Sorry! This 1966 $2 Specimen Note Type 1 Coombs/Wilson Uncirculated has sold.

1966 $2 Specimen Note Type 1 Coombs/Wilson Uncirculated

 

Front: John MacArthur at right

Back: William James Farrer at left

Period on Issue: 1966

Mintage: Unknown


This is one of THE very first Australian $2 notes ever printed.

To mark the introduction of Australia's new decimal currency notes in 1966, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) prepared a special album that included two examples of each of the new denominations, as well as information on their design and production. It is known that 17 albums were personally named for the recipient and signed by the Governor of the Reserve Bank, and were presented to:

●       The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Governor-General (Lord Casey), The Governor General's Wife, (Mrs. Casey), The Prime Minister (Sir Robert Menzies), The Federal Treasurer (William McMahon), The Secretary to the Treasury (Sir Roland Wilson),    President of the Senate (Sir Alister McMullin),  Speaker in the House of Representatives (Sir John McLeay), Leader of the Opposition (Arthur Calwell), The Governor of the Bank of England (Retired, Lord Cromer), The Governor of the Bank of England (Lord Cobbold), The Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (Gilbert Wilson), the artist Alister Morrison, the artist Gordon Andrews and the artist Russell Drysdale.

An additional 235 albums were printed in exactly the same style, although they were not signed by the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia. Only 191 of these albums were actually distributed, to the following people and organizations:

●       The Governor of the Reserve Bank (Sir Herbert “Nugget” Coombs), The Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank, Reserve Bank Board Members, Members of the Design Panel, Major Trading, State, Savings & Foreign Banks, Commonwealth Central Banks, Other Central Banks, Libraries & other institutions in Australia & overseas, High Commissioner in London, People and Organizations on the General Manager's list (mostly printers and overseas banks), Reserve Bank Archivist, Retired Treasury officials as well as Mr. E. Kingsford Smith.
A total of 208 “Type I” specimen banknote albums were thus distributed.

If we presume that albums distributed to public collections will never be available to the collector market, it seems that at most, only 86 Type I Specimen note sets will ever be available to collectors.

Specimen banknotes are of great interest to collectors for the following reasons:
●    They are excessively rare;
●    They are printed before the commercial print run for the general public; and
●    They were generally presented to a “very restricted list of prominent persons”.

At the peak of the banknote boom, individual Type I decimal specimen notes were quite regularly bringing between $14,000 and $17,000 each.

The market has now eased of course, however certainly seems to be lifting off the bottom.

We haven't seen individual Type I decimal specimen notes trade in this current price range since the early 1990's - very few sets had been split up by that time, so individual notes were far and few between back then.

Some doomsayers will say that the supply of these notes has escalated dramatically since mid-2012 - the reality just doesn't match that perception.

If we take the Type I specimen $1 note, only 1 example has been seen at auction in 2021. 2 were seen in 2020, just 2 in 2019, 3 in 2018 and just 3 in 2017.

Given how important these notes are to any collector of Australian paper decimal notes, I hardly see that as being a flood!
This note remains in pristine condition - it is devoid of any creases, flicks or folds, and has an attractive sheen.

It remains as exclusive, rare, and historic as it did when comparable notes were selling for more than $14,000 each, and has to be excellent value for money.

SKU: 19653

Browse our catalog of Two Dollar Notes below:

Coin Name Reverse Obverse Price Status
1966 $2 Note Coombs/Wilson R81 Uncirculated 1966 $2 Note Coombs/Wilson R81 Uncirculated 1966 $2 Note Coombs/Wilson R81 Uncirculated $75.00 Available Now View Product
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1966 $2 Star Note Coombs/Wilson R81s Uncirculated 1966 $2 Star Note Coombs/Wilson R81s Uncirculated 1966 $2 Star Note Coombs/Wilson R81s Uncirculated $2,950.00 Available Now View Product
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1974 $2 Note Australia Phillips/Wheeler R85 Uncirculated 1974 $2 Note Australia Phillips/Wheeler R85 Uncirculated 1974 $2 Note Australia Phillips/Wheeler R85 Uncirculated $60.00 Available Now View Product
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1976 $2 Note OCR-B Serials Side Thread Knight/Wheeler R86C Uncirculated 1976 $2 Note OCR-B Serials Side Thread Knight/Wheeler R86C Uncirculated 1976 $2 Note OCR-B Serials Side Thread Knight/Wheeler R86C Uncirculated $20.00 Available Now View Product
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1983 $2 Note Johnston/Stone R88 Uncirculated 1983 $2 Note Johnston/Stone R88 Uncirculated 1983 $2 Note Johnston/Stone R88 Uncirculated $20.00 Available Now View Product
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1985 $2 Note Johnston/Fraser R89 Uncirculated 1985 $2 Note Johnston/Fraser R89 Uncirculated 1985 $2 Note Johnston/Fraser R89 Uncirculated $10.00 Available Now View Product
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Australian Paper $2 Note Issued 1975 ~ 1984 Great Condition Australian Paper $2 Note Issued 1975 ~ 1984 Great Condition Australian Paper $2 Note Issued 1975 ~ 1984 Great Condition $3.00 Available Now View Product
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1966 $2 Note Consecutive Run of 4 Coombs/Wilson R81 good EF 1966 $2 Note Consecutive Run of 4 Coombs/Wilson R81 good EF 1966 $2 Note Consecutive Run of 4 Coombs/Wilson R81 good EF $95.00
Last sold for this price on 16/2/2023
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1966 $2 Note FAA First Prefix Coombs/Wilson R81F Fine 1966 $2 Note FAA First Prefix Coombs/Wilson R81F Fine 1966 $2 Note FAA First Prefix Coombs/Wilson R81F Fine $250.00
Last sold for this price on 4/7/2021
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1966 $2 Note Star Note Coombs/Wilson R81S good EF 1966 $2 Note Star Note Coombs/Wilson R81S good EF 1966 $2 Note Star Note Coombs/Wilson R81S good EF $1,500.00
Last sold for this price on 1/7/2022
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1966 $2 Specimen Note Type 1 Coombs/Wilson Uncirculated 1966 $2 Specimen Note Type 1 Coombs/Wilson Uncirculated 1966 $2 Specimen Note Type 1 Coombs/Wilson Uncirculated $3,100.00
Last sold for this price on 26/5/2021
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1967 $2 Note Coombs/Randall R82 Extremely Fine 1967 $2 Note Coombs/Randall R82 Extremely Fine 1967 $2 Note Coombs/Randall R82 Extremely Fine $50.00
Last sold for this price on 1/6/2024
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1967 $2 Note Coombs/Randall R82 Uncirculated 1967 $2 Note Coombs/Randall R82 Uncirculated 1967 $2 Note Coombs/Randall R82 Uncirculated $140.00
Last sold for this price on 20/4/2023
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1967 $2 Note Consecutive Trio Coombs/Randall R82 Extremely Fine 1967 $2 Note Consecutive Trio Coombs/Randall R82 Extremely Fine 1967 $2 Note Consecutive Trio Coombs/Randall R82 Extremely Fine $150.00
Last sold for this price on 7/6/2024
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1968 $2 Note Coombs/Randall FPS Last Prefix R82L about EF 1968 $2 Note Coombs/Randall FPS Last Prefix R82L about EF 1968 $2 Note Coombs/Randall FPS Last Prefix R82L about EF $225.00
Last sold for this price on 13/10/2022
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1968 $2 Note Coombs/Randall FPS Last Prefix R82L Very Fine 1968 $2 Note Coombs/Randall FPS Last Prefix R82L Very Fine 1968 $2 Note Coombs/Randall FPS Last Prefix R82L Very Fine $135.00
Last sold for this price on 17/11/2022
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1968 $2 Note Phillips/Randall R83 Uncirculated 1968 $2 Note Phillips/Randall R83 Uncirculated 1968 $2 Note Phillips/Randall R83 Uncirculated $75.00
Last sold for this price on 4/4/2024
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1968 $2 Note Star Note Consecutive Trio Phillips/Randall R83s Extremely Fine 1968 $2 Note Star Note Consecutive Trio Phillips/Randall R83s Extremely Fine 1968 $2 Note Star Note Consecutive Trio Phillips/Randall R83s Extremely Fine $3,750.00
Last sold for this price on 23/7/2022
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1968 $2 Note Star Note Coombs/Randall R82S about VF 1968 $2 Note Star Note Coombs/Randall R82S about VF 1968 $2 Note Star Note Coombs/Randall R82S about VF $700.00
Last sold for this price on 16/12/2021
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1968 $2 Note Star Note Phillips/Randall R83S good EF 1968 $2 Note Star Note Phillips/Randall R83S good EF 1968 $2 Note Star Note Phillips/Randall R83S good EF $1,250.00
Last sold for this price on 30/8/2024
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1968 $2 Note Star Note Phillips/Randall R83S Very Good 1968 $2 Note Star Note Phillips/Randall R83S Very Good 1968 $2 Note Star Note Phillips/Randall R83S Very Good $295.00
Last sold for this price on 6/9/2023
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1968 $2 Star Note Coombs/Randall R82S Very Fine 1968 $2 Star Note Coombs/Randall R82S Very Fine 1968 $2 Star Note Coombs/Randall R82S Very Fine $700.00
Last sold for this price on 12/4/2022
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1968 $2 Star Note Phillips/Randall R83s about VF 1968 $2 Star Note Phillips/Randall R83s about VF 1968 $2 Star Note Phillips/Randall R83s about VF $500.00
Last sold for this price on 3/4/2024
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1972 $2 Note Commonwealth of Australia Phillips/Wheeler R84 Uncirculated 1972 $2 Note Commonwealth of Australia Phillips/Wheeler R84 Uncirculated 1972 $2 Note Commonwealth of Australia Phillips/Wheeler R84 Uncirculated $75.00
Last sold for this price on 21/11/2023
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1976 $1 Note Knight/Wheeler 2mm Paper Crease Print Error R76A Extremely Fine 1976 $1 Note Knight/Wheeler 2mm Paper Crease Print Error R76A Extremely Fine 1976 $1 Note Knight/Wheeler 2mm Paper Crease Print Error R76A Extremely Fine $195.00
Last sold for this price on 18/3/2024
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1976 $2 Note Consecutive Run of 10 OCR-B Serials Side Thread Knight/Wheeler R86C about Uncirculated 1976 $2 Note Consecutive Run of 10 OCR-B Serials Side Thread Knight/Wheeler R86C about Uncirculated 1976 $2 Note Consecutive Run of 10 OCR-B Serials Side Thread Knight/Wheeler R86C about Uncirculated $250.00
Last sold for this price on 18/9/2022
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1976 $2 Note OCR-B Serials Centre Thread Knight/Wheeler R86B Uncirculated 1976 $2 Note OCR-B Serials Centre Thread Knight/Wheeler R86B Uncirculated 1976 $2 Note OCR-B Serials Centre Thread Knight/Wheeler R86B Uncirculated $95.00
Last sold for this price on 29/7/2021
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1979 $2 Note Knight/Stone R87 Uncirculated 1979 $2 Note Knight/Stone R87 Uncirculated 1979 $2 Note Knight/Stone R87 Uncirculated $20.00
Last sold for this price on 9/2/2024
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1985 $2 Note 28mm Print Flap Error Johnston/Fraser R89 Extremely Fine 1985 $2 Note 28mm Print Flap Error Johnston/Fraser R89 Extremely Fine 1985 $2 Note 28mm Print Flap Error Johnston/Fraser R89 Extremely Fine $224.25
Last sold for this price on 5/4/2021
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1985 $2 Note Bundle Johnston/Fraser R89 Uncirculated 1985 $2 Note Bundle Johnston/Fraser R89 Uncirculated 1985 $2 Note Bundle Johnston/Fraser R89 Uncirculated $650.00
Last sold for this price on 18/7/2024
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1985 $2 Note Consecutive run of 10 Johnston/Fraser R89 good EF 1985 $2 Note Consecutive run of 10 Johnston/Fraser R89 good EF 1985 $2 Note Consecutive run of 10 Johnston/Fraser R89 good EF $50.00
Last sold for this price on 4/4/2023
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1985 $2 Note Consecutive Run of 10 LQG Last Prefix Johnston/Fraser R89L about Unc 1985 $2 Note Consecutive Run of 10 LQG Last Prefix Johnston/Fraser R89L about Unc 1985 $2 Note Consecutive Run of 10 LQG Last Prefix Johnston/Fraser R89L about Unc $350.00
Last sold for this price on 20/4/2023
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1985 $2 Note Johnston/Fraser 4mm Registration Shift Error R89 about EF 1985 $2 Note Johnston/Fraser 4mm Registration Shift Error R89 about EF 1985 $2 Note Johnston/Fraser 4mm Registration Shift Error R89 about EF $150.00
Last sold for this price on 24/4/2024
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1985 $2 Note LQG Last Prefix Johnston/Fraser R89L Uncirculated 1985 $2 Note LQG Last Prefix Johnston/Fraser R89L Uncirculated 1985 $2 Note LQG Last Prefix Johnston/Fraser R89L Uncirculated $50.00
Last sold for this price on 21/5/2024
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1985 Run of 25 Consecutive $2 Notes Johnston/Fraser R89 about Unc 1985 Run of 25 Consecutive $2 Notes Johnston/Fraser R89 about Unc 1985 Run of 25 Consecutive $2 Notes Johnston/Fraser R89 about Unc $135.00
Last sold for this price on 20/10/2022
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Commonwealth of Australia Paper $2 Note Issued 1966 ~ 1975 Decent Condition Commonwealth of Australia Paper $2 Note Issued 1966 ~ 1975 Decent Condition Commonwealth of Australia Paper $2 Note Issued 1966 ~ 1975 Decent Condition $6.90
Last sold for this price on 13/8/2024
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