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5 Pounds National Bank
| Issuer | The National Bank Limited |
|---|---|
| Year | 1929-1934 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Pound sterling (1929-date) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Unlimited for Note Issue - Established 1835 The National Bank Limited I Promise to pay the Bearer on Demand Five Pounds at Belfast For the Directors and Company |
| Reverse description | The reverse is dominated by a large ornate guilloche cartouche in brown intaglio, enclosing a central oval vignette of a seated classical female figure — Hibernia — resting against a harp in a rural landscape. The denomination '£5' appears in bold script at both left and right within the decorative surround, which is composed of intricate engine-turned scrollwork, floral rosettes, and shell motifs. |
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| Comments |
The National Bank Limited was an Australian private trading bank, not a central authority — its banknotes circulated alongside those of rival institutions well before the Commonwealth Bank moved to consolidate the note issue. This particular series bridges the last years of genuine private bank currency in Australia; the Banking Act of 1945 would eventually eliminate competing issuers entirely, but the pressure had been building since the Commonwealth Bank gained its note monopoly in 1910, leaving private banks to run down existing series through the 1920s and into the 1930s.
The National Bank itself merged with the Colonial Bank of Australasia in 1918, and was later absorbed into the National Australia Bank lineage through successive amalgamations.