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1 Pound Sterling
| Issuer | Union Bank of Scotland |
|---|---|
| Year | 1858 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The obverse carries the bold central inscription ONE POUND beneath the heading SIR WILLIAM FORBES J. HUNTER & CO., with the issuing authority THE UNION BANK OF SCOTLAND rendered in large letterpress. Equestrian vignettes occupy the upper left and upper right corners, flanking subsidiary bank titles including GLASGOW UNION BANKING COMPANY and BANKING CO. IN ABERDEEN along the lower border and branch names in vertical panels on each side margin. The note bears a manuscript date of 1 May 1858, a handwritten promise-to-pay clause, serial number, and two manuscript signatures above the printed designation of Cashier, with a prominent cancellation stamp across the centre. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | SIR WILLIAM FORBES J. HUNTER & CO. PURSUANT TO ACT OF PARLIAMENT ONE POUND THE UNION BANK OF SCOTLAND Promise to pay on demand ONE POUND Sterling Edinburgh 1 May 1858 By order of the Directors Cashier GLASGOW UNION BANKING COMPANY BANKING CO. IN ABERDEEN HUNTERS & CO. AYR PERTH BANKING CO. GLASGOW & SHIP BANK CO. PAISLEY UNION BANK CO. |
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| Comments |
The Union Bank of Scotland — formed by merger in 1830 and absorbed into the Bank of Scotland in 1955 — operated under Scotland's distinctive free banking tradition, which permitted commercial banks to issue their own notes well into the modern period. This 1 Pound note from 1858 falls squarely in the middle of that era, when several competing Edinburgh institutions maintained parallel circulation with minimal friction and broad public acceptance.
Scottish bank note printing in this period was largely handled in-house or by local engravers rather than the major London security printers, giving Edinburgh-issued notes a distinct typographic character that differs noticeably from contemporary English provincial issues.