Catalog
1 Guinea = 1 Pound 1 Shilling Sterling
| Issuer | Bank of Scotland |
|---|---|
| Year | 1810 |
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| Value | 1 Guinea |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in brown ink and carries the Bank of Scotland arms vignette — a crowned lion rampant — at the upper centre, flanked by the large denomination inscriptions ONE and GUINEA. The issuer's name, BANK OF SCOTLAND, and place of issue, Edinburgh, appear in an engraved script panel across the upper field, below which a handwritten promise-to-pay clause names the payee and reads ONE POUND ONE SHILLING STERLING in a boxed letterpress panel. The lower portion bears the By Order of THE COURT OF DIRECTORS legend alongside two manuscript signatures, while a bold guilloche-style vertical panel carrying the text BANK OF SCOTLAND runs along the left margin. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in a light reddish-brown ink and carries a large central vignette composed of four mirrored heraldic lion heads arranged symmetrically in quadrants, each rendered in fine intaglio line work with elaborate mane detail and open jaws. The composition functions as an elaborate decorative underprint filling the entire field of the note. No inscriptions or lettering are present on the reverse. |
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| Comments |
The guinea denomination is a peculiarity of Scottish private banking practice that had largely disappeared in England by this period. Scottish chartered banks continued issuing guinea notes well into the nineteenth century, partly because the guinea remained a common unit of professional and commercial account in Scotland — doctors, lawyers, and merchants routinely quoted fees in guineas — even after the coin itself had ceased to circulate.
Bank of Scotland's Pick 41 predates the Bank Notes (Scotland) Act of 1845, which eventually forced standardization. By 1810 the bank had been operating for over a century and its notes circulated on general public confidence rather than any formal legal tender status.
Survivors from this period are genuinely rare; most Scottish provincial notes of the Napoleonic era were redeemed, cancelled, and pulped.