The British Isles is a rich area for the banknote collector. Although the Bank of England is the primary issuer today, one should also not forget the issues of Scotland, Isle of Man, Jersey, and Guernsey and the 18th and 19th century when private banks proliferated. In this introduction we hope to give a taster of what is available to the collector in these areas. If you need further information our experts will be only too happy to help you. English Banknotes The English series of banknotes can be divided into two distinct areas- Treasury Notes and Bank of England issues. Treasury Notes Treasury notes were issued between 1914 and 1927 and are so called because they were issued by the Treasury and not by the Bank of England. The notes were intended as an emergency measure on the outbreak of the First World War. The Gold Sovereign and Half Sovereign were circulating as regular coinage at the time. To avoid hoarding, it was decided that these gold coins should be replaced by banknotes of the same value - the Pound note (£1) and the Ten Shilling note (10/-) These were the only values issued by the Treasury. The first notes were prepared in a tremendous hurry and pushed into circulation not long after war was declared in August 1914. The Treasury had no immediate access to proper banknote paper so they improvised by using paper normally used for postage stamps. This proved too fragile for everyday use and this first issue was soon replaced with notes printed on proper banknote paper in October 1914. The first notes were nicknamed 'Bradburys' after the signature of John Bradbury Secretary to the Treasury . Eventually , in 1917, these early issues were replaced with notes which were printed on both sides. This may not seem unusual today but these were the first English notes printed this way (Even the Bank of England notes were only printed on one side at the time) The two sided £1 notes had the Houses of Parliament on the back and St George slaying the dragon on the front alongside a portrait of King George V. The 10/- note also featured George V alongside Britannia holding a shield. In 1915 £1 and 10/- notes were produced for issue to British troops who fought in the ill fated Dardenelles campaign. These notes were overprinted in Arabic with the value in Turkish Piastres. These Dardenelles overprints are amongst the greatest rarities of the Treasury series. The campaign failed and very few of these notes were ever issued. The £1 note in particular is very rare. Sir John Bradbury was succeeded in 1919 by Sir Norman Fenwick Warren Fisher. His signature appeared on Treasury notes thereafter. The designs followed the last Bradbury issues. When Ireland was partitioned in 1922 there were changes to the headings of the notes. In 1927 it was changed to read United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in place of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. This variety had a short life because in 1928, a new act was passed giving the Bank of England responsibility for low value notes. The many varieties issued in such a short space of time make the Treasury period a fascinating area for collectors. Treasury Notes - Collecting Tips The first issue of Treasury notes rarely turn up in high grade and a collector should be satisfied with notes in VF/GVF condition. The fragility of the paper means that nicks and splits are quite common. EF/Uncirculated examples are considered rare and are priced accordingly. T3/3 in the £1 note and T9 in the 10/- are the most readily accessible varieties. The Second and Third issue Bradbury notes turn up in better condition but uncirculated notes are still rare. They survived better because the paper was more suited to the rigours of circulation. T12 is the most readily accessible 10/- note . Third Issue Bradbury 10/- notes are scarce. Warren Fisher notes in general are easier to locate in better grade. Bank of England Notes Notes have been issued by the Bank of England for three centuries from 1694 to date. Most collectors start with the Modern Series dating from 1928. Before 1928, the Bank of England issued only White Notes. During the 20th century, these were in denominations of £5 to £1000. In the 18th and 19th centuries White Notes for £1 and £2 circulated. The Bank also issued notes for payment at their provincial branches apart from London. These 'branch' issues are all highly sought after and were issued until 1939. November 22nd 1928 was a significant day in English banknote history. It was the day the Bank of England issued a £1 note for the first time in 100 years. The Bank also issued the Ten Shilling note for the first time ever. The new notes were a complete departure from the Bank's regular issue White notes. The £1 note was coloured green and the Ten Shillings red brown. They were printed on both sides. This series is known as the Britannia Series. The main illustration on both denominations was a vignette of Britannia, a feature of all Bank of England issues since its inception in 1694. Unlike the white notes, these £1 and Ten Shilling notes were not dated. So it's by the signature of the Chief Cashier that we are able to determine the approximate issue date. The first of the £1 and 10/- notes were signed by C P Mahon. His issues were very short lived because he was replaced as Chief Cashier in 1929 by B G Catterns. Catterns , in turn, was succeeded by K O Peppiatt in 1934. K O Peppiatt was one of the longest serving Chief Cashiers this century. His term was also witness to some of the most far reaching changes in English banknotes. The Second World War was responsible for many changes. The Germans attempted to ruin the British economy by flooding the country with counterfeit banknotes. They nearly succeeded. The fakes were so faithful to the originals that even the serial numbers were correct. Denominations of £5 to £50 were forged. The Bank responded with a series of changes to overcome the problem. All denominations over £5 were withdrawn. We had to wait 20 years before the £10 was reintroduced, 26 years for the £20 and 36 years for the £50. £50 remains the highest denomination. The most important change was the introduction of the metal security thread embedded in the note. The idea was developed by the Bank of England Printing Works and was first used on the £1 and 10/- notes issued in 1940 which were also dressed in emergency wartime colours of pink and mauve. A new variety of the White £5 was introduced in 1944. It also had a security thread but the paper was very thick. This proved very unpopular and by 1947 the Bank had reverted to the traditional flimsy paper but still using the security thread. After the war, the Bank returned to the traditional colours for the £1 and 10/- notes. With the exception of a short issue using stockpiled pre-war paper all new notes contained the security thread. In 1949, P S Beale succeeded K O Peppiatt. L K O'Brien served from 1955 to 1962 and it was during his term that the Britannia Series was discontinued and a new series was introduced. The White £5 was replaced by a new Blue £5 in 1957 with a dramatic rendition of a helmeted Britannia. This series was not continued because Queen Elizabeth agreed to her portrait being used. For the first time in the Bank's long history, the portrait of the reigning monarch appeared on its notes. This Portrait Series was introduced under L K O'Brien in 1960 and continued under J Q Hollom with the introduction of the £5 and £10 note. Portrait notes were also issued under J S Fforde and J B Page. J S Fforde was Chief Cashier from 1966-1970. His was the signature on the last 10/- note which was replaced by a 50 pence coin on decimalisation in 1971. The £20 was reintroduced in 1970. It appeared with J S Fforde's signature but by the time they made it into circulation, Fforde had been replaced as Chief Cashier by J B Page. This £20 was the first note in a new series known as the Pictorial Series so named because of the famous people depicted on the backs. Shakespeare on the £20, Sir Christopher Wren on the £50, the Duke of Wellington on the £5 , Florence Nightingale on the £10 and Sir Isaac Newton on the £1. This series lasted until 1990 but along the way the Bank introduced significant modifications. Perhaps the most obvious was the addition of a broken silver thread on the surface of the notes, introduced in 1984. This Pictorial Series was issued under 5 Chief Cashiers- J S Fforde, J B Page, D H F Somerset, G M Gill and G E A Kentfield. In 1988 the £1 note was finally removed from circulation. The Bank of England was once again back to having the £5 note as its smallest denomination. New designs were introduced in 1990 and these designs continue today. This series is known as the Historical Series because of the historical figures illustrating the backs- George Stephenson, Charles Dickens, Michael Faraday and Sir John Houblon. The widespread use of colour photocopiers has made the work of the Bank more difficult and the risk of counterfeiting greater. The Historical Series has seen the size of the notes reduced and the colours changed to make reproduction by photocopying more difficult. The introduction of the new series was not smooth. The public were to complain bitterly that it was difficult to distinguish the different denominations at a glance because all denominations were given a small crown on the top right corner. In 1993 the Bank introduced a modified version of the £5, £10 and £20 notes. The symbols on the £5 were enhanced. The crown was removed from the £10 and £20 denominations and replaced with the denomination symbol on the front as well as the two top corners on the back of the note. In June 1999 a further change was necessary. A brand new design for the £20 was introduced with better security features and a new portrait of Sir Edward Elgar on the back. The change was brought about, it is believed, because of all too successful counterfeiting of the Faraday £20. Bank of England Collecting Tips There are many areas to collect in the Bank of England and we recommend that you approach the task slowly. It is possible to put together a representative collection of Bank of England type notes from the 20th century (excluding White Notes) with just 17 notes. You may then decide to concentrate on one particular denomination, one particular Cashier or attempt to get one of every variety issued. You may decide to collect only errors, white notes or replacement notes. You will find, in the English series that great premiums are paid for first and last prefixes in any series. There are great price differentials between an uncirculated first prefix note of a series and uncirculated type note of the same series. Whatever you decide to collect ,your budget is paramount but wherever possible notes should be bought in at least VF condition.( With the earlier notes Uncirculated is not always possible.) The later and more recent issues are readily available in Uncirculated. High grade White notes are rarely available except in the issues of the late 1940's and early 1950's signed by Peppiatt, Beale and O'Brien. Bank of England Chief Cashiers 1694 John Kendrick 1694-1699 Thomas Speed 1699-1739 Thomas Madockes 1639-1751 James Collier and Daniel Race 1751-1759 Daniel Race and Elias Simes 1759-1775 Daniel Race 1775-1777 Charles Jewson 1778-1807 Abraham Newland 1807-1829 Henry Hase 1829-1835 Thomas Rippon 1835-1864 Matthew Marshall 1864-1866 William Miller 1866-1873 George Forbes 1873-1893 Frank May 1893-1902 Horace Bowen 1902-1918 Gordon Nairne 1918-1925 Ernest Harvey 1925-1929 Cyril Patrick Mahon 1929-1934 Basil Catterns 1934-1949 Kenneth Peppiatt 1949-1955 Percival Beale 1955-1962 Leslie O'Brien 1962-1966 Jasper Hollom 1966-1970 John Fforde 1970-1980 John Page 1980-1988 David Somerset 1988-1991 Malcolm Gill 1991-1999 Graham Kentfield 1999-2004 Merlyn Lowther (1st Female Chief Cashier) 2004- Andrew Bailey