Back in the early 1990s, when the Hawke Labor gummint abolished the $1 and $2 notes and switched to coins for those denominations – thus making Australian Heroine Caroline Chisholm give way to the monarch on the base polymer-plastic $5 notes – the Australian Republican Movement and The Republican Party of Australia jointly had 100,000 overstickers printed – with the head of Ms Chisholm to be stuck over the queen’s head on the first 100,000 of the new $5 notes which Members of both organisations came into contact with – a ‘patriotic’ endeavour both the ARM and RPA of the day estimated. And which gained both organisations some handy publicity as they ‘built their stocks’.
The RPA went ‘one further step’ in the aftermath of the relatively short, joint campaign. Because The Party has mostly always been a promoter of the still-nascent hemp paper industry in Australia it established the Republican Treasure Chest and had multi-thousands of the $1 + $2 + $5 notes (pre-1990) printed and has, as a fund-raising and an awareness-raising enterprise ever since, been marketing packs of the three ‘funny money’ notes.
Of course, as accredited numismatics currency, if these ‘funny money’ notes are kept pristine in their protective bags, inter-generationally they may appreciate in value over time. In packs of three, they decidedly have collector’s value. And historic relevance!
The Party sells these packs of three for $10 each (packaged & posted to anywhere in Continental Australia).
