Catalog
50 Pounds
| Issuer | Bank of Australasia |
|---|---|
| Year | ND (1910) |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| 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) | P#A84 |
| Obverse description | Black intaglio print on white paper. Central vignette of two allegorical female figures in a pastoral landscape, flanked by oval guilloche panels inscribed FIFTY. The bank title arcs above in ornate lettering with INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER, 1835 below. Corner medallions and vertical QUEENSLAND lettering frame the design; promise-to-pay clause and FIFTY POUNDS inscription appear across the lower half. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE BANK OF AUSTRALASIA INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER, 1835 BRISBANE Promise to pay the Bearer on Demand FIFTY POUNDS at Brisbane Countersigned For the Bank of Australasia, MANAGER FIFTY QUEENSLAND 50 |
| 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 |
The Bank of Australasia was a British-chartered institution operating across the Australian colonies and New Zealand, ultimately absorbed into the ANZ Banking Group in 1951 after merger with the Union Bank of Australia. By 1910, private banknote issue in Australia was already in decline — the Commonwealth Bank had been established the previous year, and the handwriting was on the wall for colonial-era private paper.
Perkins, Bacon's involvement is significant. The firm's security printing pedigree ran deep, and their siderographic transfer process made plate duplication and counterfeiting genuinely difficult. At the £50 denomination, circulation would have been extremely limited to commercial and interbank transactions. Surviving examples are rare by any measure.