5 Brixton Pounds

The Brixton Pound launched in 2009 as a community currency designed to keep spending within the Brixton economy — the 2011 paper series followed the initial issue and was printed locally, an unusual logistical choice that kept production costs visible and accountable to the community that backed it. Unlike most complementary currencies of this period, the B£ was accepted for payment of Lambeth Council business rates for a brief window, giving it a quasi-official status almost no other local currency in the UK achieved.

The security overprint substitutes for the elaborate intaglio work no small community issuer could afford. Forgery was never a serious threat — the real risk was always whether enough local businesses would stay enrolled to make the notes worth holding.