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1/2 Sovereign
| Issuer | Commonwealth Bank of Australia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923-1933 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 176 × 78 mm |
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| Obverse description | Portrait of King George V at right, with the Royal Arms of Australia at left. The central field carries a typeset promise-to-pay inscription within a decorative border with guilloche elements. The note title and denomination appear in bold letterpress at the top. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | The Commonwealth of Australia Australian Note The Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Australia promise to pay the bearer Half a Sovereign in gold coin on Demand at the Head Office of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia |
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| Comments |
Australia's half sovereign notes occupy an odd bureaucratic space: they were issued to correspond with the gold half sovereign coin, which itself was effectively demonetized as bullion was called in following World War I. The Commonwealth Bank inherited the note-issuing function from the individual state banks under the 1911 Australian Notes Act, but the half sovereign denomination lingered as a relic of the pre-Federation currency framework well into the interwar period.
Rarity varies sharply by signature combination. The Cerutty/Collins pairing is considerably scarcer than Riddle/Heathershaw, and the earliest Cerutty/Collins examples command multiples over the commoner varieties.