Nearly 500 New Zealand notes on offer

Nearly 500 bank note lots will headline a combined notes, coins, tokens, errors and medals auction on offer from Mowbray Collectables May 25-26.

Among the 920 lots in the catalog are Chinese, Scottish, English, and United States notes.

The New Zealand bank notes start in the 1840s with rare shin plasters, such as the unique 5 Shillings signed by pioneer retailer James Smith, issued in 1845.

This is followed by more than 80 trading bank notes representing the six major banks in the country that survived until private bank issues were replaced by Reserve Bank of New Zealand issues in 1934. This sale contains one of the largest collections of scarce trading bank notes ever assembled. There are notes issued by long-closed institutions such as the Colonial Bank, which failed after the 1893 banking crisis, with examples from One Pound to Fifty Pounds proofs and specimens; a Bank of Auckland ten pounds color trial of 1865-67; and unissued Otago Banking Company 1850’s 10 shillings to five pounds.

Amongst the top examples is one of the finest Bank of New Zealand One Pound notes from the 1898-1902 fifth issue, estimated at $NZ12,000 ($8,800) in Very Fine condition, and the Union Bank of Australia 5 Pounds of 1905 in gF, estimated at $NZ5000 ($3,600). Higher denominations are hard to find, but the auction includes a National Bank of New Zealand 50 pounds proof of 1873, first issue in gEF, estimated at $NZ3200 ($2,400).

Hard-to-find high denominations feature in the Reserve Bank post 1934 notes, too. The key Lefeaux fifty pounds is offered in an attractive overall “otherwise gF,” estimated at $NZ15,000 ($11,000). Fifty Pound notes from the other major signatories are all available, including the scarce Fleming R 109691, with about ten known with prefixes prior to the more common late R 199 series.

Over 100 New Zealand error notes will be featured, ranging from a spectacular butterfly and other printing folds to wet ink transfers and serial errors. Most are decimal but with a handful of predecimal errors.

A rare Scottish note is The Banking Company in Aberdeen, 1799, Five Shillings, estimated at $NZ4500 ($3,300). While the grade rates as good, very few of these are available.

For more information, visit www.mowbraycollectables.com or email david.galt@mowbrays.co.nz.

More Collecting Resources

• Order the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money, General Issues to learn about circulating paper money from 14th century China to the mid 20th century.

• When it comes to specialized world paper money issues, nothing can top the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money, Specialized Issues.