Kangaroo Island banknote

Uniface; kangaroo at upper left. Couple slight residue areas on back. Two "X" over signature area; with neither serial number nor signature. Text states "On behalf of the Directors of the South Australian Company I promise to pay the bearer in demand either in cash or upon London, at my option, the sum of 1 Pound Sterling".

Sometimes banknotes can appear from the most unlikely of places and as we found out,there are evn antarctican dollars but this note in particular comes from Kangaroo Island,never heard of it eh??Well a little story about the island then



Kangaroo Island (near Adelaide) was discovered by Captain Matthew Flinders on March 2, 1802. No island dwellers were found, but an abundance of food in the form of kangaroos was sighted. In his journal, Flinders stated that "the whole ship's company was employed this afternoon in the skinning and cleaning of kangaroos. After four months' privation they stewed half a hundredweight of heads, forequarters and tails down into soup for dinner, on this and the succeeding days, and as much steak given, moreover to both officers and men as they could consume by day and night. In gratitude for so seasonable a supply, I named this south land 'KANGAROO ISLAND'."

The first European explorers found the Island to be uninhabited, as evidenced by the lack of campfires and tameness of the wildlife. Since the 1930s, Aboriginal campsites have been discovered in a number of areas around the Island, including one near the sea lion colonies of Cape du Couedic. Today, it's believed Aboriginal people were living on the Island at least as long as 16,000 years ago (before the Island was separated by rising sea levels) and as recently as 2,000 years ago.

Between 1806 and 1836, Kangaroo Island was occupied intermittently by whalers and sealers, and also permanently by runaway convicts, ship deserters, farmers, and others. During this time, Americans came and left the island. William Walker, of Nicaragua fame, was among the settlers.Why the Aboriginal people abandoned Kangaroo Island - and how they left - remains a mystery. Intriguingly, mainland indigenous peoples called it ‘Karta' or ‘Land of the Dead'.

Today, Kangaroo Island remains inhabited. There is even a Kangaroo Island Football League!
Kangaroo Island is a true wildlife sanctuary. Owing to its isolation from the mainland, the Island has suffered less from the impact of European settlement and retains more than half of its native ‘old-growth' vegetation - a vast area of some 2,250 square kilometres.Today, more than one-third of the Island isdeclared Conservation or National Park and it has five significant Wilderness Protection Areas. So Kangaroo Island continues to be a special and protected place.

But other then the fact that an extremely rare banknote came from Kangaroo Island,it has so much in it.Its rich in animals and a nice tourist destination during the holidays as well as plenty of places to visit.Do visit there one day especially if you live in Australia.