Description and research notes
Rejected design proof for the 20 Dollars traveller's cheque prepared by Bradbury Wilkinson and Company, London, for The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited. Submitted on 23 March 1965 and later annotated in the left margin "Not approved, letter 12.4.65," this sheet preserves the first formal 20 Dollars design presented within the bank's important 1965 three-denomination traveller's cheque sequence. It stands at the heart of the documented approval trail that links the March submitted designs to the later June revision phase and, ultimately, to the approved 10 Dollars proof of 15 June 1965.
The design is visually rich and highly finished, showing Bradbury Wilkinson and Company's mature security-printing language in full expression. Blue-green and lavender toning is organized through a dense guilloche framework, over which the central inscription panel is set with formal clarity. Behind the lettering appears the large pale Australia map motif carrying the circular "C.B.C." medallion, a unifying emblem used across the series. The denomination tablets, broad signature line, and carefully balanced engraved borders give the proof a dignified corporate presence while preserving the elegance expected of a major London security printer working for an Australian banking institution at the threshold of decimal reform.
Its physical features place it securely within the March 1965 submission stage. The proof carries the "As Submitted 23.3.65" notation at the top and the decisive handwritten review note at the left margin recording the 12 April 1965 rejection letter. A round control punch appears at the right, and both printed facsimile signatures are present, confirming the sheet as a presentation-stage proof from the original approval process. These characteristics connect it directly with the companion 50 Dollars rejected design proof from the same 23 March 1965 submission, establishing both pieces as parallel records of the first design direction shown to the bank.
This 20 Dollars proof gains additional importance when viewed within the wider surviving Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited archive group. The related 20 Dollars photographic proof dated 31 March 1965 shows that review work on this denomination began almost immediately after submission. The 50 Dollars photographic proofs then extend the story into April and, crucially, to the revised 15 June 1965 design stage, the same date carried by the approved 10 Dollars proof that anchors the accepted outcome of the series. In this way, the present 20 Dollars sheet is not an isolated rejected proof but a key early record in a coherent Bradbury Wilkinson proof-room sequence.
As an annotated archival survivor from a discovery-level traveller's cheque approval trail, this piece is of exceptional importance. Its submission date, rejection note, control punch, printed signatures, and exact place within the March to June 1965 design progression elevate it far beyond an ordinary specimen. It is best understood as one of the defining records of The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited's traveller's cheque development, preserving the first formal 20 Dollars design in a rare surviving chain of submission, review, revision, and approval.