Description and research notes
This £10 Sterling Circular Note specimen was prepared for The Bank of New South Wales at London as part of the bank's traveler-payment system linking the issuing office with correspondent bankers and the holder's supporting Letter of Indication. The face carries the London office designation and the printed open date field "19__", placing the form within the bank's 20th-century circular-note series.
At the top, the note is titled "The Bank of New South Wales" and "CIRCULAR NOTE for £10 STERLING." London is written beneath the denomination, while the opening instruction directs the instrument to the bankers mentioned in the accompanying Letter of Indication. The main text sets out the method of use, stating that the holder would present the note, the signature would be checked against the Letter of Indication, and payment of ten pounds sterling would be made without deduction at the exchange of the day on London, against the holder's draft on the London office of the bank endorsed on the note.
The face combines formal script with a large yellow-gold underprint built around the denomination 10 and an elaborate vertical engraved security panel at left containing "BANK OF N.S.W." The note is printed on pale blue-edged security paper carrying a large BANK OF NEW SOUTH WALES watermark together with broad surrounding ornamental watermark elements extending across much of the sheet.
Specimen status is recorded through a perforated SPECIMEN cancellation at the lower right of the face. The note remains fully unissued, with the operational fields blank and the Accountant and Manager lines unsigned.
The reverse contains the companion blank demand draft used when the circular note was cashed. It is drawn on The Bank of New South Wales, Old Broad St., London, and repeats the value as £10 Stg. and "TEN POUNDS Sterling value received." Blank ruled spaces were left for the place and date of issue, again using the printed "19__" date format.
A printed instruction on the reverse states that the draft should be signed in the presence of the banker cashing it. This instruction completes the control process described on the face and ties the reverse draft directly to the holder-identification procedure of the circular-note system. The perforated specimen cancellation remains visible from the reverse, and the watermark with its large ornamental elements can also be seen through the paper.
Together, the London office designation, 19__ date format, Letter of Indication reference, exchange-on-London settlement wording, reverse demand draft, perforated specimen treatment, and large institutional watermark preserve the full working structure of an early 20th-century Bank of New South Wales circular note. Pick Unlisted, this London £10 specimen is recorded here as R9 Extremely Rare, with this example representing the only known specimen of the exact form.
Related examples in this collection: Bank of New South Wales £20 Sydney Circular Note Specimen, Bank of New South Wales £10 Brisbane Circular Note Specimen, Bank of New South Wales £10 Melbourne Circular Note Specimen.