Fforde £10 Portrait (B316) GEF/UNC

Bank of England £5 with The Duke of Wellington vignette.

The O’Brien Britannia £1 note was the last Britannia £1 to be issued by the Bank of England (B273/P369c). During O’Brien’s term as Chief Cashier the Bank decided to issue notes with the portrait of the reigning monarch for the first time in it’s history. Until 1960, the portrait of Britannia had been the only illustration on Bank of England notes. These O’Brien Britannia £1 notes were the very last in that long tradition. They have always proved just that bit more elusive to track down than some of the earlier Britannia issues. These are wonderful notes in spectacular condition from an original block, issued almost 50 years ago. About Uncirculated- the last of the Britannia Pounds.

The Bank of England issued the £10 note with Charles Darwin on the back in November 2000 while Merlyn Lowther was Chief Cashier. The first notes which rolled off the presses had an error in the Copyright panel with an extra ‘The’ appearing in the inscription. So many millions were printed before the bank realised its mistake and corrected the error that this is now regarded as a separate variety. We can offer Crisp Uncirculated versions of the Corrected Lowther Darwin £10. (B390) They are distinguished from the previous issue by the removal of the extra word ‘The’ in the copyright legend. These paper £10 notes, disappeared from circulation are now over 17 years old and increasingly difficult to find in high grade. Crisp Uncirculated Lowther Corrected £10 note.