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5 Pounds Colonial Bank of New Zealand
| Issuer | Colonial Bank of New Zealand |
|---|---|
| Year | 1889-1895 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette at upper centre comprises a shield bearing the bank monogram, flanked by two allegorical female figures, with a ship visible in the background. The overall composition is rendered in intaglio on a fine guilloche underprint, with the bank's promises and authorising inscriptions arranged across the face. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | INCORPORATED BY ACT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1874 THE COLONIAL BANK OF NEW ZEALAND PROMISE TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND THE SUM OF FIVE POUNDS STERLING AT THEIR OFFICE HERE DUNEDIN FOR THE COLONIAL BANK OF NEW ZEALAND |
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| Comments |
The Colonial Bank of New Zealand was a Dunedin-based institution that operated from 1874 until its absorption by the Bank of New Zealand in 1895 — a forced amalgamation driven by the severe colonial depression of the 1890s, which had badly damaged the Colonial Bank's loan portfolio, particularly its exposure to struggling pastoral and agricultural accounts. The BNZ itself required a government bailout shortly after, suggesting the merger solved rather less than its architects intended.
Bradbury Wilkinson produced the plates in London, a common arrangement for Australasian private banks of the period that lacked local security printing infrastructure. The date range of this series maps almost exactly onto the bank's final years of independent operation.