5 Pounds Sterling

Bank of Scotland's private note-issuing rights predate the Bank of England's own monopoly ambitions — Scotland's separate legal system meant Edinburgh banks retained circulation privileges that English provincial banks lost under the 1844 Bank Charter Act. This £5 note from 1885 sits within that tradition of uninterrupted Scottish chartered-bank issue, legal and unrestricted south of the border for those who knew it.

Waterston & Sons were Edinburgh stationers and printers, not a specialist security printing house, which makes their involvement in currency production an interesting local arrangement rather than the obvious choice. Authentication relied heavily on paper quality and the bank's own manuscript signatures of the accountant and cashier — both required on each note at issue.