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5 Pounds Sterling
| Issuer | British Linen Company |
|---|---|
| Year | 1872-1904 |
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| In circulation to | 1904 |
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| Obverse description | Blue intaglio print on white paper with a horizontal layout. The centre bears the issuer's title 'The British Linen Company' in bold letterpress, with a promise-to-pay clause and the denomination 'FIVE POUNDS Sterling' in script beneath; a Royal Arms vignette surmounted by the inscription 'Incorporated by Royal Charter 1746' occupies the upper centre. The left margin carries two stacked oval guilloche medallions enclosing a seated classical female figure, flanked by the word 'FIVE' in oval cartouches at upper left and upper right, with a fine engine-turned border frame throughout. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | FIVE Incorporated by Royal Charter 1746 The British Linen Company I promise to pay on demand to the Bearer FIVE POUNDS Sterling By order of the Court of Directors P.Acct. P.Manager Edinburgh |
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| Comments |
The British Linen Company — formally a trading corporation chartered in 1746 — had long since abandoned linen by the time this note was printed, functioning purely as a bank while retaining its anachronistic name. Perkins, Bacon & Co. produced the plates using their steel engraving process, the same firm responsible for printing early British colonial stamps and known for producing work that was exceptionally difficult to counterfeit.
Scottish five-pound notes of this period circulated freely alongside Bank of England issues but carried no legal tender status in England — a distinction that caused persistent friction for Scottish travelers heading south.