places this squarely in the gold rush period, when the colonial money supply was under severe pressure and private bank paper carried much of the burden.
Perkins, Bacon & Petch were among the most technically advanced security printers of the mid-nineteenth century, their siderographic steel-engraving process making plate duplication and note forgery substantially harder than with earlier copper methods.