The Australian one-pound note was the most prevalent banknote in circulation with the pound series, with the last series of 1953–66 having 1,066 million banknotes printed. The first banknotes issued were superscribed notes purchased from 15 banks across Australia and printed with ''Australian Note'' and were payable in gold. Upon decimalisation in 1966, it was worth two dollars.

Historic £1 note

In May 2015, the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

announced that it had discovered the first £1

banknote A banknote or bank notealso called a bill (North American English) or simply a noteis a type of paper money that is made and distributed ("issued") by a bank of issue, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued by commerc ...

printed by the

Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It has a total area of , making it the sixth-largest country in ...

, among a collection of

specimen banknote A specimen banknote is printed generally in very limited quantities for distribution to central banks to aid in the recognition of banknotes from a country other than their own. In some cases, specimen banknotes are printed in less limited quant ...

s. This uncirculated

Australian Pound The pound (sign: £, £A for distinction) was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 14 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. Like other £sd currencies, it was subdivided into 20 shillings (denoted by the symbol s o ...

(£1) note, with the serial number (red-ink) P000001, was the first piece of currency to carry the

Coat of Arms of Australia The coat of arms of Australia, officially the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, is a formal symbol of the Commonwealth of Australia. It depicts a shield, containing symbols of Australia's six states, and is held up by native Australian animals, the ka ...

, and carries the imprinted signatures of George Allen (

Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

; 1 January 1901 – 13 March 1916) and James Collins (Assistant Secretary, later Secretary; 14 March 1916 – 26 June 1926). Soon after its production in 1913, it was presented to the then

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Andrew Fisher Andrew Fisher (29 August 186222 October 1928) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the fifth prime minister of Australia from 1908 to 1909, 1910 to 1913 and 1914 to 1915. He held office as the leader of the Australian ...

, who retained it until 1927 when he gave it to then prime minister

Stanley Bruce Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne (15 April 1883 – 25 August 1967) was an Australian politician, statesman and businessman who served as the eighth prime minister of Australia from 1923 to 1929. He held office as ...

for donation to the Parliamentary Library. At that time, the National Library was part of the Parliamentary Library. There is a contemporaneous record in the

National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

of the accession of the note into the national collection. The curator of the collection said that the note had been placed it into a conservation sleeve sometime in the past 30 years, and that notes with similar rarity and provenance and age to this note, have been sold for over A$1m.

National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...

br>finds Australia's first pound note, thought to be lost for nearly 80 years
Jordan Hayne,

ABC News Online ABC News, also known as ABC News and Current Affairs, is a public news service produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The service covers both local and world affairs, broadcasting both nationally as ABC News, and across the Asia- ...

, 5 May 2015

Signature combinations

Collins and

Allen Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Univ ...

(1913, 1914)Cerutty
and James Collins (1918)

Miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ...

and James Collins (1923)
Kell and James Collins (1926)
Kell and James Heathershaw (1927)
Ernest Riddle and James Heathershaw (1927)
Ernest Riddle and Sheehan (1932)
Sheehan and McFarlane (1938)Armitage
and McFarlane (1942)
H.C. Coombs and George Watt (1949)
H.C. Coombs and Wilson (1952)

Footnotes

References

* * {{Australian currency Banknotes of Australia 1910 establishments in Australia 1965 disestablishments in Australia One-base-unit banknotes Economic history of Australia

Historic £1 note

Signature combinations

See also

Footnotes

References