Bank of Australasia

Bank of Australasia
 
SECURITY TYPE: Bills of Exchange
YEAR: 1877
INITIAL PRICE: Proof
NUMBER OF SHARES: 3
COLOUR: Cream
AGE: 149
SIGNATURE: 
CERTIFICATE OWNER: 
PRINTER: Threadneedle Street London
CONDITION: Very Fine
 
HISTORY
This is an unused Bank of Australasia bill of exchange form, likely for remitting funds to London. The Bank of Australasia was founded by royal charter in 1834, opened its first branch in Sydney in 1835, and became one of the early banks that helped finance trade and settlement across colonial Australia. It expanded to other colonies including Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne and Adelaide, and remained an important commercial bank through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1951 it merged with the Union Bank of Australia to form the Australia and New Zealand Bank, making it one of the predecessor institutions of modern ANZ.