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5 Pounds Bank of Australasia
| Issuer | Bank of Australasia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1932 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Pounds |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette at upper centre with two allegorical female figures seated in a pastoral landscape, rendered in fine intaglio engraving in blue-grey tones. Denomination numerals "5" appear in guilloche rosettes at each corner, with "NEW ZEALAND" in solid lettering along both vertical side borders. A large orange "FIVE" underprint overlays the lower central field, with zeroed specimen serial numbers "B 000000" at left and right, date "23rd August 1932" at upper right, and a violet "SPECIMEN" stamp and "Manager" signature line at lower right; the printer's imprint "Thomas De La Rue & Co. Ltd., London" appears at the foot. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE BANK OF AUSTRALASIA INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER 1835 PROMISE TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND FIVE POUNDS AT WELLINGTON FIVE POUNDS NEW ZEALAND |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Australasia was a British-chartered institution operating in Australia and New Zealand, and by 1932 it was already in a prolonged twilight — it would eventually merge into the ANZ Banking Group in 1951. Notes of this period were issued under the bank's own authority but circulated alongside the Commonwealth's own currency, which had been regulated under the Australian Notes Act since 1910. Private bank notes remained legal but were taxed heavily, making late-series examples like this one increasingly rare in ordinary commerce.
De La Rue's involvement is consistent with the bank's long-standing London printing arrangements, reflecting that this was an institution always more comfortable answering to Threadneedle Street than to Canberra.