Australian Pound - Banknotes

Banknotes

Numerous private banks issued paper money in Australia, starting with the issues of the Bank of New South Wales in 1817. Acceptance of private bank notes was not made compulsory by legal tender laws but they were widely used and accepted. The Queensland and New South Wales governments also issued notes. The Queensland treasury notes were legal tender in Queensland.

The first national issue of paper money consisted of overprinted notes from fifteen private banks and the Queensland government, issued between 1910-1914 in denominations of £1, £5, £10, £20, £50 and £100. They were overprinted with the words "Australian note". No £100 banknotes of this series are known to exist.

In 1913 the first national banknotes were introduced in denominations of 10s, £1, £5, and £10. 1914 saw the introduction of £20, £50, £100, and £1000 notes. The £1000 note only saw limited circulation and was later confined to inter-bank use. Stocks were destroyed in 1969 and there are no uncancelled examples of this note known to exist in private hands. There were two types of the never-issued 5s note, one around 1916 and the other 1946, both had the reigning monarch and were later destroyed in 1936 and 1953, respectively.

In the mid-1920s a modified 10s (worded as "Half Sovereign"), and reduced-size £1, £5 and £10 notes were issued with the side profile of King George V on the face. These notes still referred to the currency's convertibility to gold on demand. A newer £1000 note with the profile of George V was also prepared but never issued. An unissued printer's trial of this note was discovered in London in 1996 and subsequently sold for a sum in excess of $200,000. Nonetheless, this note is not recognised as a legitimate Australian banknote issue.

Just after the start of the Great Depression in 1933, Australian currency ceased to be redeemable for gold at the previously maintained rate of one gold sovereign for one pound currency. Subsequently a new series of Legal Tender notes were designed, once again bearing the portrait of King George V, in denominations of 10s, £1, £5 and £10. These denominations and designs were maintained and modified to accommodate the portrait of King George VI in 1938. For both issues £50 and £100 specimens were prepared, but were not issued.

The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 saw the issue of a new portrait series of prominent persons in Australia's history.

• 10s – Captain Matthew Flinders
• £1 – Queen Elizabeth II
• £5 – Rear Admiral Sir John Franklin
• £10 – Admiral Arthur Phillip
• £50 - Sir Henry Parkes (This note was never issued to the public. A few specimens exist in bank collections, with one in private hands.)
• £100 - Sir Edmund Barton (This note was never issued to the public. A few specimens exist in bank collections, with none in private hands.)

Unissued notes that were printed but never issued for circulation include two different 5-shilling notes, a 1916 with stock destroyed in 1936, and a 1946, stock destroyed in 1953. Both were printed with the reigning king's portrait. Two fifty-pound notes were designed, one from 1939 with King George VI and a 1951 as stated above. Both stocks of the £50 note were destroyed in 1958. A 1939 £100 also exists with a brown, green and pink colouration, with stock destroyed in 1958 as well. The last unissued note was a £1000, with specimens arriving in 1923 and kept till 1928 after a decision not to use the denomination any further. The reserve bank holds specimens of all the stated banknote denominations.