100 Pounds Royal Bank of Scotland

The progression of signatures across this series amounts to a compressed corporate history of RBS between 1987 and 2007. Charles Winter Maiden signed the earliest dates as Managing Director; George Mathewson followed across six dates through the 1990s, his title shifting mid-series from Chief Executive to Group Chief Executive as the bank restructured; Fred Goodwin closed the run with the 2000 and 2007 dates, the latter issued just months before the bank's near-collapse in 2008 required the largest banking bailout in British history at that point.

The engraving credit to James Moore is worth noting — Moore was among De La Rue's senior intaglio engravers during this period, and the quality of hand engraving on high-denomination Scottish notes of this era remains distinctly finer than on comparable Bank of England issues.