50 Pounds Dunedin, Bank of Australasia

The Bank of Australasia was a British-chartered institution operating throughout the Australian colonies and New Zealand, with its board sitting in London rather than the southern hemisphere. The Dunedin branch opened in 1864, arriving just as the Otago gold rush was winding down — the denomination suggests these notes were intended for large mercantile and inter-bank settlements rather than everyday commerce.

Perkins, Bacon & Petch were the dominant security printers of the Victorian era, their steel-engraved work appearing on stamps and banknotes across the British Empire. Notes of this type were printed in London and shipped to branch offices, with dates and serial numbers completed locally upon issue.

No surviving examples of P#S115 are presently recorded in the major auction archives.