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5 Pounds - Victoria Union Bank of Australia Limited
| Issuer | Union Bank of Australia Limited |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Reference(s) | P#S373 |
| Obverse description | A portrait vignette of Queen Victoria appears at the top centre, flanked by the bank's title and denomination inscriptions in letterpress. A seated allegorical figure of Britannia occupies the lower right, accompanied by her shield, spear, and lion, rendered in fine intaglio engraving. The face is further enriched with guilloche underprint patterns and multiple textual legends specifying the place of payment as Wellington, New Zealand. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | NEW ZEALAND NEW ZEALAND THE UNION BANK OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED WE PROMISE TO PAY THE BEARER HERE ON DEMAND FIVE POUNDS STERLING WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND NEW ZEALAND |
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| Comments |
The Union Bank of Australia was a London-incorporated institution — not an Australian one in any practical sense of governance — and that relationship with British capital is reflected in the consistent use of Waterlow & Sons throughout the bank's note-issuing history. Waterlow produced high-quality intaglio work for colonial and dominion banks across the Empire, and the Union Bank's notes were among the more technically accomplished circulating in Australia during the interwar period.
By 1923, the writing was already on the wall for private banknote issue in Australia. The Commonwealth Bank had been issuing notes since 1913, and legislative pressure to consolidate the currency was building steadily. This note dates from the tail end of a practice that would effectively end within the decade.