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Introduction and Acknowledgment
Let me begin by saying [again] that I find the record keeping of Australian Banknote numbers, and other identifying features, by the relevant
authorities as disgraceful. Were it not for the diligence and countless hours spent by collectors [including retail sellers] we would all be in a
state of continuous dilemna. My many thanks go to D.A.Wood whose selfless hours of investigation have enabled this page to be possible. He has
produced two articles for the Australian Coin & Banknote Magazine [August 2009 and November 2011] covering the topic of First and Last banknote
prefixes with Plate Identification Letters being a contributing factor in this research. This page is a reproduction of information obtained from both
articles as well as other new information that is being constantly discovered and made available.
My sincere thanks to Dennis Wood for the considerable work he has put into this area of banknote information.
First and Last Prefix Letters
There are 156 different First and Last Prefixes in the signature combinations from the
Coombs/Wilson $1 First Prefix (AAA) to the
Fraser/Cole $100 Last Prefix (ZLD).
This also includes the two varieties of the Knight/Wheeler $1 Test Notes
(DBP 000001 - 500000 and DBP 500001 - 999999).
There is another change within a signature combination which gives us an extra First and Last Prefix to collect.
From 11th June, 1974, during the signature combination of J.G.PHILLIPS and F.H. WHEELER, on a directive from the then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, the
legend on the top edge of our banknotes was changed from COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA to AUSTRALIA.
That meant we now have two different legends to collect with these signatures.
In the $1 note range, I believe all of the listings for all signature combinations are correct.
In the $2 note range, I believe all of the listings for all signature combinations are correct.
In the Knight/Wheeler signature combination we find that the $2 and $5 denominations start with GOTHIC CENTRE THREAD, change to the
GOTHIC SIDE THREAD and change again to the OCR-B SIDE THREAD.
We move onto the $5 Knight/Wheeler.
A little note of help when looking for the PREFIX NVC, correctly identified by
Greg McDonald as being the LAST PREFIX in both the GOTHIC CENTRE THREAD and GOTHIC SIDE THREAD.
Recently I purchased an example of an NVC prefix which had its thread position exactly in the middle of the two approximate thread positions
of 55mm and 70mm – 62.5mm.
Using a bit of detective work and a great deal of luck, I eventually worked out my purchase was a SIDE THREAD variety.
Before 1971 serial numbering on our decimal banknotes started at 000001 to 1000000.
After this time star notes were not printed and banknotes were electronically counted. They were printed in the reverse
sequence of 999999 to 000001. With this in mind and knowing the CENTRE THREAD was the first variety that moved to SIDE THREAD
variety. I had three other examples of the prefix NVC that I could see were definitely SIDE THREAD. Fortunately their serial numbers
were all higher then my troublesome note so by logic it had to be a SIDE THREAD. My highest numbered notes
were a pair NVC 592378/379. I am not sure when the change took place but the higher the serial number, the greater
the chance it is a CENTRE THREAD. I now have a $5 Knight/Wheeler NVC CENTRE THREAD.
In the $10 note range, I believe all of the listings for all signature combinations are correct.
In the $20 note range, I believe all of the listings for all signature combinations are correct.
In the $50 note range, I believe all of the listings for all signature combinations are correct.
The signature combination of Knight/Wheeler did not make an appearance in the $100 denomination.
Discrepancy
Serial numbers of Fraser/Cole and Fraser/Higgins $50 notes
There was a duplication of the LAST prefixes batch for Fraser/Higgins and the FIRST prefixes batch for Fraser/Cole.
Those batches both being WBT – WDD.
Records show the LAST batch of $50 Fraser/Higgins as WBT–WDD with serial numbers of 860001 to 999999.
They also show the FIRST batch of $50 Fraser/Cole as WBT–WDD with serial numbers 000001 to 860000.
The beauty of banknotes over coins, they have serial numbers!!!
I have two examples of LAST PREFIX $50 Fraser/Higgins, WDD 394844 and WDD 569633 (well under the reported range 860001 to 999999).
I have an example of a FIRST PREFIX $50 Fraser/Cole , WBT 014770, which does fit into the books serial range for Fraser/Cole,
BUT if one serial range is wrong so must the other be wrong to cover the full print run of 1,000,000.
So my conclusion is the correct notes printed for each signature type should be serial number ranges for batches WBT – WDD:
$50 Fraser/Higgins prefixes batch WBT – WDD , numbers 140001 to 999999 only.
$50 Fraser/Cole prefixes batch WBT – WDD , numbers 000001 to 140000 only.
Therefore with $50 Fraser/Higgins there should be a total of 860000 notes printed in this prefixes batch and
with the $50 Fraser/Cole there should be a total of only 140,000 notes printed in this same prefixes batch.
This is a huge difference and makes it much rarer so this should be reflected this fact in their relative values,
making the $50 FRASER/COLE WBT – WDD notes valued higher then the Fraser/Higgins notes.
Print Error
The 2012 Pocket Guide to Australian Coins and Banknotes by Greg McDonald contains a print error regarding the
r406aL/Mc186b Knight/Wheeler $20 Last Prefix Centre Thread banknote.
The history of that note in that publication is
2009 Page 405 XSU [to be confirmed]
2010 Page 405 XSU [to be confirmed]
2011 Page 405 XSJ
2012 Page 403 XSJ
The Rennicks Australian Coin and Banknote 24th Edition [March 2011] shows XSU [Page 210] as the correct prefix.
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