Catalog
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
| Issuer | Reserve Bank of Australia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1997 |
| Type | Pattern or trial banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Vignette of the new Parliament House in Canberra rendered in fine intaglio line work at centre, overlaid on a large circular orange and purple guilloche rosette, with architectural elevation drawings in the background. The numeral '5' appears at upper right and the word 'Australia' runs vertically along the left margin. A transparent window with an embossed Eastern Spinebill motif is visible at lower left. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Transparent window, Microprinting, Serial number |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Australia's polymer notes were the product of decades of joint research between the Reserve Bank and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, with the five-dollar denomination first issued in polymer form in 1992. The P#55A belongs to a later print run and incorporates refinements to the clear window register that had caused minor production headaches in the earliest polymer issues — misalignment between the window cutout and the surrounding print layer was a known fault in some early batches.
Note Printing Australia had by this point licensed the polymer substrate technology internationally, meaning the same manufacturing process used here was already being adopted by other central banks. The domestic note was, in a sense, a demonstration model as much as a circulation piece.