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 White, without thread
| Issuer | Bank of England |
|---|---|
| Year | 1870-1944 |
| 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 | Intaglio-printed white note with an oval vignette at upper left enclosing a seated figure of Britannia within an ornate cartouche surmounted by a crown. The issuer title "Bank of England" is rendered in elaborate copperplate script across the top, with the promise-to-pay text, date, and place of issue set in flowing cursive lettering across the centre. A large decorative word-denomination "Five" in bold dotted gothic lettering appears at lower left, with the serial number printed twice at upper centre and once at lower right, above the manuscript signature of the Chief Cashier. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | K.O. Peppiatt |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The "white fiver" — printed in black on white paper with no background tint — remained essentially unchanged in format for over a century, a deliberate conservatism rooted in the Bank's confidence that its paper quality and watermark were sufficient protection against forgery. That confidence was badly shaken during the Second World War when the Germans ran Operation Bernhard, a large-scale counterfeiting programme that produced white fivers of sufficiently convincing quality to cause serious concern at Threadneedle Street.
Peppiatt's signature on the later examples of this type spans the war years. The note was withdrawn and replaced in 1945, directly because of Bernhard.