Commonwealth of Australia 5 Pounds banknote 1928 King George V
Commonwealth Bank of Australia 1923-1933 Issue
Obverse: Medallion profile portrait of His Majesty King George V by Sir Bertram Mackennal, R.A., Sculptor to the King & Coat of arms of Australia at left. The nominal value £5 at center and in each corner of the banknote. Signatories: Sir Ernest Cooper Riddle, Governor Commonwealth Bank of Australia & Mr. James Thomas Heathershaw, third Secretary to the Australian Government Department of the Treasury (1926–1932).
Reverse: The design on the back of five pound notes issued between 1913 and 1932 features a vignette of the Hawkesbury River near Peat’s Ferry in New South Wales, Australia. The nominal value £5 at center.
Watermark: Light basketweave around edges and "£5" (twice) in centre Dark "Commonwealth" above and "Australia" below centre.
Size: 180 mm x 78 mm.
Printer: These notes were designed and printed by the Australian Note Printer, Thomas Harrison, who also printed the first series of notes. The 1923/24 series came to be known as the "Harrison Series".
The average weekly wage in 1928 was slightly more than £5, while the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that the equivalent amount today is just shy of $1,500. That is an incredible amount of purchasing power to have during the Great Depression that followed just a few short years after this note was printed.
Australian banknotes - Australia paper money
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
ND (1923-1927) King George V facing left - Signature title at left "Chairman of Directors. Note Issue Dept. Commonwealth Bank of Australia"
Half Sovereign One Pound 5 Pounds 10 Pounds 1000 Pounds
ND (1925-1933) King George V facing left - Signature title at left "Governor Commonwealth Bank of Australia"
Half Sovereign One Pound 5 Pounds 10 Pounds
Hawkesbury River
The Hawkesbury River, is a semi–mature tide dominated drowned valley estuary located to the west and north of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, virtually encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney.
The Hawkesbury River has its origin at the confluence of the Nepean River and the Grose River, to the north of Penrith and travels for approximately 120 kilometres (75 mi) in a north–easterly and then south–easterly direction to its mouth at Broken Bay, about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the Tasman Sea. The Hawkesbury River is the main tributary of Broken Bay. Secondary tributaries include Brisbane Water and Pittwater, that together with the Hawkesbury River flow into the Tasman Sea at Barrenjoey Head.
The total catchment area of the river is approximately 21,624 square kilometres (8,349 sq mi) and the area is generally administered by the Hawkesbury–Nepean Catchment Management Authority.
The land adjacent to the Hawkesbury River was occupied by the Darkinjung, Darug, Eora, and Kuringgai Aboriginal peoples. They used the river as a source of food and a place for trade.
Peats Ferry
The Peats Ferry, a ferry operated by George Peat from 1847 until the 1890s, linked two stretches of the Pacific Highway. The ferry service had been reinstated as a temporary measure in 1930 pending completion of the bridge, some forty years after the original Peats Ferry had ceased operation, made redundant by the completion of the Sydney-Newcastle railway in 1889. Prior to the construction of the bridge, the course of the Pacific Highway stretched from Kangaroo Point on the southern bank of the Hawkesbury River south to Hornsby and provided access to Sydney's northern suburbs and beyond. On the northern side of the Hawkesbury, from Mooney Mooney Point the Pacific Highway followed a mountainous route towards Mount White, Kariong, and then Gosford, on the route that is now the Central Coast Highway.