Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
5 Pounds Royal Bank of Scotland
| Issuer | Royal Bank of Scotland |
|---|---|
| Year | 1952-1963 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | The upper portion of the note carries a central vignette of the Royal Bank of Scotland crest, incorporating a portrait of George I flanked by allegorical figures and surmounted by a crown, executed in fine intaglio engraving. A decorative guilloche panel runs vertically along the left margin, with the denomination numeral '5' and the word 'POUNDS' printed in red letterpress across the upper field on either side of the crest. The lower portion bears the bank's title in bold script, the promise-to-pay text with 'FIVE POUNDS' highlighted within an underprint panel, the place and date of issue, and two manuscript facsimile signatures with their respective titles. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is essentially plain, showing only a faint mirror impression of the obverse design visible as a show-through, consistent with the thin paper stock used; no independent design elements are present. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Royal Bank of Scotland has issued its own banknotes under the Scottish system of private note issue — a right that survived the 1845 Bank Notes (Scotland) Act and remains legally intact today. Unlike Bank of England notes, Scottish commercial bank notes are not legal tender even in Scotland, but are accepted by convention and contract. This series ran across a notably long window, from 1952 into 1963, bridging the reign of George VI and the early Elizabeth II years without any fundamental redesign.
Watermark security was the sole mechanical anti-counterfeiting measure on these notes — no metallic thread, no fluorescent inks. Printed by Bradbury Wilkinson, the firm responsible for much of Scotland's private note output through the mid-twentieth century.