Catalog
60 Pounds White, 1739 issue
| Issuer | Bank of England |
|---|---|
| Year | 1739-1751 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | A classic Bank of England 'White Note' of the early Georgian period, printed on plain white paper with a Britannia vignette at the upper left, engraved in fine intaglio style. The body of the note is occupied by the manuscript promise-to-pay text, handwritten in period script, with the denomination SIXTY POUNDS expressed both in words and in a letterpress abbreviation. Two decorative medallion vignettes appear at the lower right, with ruled horizontal lines framing the text field throughout. |
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| Reverse description | The reverse is unprinted, consistent with Bank of England White Note production practice of the period, with the aged cream-white paper surface left blank. |
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| Comments |
Bank of England "white notes" of this period were handwritten documents, not printed banknotes in any modern sense — a cashier inscribed the sum, date, and payee by hand on pre-stamped paper, then signed it. The £60 denomination sits in an odd middle range: too large for ordinary commerce, too small for the merchant wholesale transactions that typically ran in the hundreds. Notes of this value were almost certainly issued to specific individuals against deposit rather than circulating freely.
Survivorship is extreme. Partially used, cancelled, or redeemed notes were routinely destroyed by the Bank. Any that escaped that process — typically through error or private retention — represent the only documentary evidence the denomination existed at all in this run.