1992 Australia Uncut Block of Four $5 XXV 25th Anniversary Sydney Fair Banknote
Front Description:
Genuine uncut block of four Australian Five Dollar paper banknotes, issued by the Reserve Bank of Australia to mark the 25th anniversary of the $5 note, released at the Numismatic Association of Australia’s International Coin/Banknote Fair in Sydney, 21–22 November 1992, with the matching Note Printing Australia presentation folder.
Each note is printed in pink, mauve, orange and yellow with fine engine-turned security underprint. The four notes are arranged in a two-by-two block with full uncut sheet margins and printer’s registration target marks visible at the right edge.
The face of each note carries “AUSTRALIA” across the top and the numeral “5” in bold outlined figures at the upper left and upper right, with “FIVE DOLLARS” running vertically in the left selvedge panel.
The right-hand portrait is of Sir Joseph Banks, the botanist of Cook’s first voyage, shown in profile-facing three-quarter view with grey hair and a dark coat, his surname “BANKS” engraved beside the portrait. The left portion of the design is a composition of Australian botanical specimens — banksias, flowering shrubs, seed pods and leaves — rendered in detailed engraved line work, reflecting Banks’s botanical collections.
Beneath are the two engraved signatures, captioned “GOVERNOR, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA” (B. W. Fraser) at left and “SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY” (A. S. Cole) at right. Below is the legal tender text: “THIS AUSTRALIAN NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER THROUGHOUT AUSTRALIA AND ITS TERRITORIES.”
The upper left note carries a special red overprint in the left selvedge panel reading “25TH ANNIVERSARY 1967 – 1992.”
The serial numbers all carry the commemorative “XXV” prefix (Roman numeral 25): the upper left note reads “XXV 013232,” the upper right “XXV 017232,” the lower left “XXV 013732” and the lower right “XXV 017732” — the characteristic sheet-position numbering of an uncut block.
Condition (technical): uncirculated, approximately UNC grade. Crisp, bright paper with full original colour, no folds, no handling marks, and full uncut margins with registration marks intact.
Back Description:
Printed in matching pink, orange and mauve. Each note carries “AUSTRALIA” across the top with the numeral “5” at the upper left and at the right.
The portrait at left is of Caroline Chisholm, the nineteenth-century philanthropist and immigrant welfare campaigner, shown in a bonnet-style lace cap and ruffled collar, her name “CAROLINE CHISHOLM” engraved beneath. To her right is a composition of colonial Sydney scenes rendered in fine engraving, including a harbourside street of buildings with a tall-masted sailing ship moored behind, and a group of women and children’s faces representing the immigrant families she assisted. Signage within the vignette reads “Shipping Gazette” and “Family Colonization Loan Society — Originated by Mrs. Chisholm.” At the right edge a square-rigged sailing ship is shown under full sail on stylised waves.
The accompanying Note Printing Australia folder is printed in pink and orange, featuring the Joseph Banks portrait at right, botanical engravings at left, a large “5” numeral, and “AUSTRALIA” in outlined capitals. The header reads “25TH ANNIVERSARY OF AUSTRALIA’S $5 NOTE, FIRST ISSUED 29 MAY, 1967” with “FIVE DOLLARS” beneath, and “BLOCK OF FOUR” at the upper right. The Note Printing Australia logo appears at the right. The lower text reads: “Issued at the Numismatic Association of Australia’s International Coin/Banknote Fair, Sydney 21/22 November 1992.” A simulated serial number “NAA 000001” appears at the lower right.
Estimated Era:
Confirmed as issued 21–22 November 1992 at the Numismatic Association of Australia’s International Coin/Banknote Fair in Sydney, marking the 25th anniversary of the Australian five dollar note, first issued 29 May 1967. The notes are from the paper $5 series (the Banks/Chisholm design) bearing the Fraser/Cole signature combination, with the special commemorative XXV serial prefix. Australia replaced the paper $5 note with a polymer issue in 1992, making this anniversary block one of the final paper $5 products released.
