Description and research notes
Proof specimen printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. between 1905 and 1910 for the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney—one of Australia’s oldest and most respected private banks, founded in 1834. The CBC operated independently until its 1981 merger with the National Bank of Australasia, forming today’s NAB.
The note’s design captures the late-Edwardian peak of Bradbury, Wilkinson craftsmanship: elaborate guilloché, multicolour underprint, and symbolic vignettes including a cherub with a ram’s head representing commerce and abundance. Its heavy perforations and broad margins identify it as a proof rather than a circulation specimen, created to demonstrate design and engraving quality before full production.
Unlisted in Pick and graded PMG 63 EPQ Choice Uncirculated (Top Pop), this specimen marks the transition from private colonial issues to the newly centralised Commonwealth currency introduced after 1910. It reflects both the confidence of early-twentieth-century Australian banking and the enduring partnership between London engravers and Australian financial institutions.