Aust. Banknotes - Private Bank Issues
Lot 3933 Session 15 (7.30pm Thursday) Aust. Banknotes - Private Bank Issues
Estimate $4,000
Bid at live.noble.com.au
SOLD $4,300
THE COMMERCIAL BANK OF AUSTRALIA, specimen five pounds, Melbourne 18-, No. A 40001/A50000 (MVR.P135) by Bradbury Wilkinson & Co. London (Perforated). Uncirculated and rare.
The Commercial Bank of Australia was founded in 1866 in Melbourne and originally concentrated on small business and on farming. It was the only Australian Bank to include inscriptions in Chinese on the banknote (probably as claimed that a prominent Chinese businessman on the first Board, recognised the potential of the large minority of the overall population who were migrants from China). The text in Chinese translates as 'One Pound New Gold Mountain', (the Chinese name for Melbourne, as San Francisco had been translated into Chinese as Gold Mountain at the time of the Californian Gold Rush a few years earlier).
Update (26 Mar 16): Provenance removed.
Estimate / sale price does not include buyer's premium (currently 22% including GST) which is added to hammer price. All bids are executed on the understanding that the Terms & Conditions of sale have been read and accepted. For information on grading and estimates please refer to the Buying at Auction advice.
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Adjacent lots
Lot 3931
BANK OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, one pound, Adelaide 1st July 1881, No A 081644, imprint of ...
Estimate $3,000
Lot 3932
BANK OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, specimen one pound, Adelaide 1st April 1884, No B90001/C090000, pencilled top ...
Estimate $1,500
Lot 3933 This lot
THE COMMERCIAL BANK OF AUSTRALIA, specimen five pounds, Melbourne 18-, No. A 40001/A50000 (MVR.P135) by ...
Estimate $4,000
Lot 3934
COMMERCIAL BANK, Hobart, Tasmania, second issue, uniface black and white printer's proof on paper, one ...
Estimate $500
Lot 3935
COMMERCIAL BANK, Hobart Town, Tasmania, second issue, black and white printer's proof on paper, ten ...
Estimate $800