1 Pound Royal Bank of Scotland - Robert Louis Stevenson

The Royal Bank of Scotland introduced Stevenson onto its £1 note in 1994 as part of a broader Scottish banking tradition of celebrating literary and cultural figures rather than monarchs or statesmen. Stevenson was a pointed choice — born in Edinburgh, trained as an advocate, and deeply ambivalent about Scotland his entire life, having spent his final years in Samoa.

The £1 note remained legal currency in Scotland after the Bank of England phased out its own £1 in 1988, a divergence that still occasionally surprises English recipients. This series continued until the RBS discontinued £1 paper notes entirely.