1000 Pounds White

The "White Notes" — so called for their unprinted reverse and distinctive black letterpress face — were never intended for ordinary transactions. The £1,000 denomination circulated almost exclusively between banks and financial institutions for interbank settlement, and most returned to Threadneedle Street quickly. The Bank maintained a policy of destroying notes once returned, which is precisely why survivors of any white note denomination are exceptionally rare, and why the £1,000 is among the rarest of all.

The series was discontinued in 1943, when wartime counterfeit concerns prompted the withdrawal of all high-denomination whites. Operation Bernhard — the Nazi scheme to destabilize the British economy through forged notes — accelerated that decision.