Articles

Occasionally we come across excellent articles which we feel provide great insight into particular areas of rare banknote collecting. They are reproduced in our blog with credit to the authors.

Thomas Horton James and the Sydney Bank (Peter Symes)

During the 1820s New South Wales went through prosperous times but only one bank was reaping the benefits of the boom. While some companies had been issuing private notes for a number of years, such as the Waterloo Company, banking business was limited to the Bank of New South Wales. In January 1826 the Bank declared an impressive half-yearly dividend of £9/5/- [i] on shares worth £30/10/-, an announcement that led a group of the colony’s pastoralists and government officials to establish a second bank. The result of their endeavours was the Bank of Australia [ii] , which opened for business on 3 July 1826.

The Australian Banking Company (Peter Symes)

Accompanying this article is an illustration of an unissued banknote, prepared for the Sydney Banking Company of Sydney. Of the banknotes prepared for issue by the Australian Banking Company, but never placed into circulation, this banknote is one of two types known to exist [i] . The Australian Banking Company failed in dramatic circumstances in the 1890s, but the all-too-familiar story of avarice and greed behind the company and its abortive banknote issue gives an intriguing insight into the era in which the banknote was produced.