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5 Pounds
| Issuer | Commercial Bank of Scotland |
|---|---|
| Year | 1850 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The upper register carries a large allegorical vignette in fine intaglio engraving, presenting a classical assembly of figures engaged in commerce and industry, flanked by oval denomination numerals reading '5' at each upper corner. Below, the bank title is set in bold letterpress across the full width, with the subordinate line 'Incorporated by Royal Charter.' The central text field bears the promise to pay in cursive script, with 'FIVE POUNDS' highlighted within an ornate guilloche panel; an oval portrait vignette of a crowned female figure — likely Britannia or a royal portrait — appears at the lower left, while a corresponding oval portrait of a gentleman occupies the lower right. A finely engraved view of the bank's Edinburgh headquarters is centered at the base, flanked by the signatures of the Accountant and Cashier. |
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| Obverse lettering | THE COMMERCIAL BANK OF SCOTLAND Incorporated by Royal Charter Promise to pay to or bearer FIVE POUNDS on demand at the Office here EDINBURGH 18 By order of the Court of Directors Acct Cashr |
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| Comments |
The Commercial Bank of Scotland was founded in 1810 as a deliberate challenge to the established Edinburgh banking houses — the Bank of Scotland and the Royal Bank — which had long operated under a cozy duopoly. By 1850, the bank had grown substantially through retail and merchant custom, particularly in the central Lowlands, and its notes circulated freely under Scotland's permissive note-issuing framework, which unlike England imposed no cap on the number of banks entitled to issue.
Scottish £5 notes of this period were high-value instruments in daily terms and rarely completed many hands before returning to the issuing branch. Attrition in circulation was low, but survival rates are poor for different reasons — redemption and destruction policies were systematic, and retained specimens were seldom thought worth preserving.