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20 Pounds White
| Issuer | Bank of England |
|---|---|
| Year | 1836-1852 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Bank of England I Promise to pay to Mr Matthew Marshall on Demand the Sum of Twenty Pounds 1838 Feb 6 London 6 Feb 1838 For the Govr and Compa of the Bank of England |
| Reverse description | The reverse is blank, this being a uniface note printed on one side only, consistent with Bank of England white note production practice of the period. |
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| Comments |
Bank of England "white notes" — unilateral, printed only on one side in black ink on white paper — were a continuous series that changed remarkably little in appearance across decades. This 20 Pound denomination falls within the governorship period spanning multiple figures, but the notes themselves were individualised by hand: each bore a cashier's signature, a sequential serial number, and a date written in manuscript at the time of issue, making every example technically unique.
Forgery was a persistent problem with the white note series throughout the early nineteenth century, and the Bank prosecuted forgers aggressively — including pursuing capital punishment cases into the 1820s. By the 1830s public pressure had forced a reform of those penalties, but the Bank's anti-forgery vigilance remained intense.
High-denomination whites at this value were primarily instruments of interbank settlement and merchant trade, not retail circulation — genuine street wear on a 20 Pound example from this period would be unusual.