½ Sovereign

Australia's half sovereign denomination in paper was always an awkward instrument — the face value mirrored a gold coin that had been effectively withdrawn from circulation by the time most of these notes were issued, making the "½ Sovereign" title a nominal holdover rather than a convertibility promise. The Commonwealth Bank's Note Printing Branch in Melbourne had taken over production from the Treasury Note issues of the previous decade, and the four distinct signature combinations across this series reflect considerable staff turnover at the Bank's senior levels through the late 1920s and into the Depression years.

Riddle & Sheehan signatures are the scarcest of the four pairings.