Description and research notes
Photographic proof for the 50 Dollars traveller's cheque prepared for The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited during the 1965 Bradbury Wilkinson and Company design and approval sequence. Mounted on cardstock and dated 1 April 1965 in manuscript below the proof image, this piece records the early photographic review stage for the top denomination, following the 23 March 1965 submitted design proof and preceding the 12 April 1965 review letter noted on the companion colour proof.
The proof reproduces the 50 Dollars design in monochrome, allowing the engraved structure and tonal balance of the top denomination to be studied without the full rose and pink colour scheme. The design shows the large corner denomination tablets, strong rectangular border, C.B.C. Travellers' Cheque title panel, central bank-name field, scripted amount line, drawer's signature area, and the repeated security underprint across the background. The central Australia map device and circular bank medallion remain visible beneath the main typography, preserving the shared visual language of the 10 Dollars, 20 Dollars, and 50 Dollars series.
Its date places it at a precise and important point in the surviving approval trail. The 50 Dollars colour design proof was submitted on 23 March 1965 and carries the left-margin annotation referring to the 12 April 1965 letter. The 20 Dollars photographic proof is dated 31 March 1965. This 50 Dollars photographic proof, dated 1 April 1965, follows immediately after it, showing that both higher denominations were under active photographic review within days of the original March submission. Together, the 31 March and 1 April photographic proofs preserve the printer's early technical examination of the March design stage.
The cardstock-mounted photographic format is central to the piece's importance. It records the design as an unpunched photographic review state, isolating density, contrast, text hierarchy, and background strength during the first review phase of the top denomination. This is especially meaningful when viewed beside the later 15 June 1965 revised 50 Dollars photographic proof, where the bank-name field is brought forward on a lighter horizontal reserve and the proof carries the single round control punch associated with the formal proof sequence. Together, the two 50 Dollars photographic proofs preserve the movement from early photographic review to revised approval-stage presentation.
Within the broader Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited 1965 traveller's cheque group, this 50 Dollars photographic proof forms the early top-denomination review record. The March 20 Dollars and 50 Dollars submitted proofs establish the first formal design stage. The 31 March 20 Dollars photographic proof and this 1 April 50 Dollars photographic proof show the immediate proof-room review process. The later 15 June 1965 50 Dollars revised photographic proof and the approved 10 Dollars design proof then carry the sequence into the accepted June design direction and July approval stage.
As a dated, mounted photographic proof of the highest denomination in the series, this piece is a discovery-level archival survivor. Its 1 April 1965 manuscript date, unpunched photographic review state, cardstock mounting, top-denomination role, and direct relationship to both the March 50 Dollars submitted proof and the revised 15 June photographic proof make it one of the central technical records in the Bradbury Wilkinson and Company approval trail for The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited's decimal-era traveller's cheque programme.