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 Shrewsbury Bank
| Issuer | Shrewsbury Bank (Rowton, Morhall & Co / Rowton, Walker & Mellor / William Rowton & Co) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1806-1818 |
| Type | Local 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 | Letterpress-printed note on white paper with the serial number at upper left and the denomination in words and figures at upper right and lower left. A central vignette carries the Shrewsbury Bank insignia, below which the promise-to-pay legend reads 'I Promise to Pay the Bearer on Demand FIVE POUNDS', issued at Shrewsbury. The partnership name appearing beneath the vignette varies by issue period: Rowton, Morhall & Co; Rowton, Walker & Mellor; or William Rowton & Co. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Shrewsbury Bank / I Promise to Pay the Bearer on Demand / FIVE POUNDS / Shrewsbury / Rowton Morhall & Co / Rowton Walker & Mellor / William Rowton & Co |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| 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 |
Shrewsbury Bank passed through at least three partnership configurations between 1806 and 1818 — Rowton, Morhall & Co., then Rowton, Walker & Mellor, then William Rowton & Co. — and notes from this period often bear the name of whichever incarnation was current at signing, making precise dating possible if the partnership sequence is known. The Rowton family clearly anchored the concern through each reshuffling, which was itself a common survival tactic among English country banks facing the periodic liquidity panics of the Napoleonic period.
Country bank failures were endemic after 1815. Shrewsbury Bank survived longer than many of its Shropshire contemporaries, though the era's instability means surviving notes frequently show evidence of presentation for redemption — pinholes, endorsements, and cancellation cuts are common on issued examples.