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20 Pounds - The Bank of London Sherlock Holmes
| Issuer | The Bank of London (Fantasy) |
|---|---|
| Year | 2016 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE BANK OF LONDON 20 I PROMISES TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND AT THIS CONSULTING DETECTIVE OFFICE THE SUM OF TWENTY POUNDS SHERLOCK HOLMES JEREMY BRETT 1933 - 1995 A. 01 20 POUNDS 20 GABRISBANKNOTE 2016 |
| Reverse description | Central vignette of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson aboard a railway carriage, rendered in a classic engraving style; at right, an intaglio-style reproduction of a Queen Victoria coin obverse with the legend VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1885. Mirror-image lettering appears as a security motif. |
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| Comments |
This is a fantasy note — no such institution as "The Bank of London" has ever held issuing authority in the United Kingdom. Pieces like this occupy an awkward niche: too well-designed to be dismissed as trinkets, yet entirely outside the scope of legal tender or emergency currency history. Gabris, a Slovak designer and engraver, has produced a number of these fictional denomination pieces, typically targeting collector novelty markets rather than numismatic series documentation.
The watermark inclusion is unusual for a purely decorative issue. Worth noting for what it is, nothing more.