Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
5 Pounds Without reverse underprint
| Issuer | Commonwealth of Australia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1913 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Pounds |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Printed in blue and green, the note is framed by a fine guilloche border with numeral '5' repeated in each corner. The Commonwealth of Australia coat of arms appears in a circular vignette at left, flanked by ornate scrollwork. The central text area carries the promise-to-pay inscription in letterpress, with serial number panels at upper centre and two manuscript signatures at lower centre, above the imprint of the Australian Note Printer. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 5 5 The COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIAN NOTE The Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Australia promises to pay the Bearer FIVE POUNDS in gold coin on Demand at the Commonwealth Treasury at the Seat of Government. £ FIVE 5 5 |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Australia's first Commonwealth note issue launched in 1910 displaced the notes of the private trading banks, but the early designs went through rapid revision. This variant — without the reverse underprint — predates the security enhancement added to later runs of the same denomination, making it the earlier of the two distinct printings. T. S. Harrison was the inaugural Commonwealth Note Printer, appointed when the government deliberately chose domestic production over contracting to established British security printers.
The Collins-Allen signature combination places this firmly in the first years of operation at the Melbourne note printing facility. Collins as Secretary to the Treasury, Allen as the Commonwealth Note Printer's deputy — a pairing that did not last long before personnel changes reshuffled the authorized signatories.