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1 Pound Bank of Scotland
| Issuer | Bank of Scotland |
|---|---|
| Year | 1837 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Pound |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Printed entirely in black intaglio on unwatermarked paper, the note centres on a formal promise-to-pay text block rendered in copperplate script and bold letterpress, flanked along the left border by three concentric guilloche rosettes interspersed with thistle vignettes and an oval intaglio portrait of a seated crowned female figure. At the upper centre, the Bank of Scotland armorial vignette — a saltire shield supported by two allegorical female figures beneath an elaborate helm and mantling — is set between two oval ONE denomination counters with fine lathe-work surrounds. The entire composition is enclosed within a ruled and engine-turned border. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Bank of Scotland Edinburgh The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland constituted by act of parliament promise to pay hereto George Sandy or bearer on demand ONE POUND Sterling By order of the Court of Directors |
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| Comments |
Perkins, Bacon & Petch brought steel engraving to British banknote production at a moment when the industry desperately needed it — their intaglio process made counterfeiting dramatically harder than the older copper-plate methods it displaced. Bank of Scotland was among the early adopters, and this 1837 note reflects that shift.
The 1830s were an uneasy decade for Scottish banking. The failure of the Western Bank would come later, but memory of the 1825 crisis was still fresh, and public confidence in paper currency remained conditional. A well-printed note was itself a trust mechanism.