Catalog
100 Pounds Sterling
| Issuer | British Linen Company |
|---|---|
| Year | 1810 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Horizontally formatted note with a small oval vignette in the upper left corner portraying a seated allegorical figure beside a sailing vessel, enclosed within an elaborate floral and foliate engraved border. The issuer's name 'The British Linen Company' runs in bold copperplate script across the centre of the note, above the denomination 'One Hundred Pounds' in large display lettering, with the place of issue 'Edinburgh' and the numerical value '£100' positioned in the upper register. The lower portion carries manuscript cursive text and authority lines referencing the Court of Directors, in keeping with the hand-completed format typical of early nineteenth-century Scottish private bank issues. |
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| Reverse description | No second image provided; reverse description unavailable. |
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| Comments |
The British Linen Company — chartered in 1746 ostensibly to develop the Scottish linen trade — had long since pivoted to banking by 1810, though it retained its textile name until amalgamation with the Bank of Scotland in 1969. A £100 note from this institution was not a retail instrument. At a time when a skilled Edinburgh tradesman earned perhaps £40 a year, this denomination moved between merchants, lawyers, and landed estates.
Scottish banknotes of this period operated under a notably permissive legal framework compared to England, where the Bank of England held jealously guarded privileges. Scottish private banks issued freely, and the British Linen Company was among the most conservative and solvent of them — its notes generally trusted without question across the central belt.
Survivorship at this denomination is extremely low. Most high-value notes were presented for payment promptly and cancelled.