On 5 November 1910 the Commonwealth Gazette announced a competition for the design of new 10/-, £1 and £5 notes, the first official Federation paper currency. The prize was £50 for each denomination. No entries were considered suitable, note printers Bradbury Wilkinson & Co were given the task and three years later the Commonwealth Government launched its distinctive new currency.
The 10/- was issued after a ceremony at King’s Warehouse, Melbourne, on 1st May 1913 to celebrate the numbering of the first note (M000001) by Judith Denman, the daughter of the Governor General.
The £1 and £5 notes came into circulation in September and the £10 in October. The £20 note (the first and only of its type) was issued in 1914 and remained in circulation until 1938.
Similarly, there was only one issue of the £50 (1914 - 1940) and of the £100 note (1914 - 1945).
The £1,000 note, also issued in 1914, was initially available to the public, but within a year it was used only for exchange purposes between banks.
Between them, the notes carry 13 different signatures for Secretary to the Treasury; Chairman of Directors, Note Issue Department; Governor of the Commonwealth Bank and its successor, the Reserve Bank of Australia.