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1 Pound Isle of Mann Commercial Banking Company
| Issuer | Isle of Mann Commercial Banking Company |
|---|---|
| Year | 1848 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Pound |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Steel-engraved note with a central harbour vignette at upper centre, showing sailing vessels and a steamship on open water before a coastal town, flanked by oval £1 denomination cartouches at upper left and right. To the lower left stands an allegorical female figure in classical robes beside a maritime scene with tall ships, while a second allegorical figure to the lower right is accompanied by a cornucopia, a recumbent lion, and fruit. The promise-to-pay text is rendered in flowing copperplate script, with the denomination ONE POUND set within a ruled rectangular panel at centre, and the imprint "Engd. by W.H. Lizars, Edinr." appearing below the harbour vignette. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Steel-engraved reverse executed entirely in intaglio by W. H. Lizars of Edinburgh, with an elaborate acanthus-scroll and foliate cartouche at centre enclosing a landscape vignette of a ruined coastal castle on a rocky promontory above breaking waves. Flanking the cartouche at upper left and right are two winged putti amid scrollwork, and the four corners carry bold shell-and-acanthus ornamental fills within a beaded outer border. The printer's imprint "Engraved on Steel by W. H. Lizars Edinburgh" appears at lower centre beneath the cartouche. |
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| Comments |
The Isle of Mann Commercial Banking Company had a brief and troubled existence — it collapsed in 1850, just two years after this note was issued, making surviving examples from any date in the series genuinely rare. The bank never recovered from a liquidity crisis that wiped out depositor confidence almost overnight.
W. H. Lizars of Edinburgh was one of Scotland's most capable engravers of the period, better known today for natural history illustration work than banknote production. His firm cut plates for several provincial British isles issuers during the 1840s.