20 Pounds Sterling

The Bank of Scotland's 19th-century pound notes occupied a peculiar legal position: Scottish banks retained the right to issue their own currency under the terms of the 1845 Bank Notes (Scotland) Act, which fixed each bank's authorized circulation at its 1844 average and required any excess to be backed pound-for-pound by gold or Bank of England notes. A £20 denomination was firmly a commercial instrument — used between merchants and trading houses, not handled by ordinary depositors.

Cotton-based substrate was already standard for Scottish bank paper by this period, sourced domestically rather than from the English suppliers used by the London joint-stock banks. Survival rate for high-denomination Scottish provincials from this window is low; most were cancelled and destroyed by the issuing branch upon redemption.