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5 Pounds Bank of New Zealand
| Issuer | Bank of New Zealand |
|---|---|
| Year | 1924-1929 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Oval intaglio portrait vignette of Maori King Tawhiao at left centre, set against an intricate guilloche underprint in ochre and green tones with lace-pattern latticework filling the field. The bank title in gothic blackletter script arches across the upper portion, with the denomination '£5' in bold numerals at all four corners and a large letterpress 'FIVE' in purple as a security underprint across the lower centre. Date and place of issue appear below the promise to pay text, with signature lines for Manager at lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Two Maori figures at left flanking the Bank of New Zealand arms at centre, with two kiwi birds at right accompanied by a palm tree and volcanic cone, the whole set within a finely engraved border with guilloche ornamentation. The design is executed in intaglio in blue-green tones with an ochre and pink geometric underprint across the field. |
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| Comments |
The Bank of New Zealand was a private trading bank, not a central bank — it issued notes under its own authority throughout this period, long before the Reserve Bank of New Zealand was established in 1934 and assumed sole right of issue. These Bradbury Wilkinson-printed notes were therefore in circulation during the final years of private note issue in the country, a practice that was already being debated in Parliament through the 1920s.
Bradbury Wilkinson's intaglio work on colonial and dominion banking paper from this period is generally regarded as technically accomplished, though the New Zealand private bank series rarely attracts the same specialist attention as Australian equivalents. Surviving examples in better grades are genuinely scarce — the 1934 transition gave holders little reason to preserve high-denomination notes rather than redeem them.