| First and Last Prefix Letters |
Introduction and Acknowledgment
Let me begin by saying [again] that I find the record keeping of Australian Banknote numbers, and other identifying features, by the relevant
authorities as disgraceful. Were it not for the diligence and countless hours spent by collectors [including retail sellers] we would all be in a
state of continuous dilemna. My many thanks go to D.A.Wood whose selfless hours of investigation have enabled this page to be possible. He has
produced two articles for the Australian Coin & Banknote Magazine [August 2009 and November 2011] covering the topic of First and Last banknote
prefixes with Plate Identification Letters being a contributing factor in this research. This page is a reproduction of information obtained from both
articles as well as other new information that is being constantly discovered and made available.
My sincere thanks to Dennis Wood for the considerable work he has put into this area of banknote information.
First and Last Prefix Letters
There are 156 different First and Last Prefixes in the signature combinations from the
Coombs/Wilson $1 First Prefix (AAA) to the Fraser/Cole $100 Last Prefix (ZLD).
This also includes the two varieties of the Knight/Wheeler $1 Test Notes
(DBP 000001 – 500000 and DBP 500001 – 999999).
There is another change within a signature combination which gives us an extra First and Last Prefix to collect.
From 11th June, 1974, during the signature combination of J.G.PHILLIPS and F.H. WHEELER, on a directive from the
then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, the
legend on the top edge of our banknotes was changed from COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA to AUSTRALIA.
That meant we now have two different legends to collect with these signatures.
In the $1 note range, I believe all of the listings for all signature combinations are correct.
In the $2 note range, I believe all of the listings for all signature combinations are correct.
In the Knight/Wheeler signature combination we find that the $2 and $5 denominations start with
GOTHIC CENTRE THREAD, change to the
GOTHIC SIDE THREAD and change again to the OCR-B SIDE THREAD.
We move onto the $5 Knight/Wheeler.
A little note of help when looking for the PREFIX NVC, correctly identified by
Greg McDonald as being the LAST PREFIX in both the GOTHIC CENTRE THREAD and GOTHIC SIDE THREAD.
Recently I purchased an example of an NVC prefix which had its thread position exactly in the middle
of the two approximate thread positions
of 55mm and 70mm – 62.5mm.
Using a bit of detective work and a great deal of luck, I eventually worked out my purchase was a
SIDE THREAD variety.
Before 1971 serial numbering on our decimal banknotes started at 000001 to 1000000.
After this time star notes were not printed and banknotes were electronically counted. They were printed in
the reverse sequence of 999999 to 000001. With this in mind and knowing the CENTRE THREAD was the first variety
that moved to SIDE THREAD variety. I had three other examples of the prefix NVC that I could see were definitely
SIDE THREAD. Fortunately their serial numbers were all higher then my troublesome note so by logic it had to be a
SIDE THREAD. My highest numbered notes were a pair NVC 592378/379. I am not sure when the change took place
but the higher the serial number, the greater
the chance it is a CENTRE THREAD. I now have a $5 Knight/Wheeler NVC CENTRE THREAD.
In the $10 note range, I believe all of the listings for all signature combinations are correct.
In the $20 note range, I believe all of the listings for all signature combinations are correct.
In the $50 note range, I believe all of the listings for all signature combinations are correct.
The signature combination of Knight/Wheeler did not make an appearance in the $100 denomination.
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