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5 Pounds British Linen Bank
| Issuer | British Linen Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1935-1944 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Printed in blue on white paper with an intricate guilloche underprint, the obverse carries the Royal Arms of the British Linen Bank at centre top, flanked on either side by the denomination FIVE in bold intaglio lettering, with the arched charter inscription reading Incorporated by Royal Charter 1746 above. Three circular vignette medallions containing seated classical figures appear along the left border within ornate lathe-work surrounds. The central text panel bears the promise-to-pay inscription in letterpress, with the place and date of issue, serial numbers at lower left and right, and two manuscript signatures for the Accountant and Cashier and the General Manager respectively. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in blue, its field filled with dense engine-turned guilloche work. A central oval vignette encloses a seated classical female figure resting against a shield with architectural elements at her side, set within an elaborate lathe-work border. The denomination FIVE appears in bold letterpress within rectangular panels at left and right, each framed by ornamental rosette and guilloche surrounds, with a continuous interlaced border running the full perimeter. |
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| Comments |
The British Linen Bank — technically a chartered bank rather than a linen company by the twentieth century, despite the name — issued this note during a span that runs directly through the Second World War. Scottish banknotes of this period carried a particular practical significance: the wartime Emergency Powers legislation gave the Treasury tighter oversight of the English clearing banks, but Scottish chartered banks retained their note-issuing rights under separate legal footing, making their paper a minor but real assertion of institutional independence.
Waterlow & Sons produced the series in London. The watermark is the sole security feature on record for P#158, which is thin by the standards of the period even for a high-denomination Scottish note.