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20 Pounds Union Bank of Scotland
| Issuer | Union Bank of Scotland Limited |
|---|---|
| Year | 1905 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | At the upper centre, the bank's coat of arms is flanked by two allegorical female figures in a classical vignette engraved in intaglio. A large red letterpress overprint reading 'TWENTY POUNDS' dominates the centre of the note, with the bank's title in bold above the promise-to-pay text. Equestrian statue vignettes appear in the lower left and lower right corners, with the denomination numeral '20' in ornamental guilloche cartouches at the upper left and right. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | The Union Bank of Scotland Limited |
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| Comments |
The Union Bank of Scotland was itself the product of consolidation — it absorbed at least a dozen provincial Scottish banks across the nineteenth century before ultimately merging into the Bank of Scotland in 1955. By 1905, its note-issuing operation was well-established but operating within Scotland's peculiar legal framework, where chartered banks retained the right to issue their own notes long after such privileges had been stripped from English provincial banks under the 1844 Bank Charter Act.
Waterlow & Sons produced the printing, as they did for a significant portion of Scottish commercial bank stationery during this period. The £20 denomination was never a note for ordinary commerce — at a time when a skilled tradesman might earn £60–£80 annually, these circulated almost exclusively between merchants, lawyers, and agents.