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POCKET GUIDE TO AUSTRALIAN BANKNOTES 1 Australian Panorama THE NATION'S FIRST BANKNOTES

First Series | 1913–1914

The first banknotes were signed by the Secretary and the Assistant Secretary of the Commonwealth Treasury, and the bottom centre was imprinted ‘T.S.Harrison, Australian Note Printer’. The banknotes included the statement: ‘The Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Australia promises to pay the Bearer in gold coin on Demand at the Commonwealth Treasury at the Seat of Government.’

10s

Front of the 10 shillings banknote, intaglio with letterpress background, first issued in May 1913.

Reserve Bank of Australia Archives NP-004209

The back image of the banknote featured the Goulburn Irrigation Weir, Victoria, built in the late 1880s as part of a major irrigation scheme to mitigate the effects of drought. Between 1911 and 1915 there were especially low rainfalls and so the choice of this image and those of agricultural prosperity may have sought to improve national morale.

Photograph by Charles Rudd of Goulburn Irrigation Weir, Victoria.

State Library of NSW H393585/51

Back of the 10 shillings banknote, intaglio with letterpress background, first issued in May 1913.

Reserve Bank of Australia Archives, NP-004209

£1

Front of the £1 banknote, intaglio with letterpress background, first issued in September 1913.

Reserve Bank of Australia Archives NP-003530

The back image of the banknote depicted gold miners of the Victoria Quartz Mine in Bendigo, Victoria which was the world's deepest gold mine at that time. The miners are working at approximately 1.2 kilometres beneath ground. The three miners at the centre of the image are W. Healey, F. Smith and J. Beveridge (left to right). The sketch is based on a photograph by William Vincent Kelly.

The Bulletin 28 September 1932

Back of the £1 banknote, intaglio with letterpress background, first issued in September 1913.

Reserve Bank of Australia Archives NP-003530

£5

Front of the £5 banknote, intaglio with letterpress background, first issued in September 1913.

Reserve Bank of Australia Archives NP-002132

Hawkesbury River, New South Wales, including Kangaroo Point and Sanitorium Hotel.

The back image of the banknote portrayed the Hawkesbury River, near Brooklyn, New South Wales. This town originally housed workers who built the Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge in 1889, then the longest bridge of its type in Australia. Around the turn of the century, the Hawkesbury area was also central to the expanding fishing and oyster cultivation industries.

State Library of New South Wales

Back of the £5 banknote, intaglio with letterpress background, first issued in September 1913.

Reserve Bank of Australia Archives NP-002132

£10

Front of the £10 banknote, intaglio with letterpress background, first issued in October 1913.

Reserve Bank of Australia Archives NP-002133

The back image of the banknote was adapted from a photograph of wagons transporting wheat grain to Narwonah railway station in central New South Wales, 1909, the year of a record crop.

State Archives & Records of New South Wales

Back of the £10 banknote, intaglio with letterpress background, first issued in October 1913.

Reserve Bank of Australia Archives NP-002133

£20

Front of the £20 banknote, intaglio with letterpress background, first issued in June 1914.

Reserve Bank of Australia Archives NP-002136

Photograph by J.W. Beattie titled ‘Tree felling, Gray Bros. Adventure Bay Saw Mill.’ The axemen are Edward David Murray Senior (back left); Edward David Murray Junior (front left); Tom Farrell (front right); Jack Cairns (back right). The back image of the banknote depicted timber cutting on Bruny Island, Tasmania. The tree being felled is believed to be a blue gum, a timber used by ship builders in Britain.

University of Tasmania, Australia Special & Rare Collections

Back of the £20 banknote, intaglio with letterpress background, first issued in June 1914.

Reserve Bank of Australia Archives NP-002136

£50

Front of the £50 banknote, intaglio with letterpress background, first issued in April 1914.

Reserve Bank of Australia Archives NP-003499

Photograph by Charles P. Scott of Merino sheep at Bungaree, South Australia, 1906.

Courtesy of the Hawker family

Back of the £50 banknote, intaglio with letterpress background, first issued in April 1914.

Reserve Bank of Australia Archives NP-003499

£100

Front of the £100 banknote, intaglio with letterpress background, first issued in February 1914.

Reserve Bank of Australia Archives NP-003504

The back images of the banknote featured waterfalls on the Upper Yarra River, Victoria and at Leura in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, which were popular holiday destinations. The vignettes of the images recall the style of the period's postcards.

‘Upper Cascade La La Falls’
Upper Yarra Museum, Victoria
Lower Leura Falls, c.1900-1910 albumen photoprint
State Library of New South Wales

Back of the £100 banknote, intaglio with letterpress background, first issued in February 1914.

Reserve Bank of Australia Archives NP-003504

£1000

Front of the £1000 banknote, intaglio with letterpress background, first printed in 1914.

Reserve Bank of Australia Archives NP-002147

Incineration of £1,000 banknotes in 1969.

Reserve Bank of Australia Archives PN-005414

Back of the £1000 banknote, intaglio with letterpress background, first printed in 1914.

Reserve Bank of Australia Archives NP-002147

Although the £1,000 banknotes were circulated initially, they were considered to be of poor quality and susceptible to forgery, and so in 1915 the Commonwealth Treasury required that the banknotes be used only by banks for settlements with each other. Subsequently, the banknotes were replaced by cheques and most of the remaining £1,000 banknotes were destroyed in 1969. Any banknotes still in private hands have been auctioned for large sums.

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