Catalog
50 Pounds
| Issuer | City Bank of Sydney |
|---|---|
| Year | ND (1910) |
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| Composition | Cotton paper |
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| Obverse description | Left vignette of a classical female figure standing beside a shield and maritime equipment within an oval frame, with a kangaroo vignette above. Bank title 'The City Bank of Sydney' runs across the top with a numeral '50' medallion at upper right. A large red guilloche underprint of 'FIFTY' overlays the central promise-to-pay text, with printed serial numbers and date fields below. Lower panel carries a decorative 'Fifty' legend; stamped 'CANCELLED'. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | The City Bank of Sydney I promise to pay the Bearer on Demand the Sum of Fifty Pounds Sydney For The City Bank of Sydney Fifty CANCELLED Ent. Acc. Manager. |
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| Comments |
The City Bank of Sydney had a short and troubled corporate life — it was absorbed into the Bank of New South Wales in 1918 after a prolonged period of weakness, and notes from its later years are correspondingly rare. By 1910 Australian private bank currency was already in structural decline, with federation having created the conditions that would eventually produce a unified national note issue under the Australian Notes Act of 1910.
A 50 Pounds denomination from any private colonial or post-federation Australian issuer represents the high end of commercial transaction currency — not pocket change, but working capital for pastoral and merchant accounts. Few circulated hard, and fewer still survived intact.