australia polymer banknotes

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2019 - Here I have a complete collection of all Australian polymer notes (single note) issued since 1988, including all commemorative / numismatic notes, joint issues and special serial numbered issues. The only set that I do not have, at the moment, is the 1998 $10 Portraits AA98/AB98 (with or without frame). This $10 Portrait set was a failure at that time and the series was later withdrawn as it was not popular among collectors. The price was not right then for me too and that was why I didn't buy them. It was the NPA intention then to release all portrait sets on a yearly basis starting with the $10 note and collectors were also given the opportunity to get them all with matching serial numbers too. Unfortunately this was not to be the case.

* Australian banknotes are also the official currency of Christmas Island, Norfolk Islands, Keeling and Cocos Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu. The Australian banknotes were also once circulating as an official currency of Hebrides (Vanuatu), Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands prior to gaining independence. *

"no borrowed scans here nor i cut and pasted from other web sites. all notes posted here are all mine"

14 February 2010

...Australia - $5 'BA' First Prefix Note

My opinion

Overseas collectors may sometimes wonder why Australian $5 polymer notes' first prefix is printed with  alphabets ‘BA’ and not ‘AA’ like the rest of the denominations.

Here is my brief explanation.

The last series of paper notes were all printed with 3-letter prefixes. The introduction of the polymer notes also saw a change in the numbering of the serial numbers. The two alphabets and the first two digits are the prefix and the remaining digits are the serial numbers. Whilst the first $5 polymer was introduced to the public in 1992, this new numbering system at that time used from ‘AA00’ to ‘AB19’. In 1993, NPA decided to incorporate the year date onto the note by printing the first two alphabets and followed by the year i.e. AA93. To the collectors, this is normally referred to as nd1993. However since the prefixes range from AA00 to AB19 have been used for the earlier prints, NPA decided not to have those prefixes repeated and has decided to commence the $5 general circulating notes prefix starting with ‘BA’ instead and as such between 1993 and 2015, all $5 circulating notes were printed with BA as the first prefix.

Despite saying this, however $5 ‘AA’ first prefix has been used for some issues, like the 1995 $5 recoloured note, but only for one year and it was then reverted back to ‘BA’ the following year. Also all annual folders series including both red (premium) and black series (deluxe) numbers were printed with AA prefixes.

In view of the above, it is unlikely that the $5 prefix with ‘AA’ letters will be used again for a very long time unless new series are issued.

Just a footnote for the First and Last letter prefixes collection in Australia. Since Australia ceased printing replacement notes in the 70s, many collectors have since then concentrated on the first and last prefix series. Generally speaking, last letters prefix notes command a much better premium than the first prefix notes. The explanation as to why is quite simple. Firstly, since the ‘Year Dated’ system was adopted, apart from the $5 note, first prefix notes for all other denominations were printed with letters ‘AA’. Collectors can easily recognise them. As for the last prefix notes, back in the early days when polymer notes were issued, such information was not that easily available to collectors. And for that most collectors would not be aware of such information until a few years later. Because of this, many collectors would have missed out on this and as such a higher premium is demanded by sellers/dealers.