Australia first banknote is set to go on sale for $3.5 million by Coinworks in a private sale. The 10-shilling note issued in 1 May 1913 is the first banknote of the Commonwealth of Australia with a Serial Number M000001. The unique note will be exhibited in the Hall of Honour at the World Stamp Expo in Melbourne from May 10 to 15. The note is being sold through Coinworks in Melbourne on behalf of administrators McGrathNicol.
The note displayed the Commonwealth Coat of Arms and a scene of the Goulburn Weir, Victoria on the reverse. Built between 1887 and 1891, the Goulburn Weir was an advanced structure for its time, and an important component in Australia's irrigation scheme.
On 1st May, 1913 a numbering ceremony was held at the King's Warehouse, Victoria, when Judith Denman, the infant daughter of the Governor-General Lord Denman, numbered the first Australian currency note with the serial number M 000001. The Number One Note was hand numbered by the Governor General’s five year old daughter Judith Denman. The note was subsequently presented to her by Prime Minister Andrew Fisher. Lord Denman resigned his position as Governor General in 1914 and the family returned to England. The Honourable Anne Judith Denman died in 1987.
Her effects were being sorted in 1999 and note M000001 turned up in a letter file housed in a contemporary Government House envelope marked in pencil “Judith’s 10/- Note May 1at 1913”. The Number One Note is offered with the accompanying historical envelope.
A private collector in Sydney subsequently purchased the note for $1 million in 2000. It was then sold in 2008 to a private note dealer for almost $2 million, the highest paid for an Australian note or coin. It is believed that only about 20 of the 10-shillings notes remain in circulation.
Award winning craftsman Anton Gerner has been commissioned by Coinworks to produce a presentation box for the note. The note will be protected by glass in a frame that can easily be removed from a magnificent hand crafted Tasmanian wood presentation box.
Saturday 11 May has been declared ‘Number One Note’ Day. At 3pm on that day Australia Post will launch an official release of the ‘First Australian Banknote’ Stamp honouring the Number One Note.
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