1 Pound Union Bank of Scotland

Union Bank of Scotland was itself the product of an 1830 merger of several regional Scottish banks, and by 1862 was operating a large branch network that made pound notes a practical necessity rather than a prestige instrument. Perkins, Bacon & Petch — the firm that had earlier supplied security printing to colonial governments across the British Empire and famously printed the Penny Black — brought the same anti-forgery engraving discipline to Scottish commercial banking work.

Scottish banks retained the right to issue their own notes well after the Bank Charter Act of 1844 restricted that privilege for English and Welsh banks. That legislative carve-out is why this note exists at all.