Lot 1520

Description

Bank of Australasia, Sydney, one pound, not dated, proof, on printed vertical lined watermarked paper, stuck down on paper, (this reinforcing the note), no imprint but inscribed in pencil, below Royal Arms 'Incorporated by Royal Charter 1835' and under vignettes 'Hobart Town' on the left and 'Sydney' on the right, engraved probably by Perkins Bacon (?), London, but not inscribed, all within rectangular spiral border, black on white, (Vort-Ronald fig 55, [p.57] This Note and further comment p.58). Ink stain upper left corner, stuck down on paper, otherwise nearly extremely fine and extremely rare.

This type was not present in the Perkins Bacon Archive sale in May 1995. The Bank of Australasia was founded in 1835 and it merged with the Union Bank (founded 1837) to form the Australia and New Zealand Bank Limited (now ANZ bank) in 1951. The proof note of the first issue is characterised by the extremely attractive vignettes of the early settlements at Sydney and Hobart.