Mortgages, Money and Me

Finding a Brass Razoo

Worthless or Priceless?

A Brass Razoo is a fictional Australian unit of currency that supposedly had origins in World War I. It is more of a concept than anything, most well known with the phrase “I’m so broke (without money) I dont even have a Brass Razoo”.

‘Did you have any bank to kick off with?’ ‘Not a razoo’, returned his companion. From ‘The Doings of Dave’ by C Drew, p28, 1919

Some years ago now I found a keyring at the Post Office that was actually this elusive Razoo. It made me laugh, and I have carried it ever since as a sort of a good luck token, knowing that no matter what life throws at me I will always have my Razoo! Interestingly a number of people over the years have offered to buy it from me, and I had not seen another since… so maybe the Razoo is not so worthless as it would first appear?

‘… Out there is the worst mob of bastards ever collected on one job. You wouldn’t credit it. There’s not one amongst them worth a razoo.’ From ‘The Shiralee’ by D’Arcy Niland ,p69, 1955

Recently, I did see another one online (a different design), and I offered to buy it for $25. Does this mean that the market has set the price?

So there you have it… while utterly worthless, the Razoo is often looked for and and rarely found. Perhaps it is actually priceless.

If you want your own Razoo, ask us for one… we had some made specially, so you might just be in luck!