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Australia 1880–1910 Commercial Bank of Australia £100 specimen, PMG 64 Choice Uncirculated

Australia 1880–1910 - Commercial Bank of Australia £100 Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

That commercial strategy was reinforced at the institutional level. Prominent Chinese-Australian businessmen Lowe Kong Meng and Louis Ah Mouy were involved with the Commercial Bank of Australia from its foundation in 1866 and were among its important early shareholders, with both serving on the provisional committee. Kong Meng was one of colonial Victoria’s wealthiest merchants and Ah Mouy a leading businessman and Chinese community figure. Historical research directly links their involvement, and the bank’s Chinese inscriptions, with the desire to attract Chinese depositors and Chinese commercial business. The Commercial Bank therefore did more than acknowledge Victoria’s Chinese population: it incorporated Chinese recognition into the financial instrument itself as a competitive point of difference. Read more →

Kong Meng
AustraliaSpecimen1880100 PoundsPMG 64 Choice Uncirculated Specimen100 PoundsHigh DenominationCommercial Bank of AustraliaBradbury WilkinsonBWCSands & McDougallColonial SpecimenBilingualChinese-EnglishKong MengPick UnlistedColonial Banking HistoryAustralian Private BanknotesPre-Notes Act Era19th Century BankingMulticultural Trade NetworksSecurity Printing HistoryBritish Engraving InfluenceAustralian Monetary HistoryAustralia188019101880–1910PMG 64Museum GradeR9 Extremely RareUniqueAnnotationsHandwritten Annotations
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Australia 1877 City of Melbourne Bank Limited £20 specimen engraved by Bradbury Wilkinson, PMG 62 Uncirculated, unique surviving example

Australia 1877 - City of Melbourne Bank Limited £20 Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

The engraving is a characteristic example of Bradbury Wilkinson’s late Victorian security printing: a bold central title cartouche, finely balanced allegorical figures symbolizing commerce and navigation, and dense lathe-work designed to defeat contemporary counterfeiting. These elements were not decorative excess, but functional security features exported from London to colonial issuers seeking credibility and trust in rapidly expanding financial markets.

Australia 1877 Mercantile Bank of Sydney £1 specimen with red ONE overprint, Pick Unlisted, printed by Bradbury Wilkinson & Co., graded PMG 66 EPQ Gem Uncirculated Pop 1, only known example

Australia 1877 - Mercantile Bank of Sydney £1 Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

Produced in London by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co., the note displays the firm’s finely controlled intaglio characteristic of the 1870s: geometric borders, elaborate guilloches, and a bold typographic layout. The large red overprint “ONE” identifies it as an internal specimen, intended for reference or approval rather than circulation. Its pristine surfaces, confirmed by PMG’s Exceptional Paper Quality designation, reflect its archival preservation and the superior paper stock used for BWC’s specimen and proof work.

Australia Federal Bank of Australia Limited one pound Sydney specimen printed by Bradbury Wilkinson, annotated 1882, PMG 64 Choice Uncirculated

Australia 1879–1903 - Federal Bank of Australia, Limited £1 Sydney Specimen (Pick Unlisted)

The Federal Bank of Australia commenced operations in 1881 and expanded aggressively during the speculative land-boom years of the late nineteenth century. Its collapse during the catastrophic banking crisis of 1893 resulted in the rapid liquidation of assets and the withdrawal, redemption, and destruction of nearly all circulating notes. As a consequence, surviving material associated with the bank is almost entirely confined to printer’s proofs, archival specimens, and presentation examples retained outside Australia.

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