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50 Pounds - Elizabeth II Winston Churchill
| Issuer | Government of Gibraltar |
|---|---|
| Year | 1995-2006 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Intaglio portrait of Queen Elizabeth II in right profile, wearing the Imperial State Crown and robes, occupies the right portion of the note against a fine guilloche underprint in shades of red and pink. To the left, the Gibraltar coat of arms with the motto MONTIS INSIGNIA CALPE appears above a central vignette incorporating a Barbary macaque and a horse-drawn carriage, with the denomination £50 rendered in both numeral and script. The issuer title GOVERNMENT OF GIBRALTAR is set in Gothic lettering at the top, accompanied by a manuscript signature captioned FINANCIAL AND DEVELOPMENT SECRETARY with a date below. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A three-quarter portrait of Sir Winston Churchill dominates the centre of the note, set against a composite vignette of the Rock of Gibraltar with Supermarine Spitfire aircraft in flight overhead. The composition is enclosed by intricate guilloche borders, with the denomination stated in both numeral and lettering and the issuer title repeated at the top. |
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| Comments |
Gibraltar's 1995 currency act consolidated the territory's banknote authority under the Government of Gibraltar directly, sidelining the previous Commissioner of Currency arrangement. This 50 Pounds sits within that post-act framework. De La Rue printed the series in London under long-standing contract — the territory has never operated its own printing facility, and all Gibraltar notes of this period were produced there.
Churchill's appearance on Gibraltar currency is not incidental: he served as First Lord of the Admiralty during both World Wars, and the Rock's strategic naval role was central to operations he personally directed. The pairing of a reigning British monarch with a deceased British statesman on a colonial territory's highest-denomination note reflects a deliberate political positioning that was still entirely unremarkable in 1995 Gibraltar.