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20 Pounds Clydesdale Bank
| Issuer | Clydesdale Bank Limited |
|---|---|
| Year | 1882-1920 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The upper portion carries an ornate vignette with the Glasgow seal at centre, flanked by the large numeral "20" in red overprint on each side, above decorative guilloche scrollwork and the bank title in elaborate script lettering. An intricate vertical panel of interlaced ornamental scrollwork runs along the left margin. The place and date of issue appear in the upper right area, with the serial number printed twice in red. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | The Clydesdale Bank Limited Promise to pay to the Bearer at their Office here on Demand Twenty Pounds Sterling By order of the Board of Directors Glasgow |
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| Comments |
Clydesdale Bank began issuing notes under its own name following its 1838 founding in Glasgow, but the long span of this series — nearly four decades — means examples can vary significantly in printed date, cashier signature, and branch endorsement. Scottish banks retained the legal right to issue their own notes long after the Bank Charter Act of 1844 effectively curtailed that privilege in England and Wales; the Act explicitly exempted Scottish and Irish institutions already in the business, an arrangement that persists to the present day.
The £20 denomination was never a note of everyday commerce. It circulated almost exclusively between businesses and banks, which partly accounts for the difficulty in finding surviving examples that show genuine wear rather than archival folds.