The first signature combination
The Australian £1000 note was introduced at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914
because of the the hoarding of gold. The Australian Government saw the need for some other
way of settling balances between the banks, apart from the physical transfer of the precious yellow metal.
A total of 88,585 Collins/Allen Thousand Pound Notes were printed, with 52,600 believed to have been released.
They were available to the public until June, 1915. At that time, Denison Miller, Governor of the Commonwealth Bank
advised Secretary of the Treasury Allen that there were 'enormous risks' arising from differences in colour,
size and paper quality which offered little safeguard against forgery. His words were heeded and soon the notes ceased
to circulate, to be used exclusively for the banks for exchange between themselves.
A check in 1921 revealed that several hundred noted were unaccounted for. By 1931, this number had fallen to 66.
Most of the notes were destroyed in 1969. None are known to be in private hands. Cancelled specimens exist in a number
of museums. There are reports that in September, 1964, a £1000 note was donated to Reverend Sir Irving Benson of
the Methodist Central Mission. Although unconfirmed, it is said to have been acquired by a private Melbourne collector.
Surviving examples of this note have been limited to a few cancelled specimens held in Bank, Museum and Gallery
collections. This was until one of these notes, a cancelled specimen with the serial number 2A 058383 was auctioned
by Noble Numismatics in their Melbourne July 1998 sale. It sold for $94,000. The note is perforated with the word
"Cancelled" twice and also four larger cancellation holes. It is graded as "good Very Fine" with
thinning from gum attached at an earlier time.
The second note
The Commonwealth Bank's Notes Board decided to introduce a new design for the One Thousand Pound note in 1922. A
specimen for the note was made in England in 1923. In 1928, the board decided not to proceed with the new note.
The specimen remained unknown until it surfaced and was sold for the record price of $250,000 in 1994.
Lot 200 at the International Auction Galleries Auction 68 held on 21st September, 2008
was a One Thousand Pound Unissued Secimen 1923 - 1928 Type II banknote - in VF grading - which realised a price of
$890,000
The second signature combination
A total of 35,985 Kell/Collins Thousand Pound Noted were printed. They were not available to the public, the
banks were the exclusive users of the notes for exchange between themselves. The 1914-1925 design notes continued
to be used for settlements between banks and within the departments of the Reserve Bank of Australia after its
establishment in 1961. In 1969 changed accounting procedures meant that the notes were no longer required and
the remaining 29,000 notes were destroyed.
- £20 - 506
- £50 - 2,830
- £100 - 2,146
- £1,000 - 317
These notes only appear very rarely, so any valuations are largely hypothetical.
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