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5 Pounds National Bank
| Issuer | The National Bank Limited |
|---|---|
| Year | 1929-1934 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | The bank title 'THE NATIONAL BANK LIMITED' arches across the top in bold letterpress, flanked by the denomination numeral '5' in each upper corner. A central heraldic vignette displays the bank's arms — a harp supported by two lions — beneath the 'Unlimited for Note Issue' and 'Established 1835' legends. The promise-to-pay text is rendered in copperplate script across the centre, with the denomination 'FIVE POUNDS' in large guilloche-framed letterpress, the £5 monogram at lower left, and a manuscript signature at lower right. |
|---|---|
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| 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.