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1 Pound British Linen Bank
| Issuer | British Linen Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1907-1913 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Pound sterling (1707-1970) |
| Composition | 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 | The obverse is printed in blue and red on white paper, with an elaborate border of fine guilloche work enclosing the entire design. Three oval vignettes arranged vertically along the left margin contain allegorical figures and ornamental motifs, while two circular medallions at upper left and upper right bear the numeral "1". The Royal Arms of Scotland with lion and unicorn supporters is centrally placed at the top, surmounted by the charter inscription, with the bank name in bold letterpress script dominating the central field above the promise-to-pay legend and the denomination "One Pound" in red overprint. The place and date of issue appear below the serial numbers, with two manuscript signatures and printed officer titles at the foot, and the printer's imprint of Waterlow & Sons, London, along the bottom edge. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse shows the blind impression of the obverse printing through the paper, with the ghost images of the guilloche border, oval vignettes, circular medallions, and central text visible as a light show-through, the plain unprinted paper surface otherwise left blank. |
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| Comments |
The British Linen Bank, despite the textile-trade origins suggested by its name, had been a fully general commercial bank since the late eighteenth century — the linen connection was long defunct by the time this series circulated. Waterlow & Sons printed the notes at their London works, a firm that handled a substantial portion of Scottish commercial bank production during this period alongside their extensive securities and stamp printing contracts.
Scottish one-pound notes of this era remained in active daily use in ways English equivalents were not, since the one-pound Bank of England note had been withdrawn from circulation in 1821 and never reinstated. That gap made Scottish pound notes genuinely functional working currency rather than occasional tender.