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5 Pounds Bank of Australasia
| Issuer | Bank of Australasia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1899 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Central allegorical vignette at upper centre shows two seated classical figures in a pastoral landscape, surmounted by an arched script bank title. Intaglio-engraved guilloche medallions bearing the denomination numeral '5' appear at upper left and upper right, with 'NEW ZEALAND' lettered vertically in ornamental panels along both side borders. The promise-to-pay clause and denomination text are set in a guilloche underprint band across the lower centre, with a countersignature line and manuscript authorization at bottom. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Uniface; the reverse is unprinted, showing plain paper with faint show-through of the obverse intaglio impressions. |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Australasia was a London-incorporated institution that operated branches across the Australian colonies and, later, states. By 1899 it was already in the long twilight of private colonial banking — the Commonwealth of Australia would federate in 1901, and the push toward centralized banking regulation intensified almost immediately afterward. The bank itself was eventually absorbed into the ANZ group in 1951.
Private banknotes of this period from Australian issuers are genuinely rare survivors. Most circulated hard in commercial trade, and the colonies had no systematic tradition of note preservation. Five-pound denominations saw heavy merchant use and rarely came back intact.