50 Pounds White

The "white note" format — unprinted white paper with hand-engraved text and manuscript additions — was the Bank of England's standard form from its founding in 1694 through to the mid-twentieth century. These early partially-printed notes were filled out by cashiers in ink: the payee name, date, and amount completed by hand at the counter. The £50 denomination placed this squarely in the realm of merchant and commercial banking; few private individuals would have handled one.

Forgery was already a serious problem by the 1730s, and a conviction carried the death penalty — yet the notes' relatively simple printed elements made imitation tempting. The Bank prosecuted forgers aggressively throughout this period.