Catalog
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| Issuer | World Expo 88 |
|---|---|
| Year | 1988 |
| Type | Souvenir banknote |
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| Obverse description | Multicolour vignette across the centre depicts sailing vessels on the Brisbane River beneath stylised expo pavilion tents, overlaid with a bold geometric collage of colourful abstract motifs in red, blue, and yellow. The numeral '5' appears at upper left with 'FIVE EXPO DOLLARS' in vertical letterpress at the left margin. A guilloche-patterned pyramidal structure occupies the lower right corner. |
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| Obverse lettering | WORLD EXPO 88 FIVE EXPO DOLLARS 5 AUSTRALIA'S BICENTENARY 1788-1988 BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND APRIL 30-OCTOBER 30, 1988 This note may be used as legal tender only inside World Expo 88 grounds between April 30 and October 30, 1988 |
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| Comments |
World Expo 88, held in Brisbane from April to October 1988, issued these souvenir notes as commemorative novelties rather than any form of redeemable currency. The American Bank Note Company's involvement — by then a prestige printer on reputation more than volume — gave the pieces a veneer of authenticity that pure in-house print runs couldn't match.
ABNC was in serious financial decline by the late 1980s and would file for bankruptcy in 1999. This note is among the later commissions from a house whose finest work was already decades behind it.