Lot 3269

Description

Five Pounds, Riddle/Sheehan (1933), an officially issued Specimen note, with numbers R/0 000031, serial number in black and signatures in blue, watermarked with Prince of Wales to left. The note is perforated twice with the word 'Cancelled' (68 mm long) an upright cancellation on each signature, with 11mm high letters and then with 1mm black diagonal lines on both sides of the note, (R.44a, Vort-Ronald 38, McDonald 65). Crisp, nearly uncirculated and of the utmost rarity, the only specimen note of this type ever offered at auction.

A total of 20,338,000 were printed of this type with this signature combination. This number is recorded as part of a group of 31 numbers used for specimen notes (p.76 Vort-Ronald). It is the fourth specimen type, cancelled by two crossed black diagonal lines and the word 'Cancelled' perforated twice. This note (like all the specimen notes in this sale of this period) has the third last number used for the numbers allocated to these notes. Michael Vort-Ronald discussed this issue in 'Australian Banknotes' on pages 74-76 in chapter 7 on Specimen notes and pages 181-4 on the five pounds note issue.