2013 Australia Centenary of the First Commonwealth Banknote PNC $1 and 20c UNC

2013 Australia Centenary of the First Commonwealth Banknote PNC $1 and 20c UNC

The first banknote issued by the Commonwealth of Australia was a 10 shilling note bearing the serial number M000001. The official numbering ceremony of the note took place on May 1913 at the government printing works in Melbourne.

The number was printed on the note by the Honourable Judith Denman, the five-year-old daughter of the Governor General, Lord Denman. 

Those also in attendance at the ceremony included the Prime Minister Andrew Fisher; the Governor of the Commonwealth Bank, Denison Miller; Thomas Samuel Harrison, the Australian Note Printer; and Judith's seven-year-old brother Thomas Denman. 

The note is blue in colour and represents the Australian Coat of Arms on the front and on the back, the Goulburn Weir in Victoria, symbolising the importance of water for the country. The 60c stamp depicts the numbering ceremony in 1913 and the $2.60 stamp features the Australian Coat of Arms as it appears on the first banknote no. M000001. 

A detail from the first banknote showing the number is reproduced on the right.

This PNC is limited to 15,000.