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5 Pounds Bank of Australasia
| Issuer | Bank of Australasia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1850 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Charles Skipper & East, London, United Kingdom |
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| Obverse description | The bank's circular heraldic arms vignette, incorporating a quartered shield with sailing ships, animals and a cross, surrounded by the legend "BANK OF AUSTRALASIA INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER 1835", is centred at the top of the note between two oval guilloche panels each bearing the word "FIVE". A script promise-to-pay text occupies the centre field, with a decorative calligraphic "Five" cartouche at lower left and the issuing authority line at lower right above the manager's signature line. The border consists of a fine engine-turned guilloche frame, with "NEW ZEALAND" in large serifed capitals across the bottom, and a diagonal "SPECIMEN" overprint applied across the face. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE BANK OF AUSTRALASIA FIVE FIVE PROMISE TO PAY THE BEARER FIVE POUNDS STERLING ON DEMAND HERE FOR THE BANK OF AUSTRALASIA NEW ZEALAND SPECIMEN |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Australasia was a British imperial institution chartered in London in 1835, with branches across the Australian colonies — which means this note, though circulating in the antipodes, was effectively a product of English commercial banking exported wholesale. Charles Skipper & East were the house printer for several such colonial banks, producing plates of consistent quality that were shipped out and issued locally.
By 1850, the Australian colonies were on the cusp of the gold rushes that would transform their economies almost overnight. Notes of this period were frequently overwhelmed by the influx of gold coinage and bullion trading that followed, making pre-rush paper survivals genuinely uncommon.