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1 Guinea National Bank of Scotland
| Issuer | National Bank of Scotland |
|---|---|
| Year | 1825 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Intaglio-printed in black ink on plain paper using Perkins patent hardened steel plate engraving. The Royal Arms of Scotland — supported by a rampant unicorn to the left and a lion to the right, surmounted by a figure and flanked by national flags — form the central vignette at the top, with the denomination GUINEA in rectangular cartouches at upper left and right. Below, the bank title THE NATIONAL BANK is set in large letterpress capitals, followed by the promise-to-pay text in ornate script and gothic lettering, with the place and date EDINBURGH 11th October 1825 at lower left and manuscript signatures of the Manager and Accountant at lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE NATIONAL BANK The National Bank of Scotland Promise to pay to Matthew Edwards or Bearer on demand ONE GUINEA Sterling By order of the Board of Directors Edinburgh |
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| Comments |
Perkins, Bacon & Petch introduced steel-plate engraving to British banknote production in the early 1820s, a direct challenge to the copper-plate tradition then dominant among Scottish issuers. The National Bank of Scotland, founded only in 1825, adopted this technology from the outset — this note is among the earliest issued by the bank, quite possibly from its opening year of operation.
The guinea denomination itself was already an anachronism by 1825, surviving in Scottish banking practice long after it had disappeared from English issue. Scotland retained it partly through commercial convention and partly because guinea-denominated accounts remained common in professional and agricultural transactions north of the border.