Catalog
5 Pounds National Bank
| Issuer | The National Bank Limited |
|---|---|
| Year | 1908-1914 |
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| Currency | Pound (1826-1971) |
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| Obverse description | At upper centre, a finely engraved intaglio vignette of Hibernia seated, crowned, playing a harp, with a sailing ship in the background; to her left, the arms of the National Bank with two lion supporters and a harp shield. An oval guilloche panel at upper right bears the denomination numeral 'FIVE', with a matching ornate script 'Five' cartouche at lower left. The central field carries the promise-to-pay text in cursive script over a green 'FIVE POUNDS' underprint, flanked by the serial number repeated on both sides. Below the central vignette, the names of the bank's branch network are listed in six lines of small letterpress type, with 'For the Directors and Company' in script at lower right. The entire design is framed by an elaborate engine-turned border. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Reverse is unprinted, showing plain paper with no design, vignette, or lettering of any kind, consistent with early twentieth-century Irish commercial bank note practice. |
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| Comments |
The National Bank Limited was one of Australia's major trading banks, and this pre-war series was printed by Perkins, Bacon & Co. — a firm far better known for engraving postage stamps than banknotes, though they held a significant share of colonial and early Commonwealth currency printing contracts throughout this period. The quality of their intaglio work was generally high, and their security printing reputation rested heavily on their philatelic output.
Private trading bank notes in Australia circulated alongside Commonwealth Treasury notes after 1910, when the federal government first entered the currency field. The National Bank continued issuing until legislative pressure made private issue increasingly unviable, with the series running out by 1914.