Description and research notes
Approved design proof for the 10 Dollars traveller's cheque prepared by Bradbury Wilkinson and Company, London, for The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited. Dated 15 June 1965 and annotated "As Submitted - Approved," this proof represents the accepted design direction for the bank's decimal-era traveller's cheque programme. Its light green colour, carefully balanced security background, centred Australia map vignette, and restrained corporate typography show the refined form reached during the June 1965 approval stage.
The design combines practical banking clarity with Bradbury Wilkinson and Company's late security-printing craftsmanship. The main inscription, "The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited," is held in a clear central field, while the surrounding microlettered ground and guilloche borders preserve the security character expected from a major London security printer. The pale green and emerald tonal structure gives the cheque a lighter and more readable appearance around the bank title, amount line, countersignature area, and drawer's signature field. This approved visual language connects directly with the broader 1965 proof-room sequence preserved across the companion 20 Dollars and 50 Dollars designs.
Several physical features identify this sheet as the accepted approval-stage record. The round control punch appears at the left, directly over the countersignature and facsimile-signature area. A fine red approval line runs along the lower margin and records the approval wording and 15 June 1965 submission date. The small "B1" notation appears in the upper right corner, almost certainly functioning as an internal Bradbury Wilkinson and Company plate, layout, or colour-stage reference. The sheet also preserves manuscript filing notes and printer's-room handling marks, giving it the character of a retained archival approval record from the original production process.
Within the surviving Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited 1965 proof group, this 10 Dollars piece is the approved anchor of the sequence. The 20 Dollars and 50 Dollars submitted proofs record the March 1965 design stage, while the photographic proofs record the printer's review and revision process. This 10 Dollars proof, submitted on the same 15 June 1965 date as the revised 50 Dollars photographic proof, stands as the accepted endpoint of that documented design progression.
As an annotated Bradbury Wilkinson and Company approval proof for an unlisted Australian traveller's cheque type, this piece is best understood as a discovery-level archival survivor. Its approval wording, date, control punch, B1 marking, and direct connection to the wider 1965 proof-room trail place it among the most significant known records of The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited's decimal-era traveller's cheque development.