Catalog
70 Pounds White, 1778 issue
| Issuer | Bank of England |
|---|---|
| Year | 1778-1807 |
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| Reference(s) | P#158 |
| Obverse description | A vignette of Britannia is positioned at the upper left, rendered in intaglio with the characteristic seated figure holding a spear and oval shield. The body of the note is occupied by a handwritten and letterpress promise-of-payment text issued by the Governor and Company of the Bank of England, with the denomination SEVENTY POUNDS expressed in words. This is a so-called 'White Note', printed on plain uncoloured paper with minimal decorative elements beyond the Britannia device. |
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| Reverse description | The reverse is plain, unprinted white paper, consistent with the Bank of England 'White Note' issue practice of this period. |
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| Comments |
The "White Notes" — so called for their plain, unprinted reverse — were the Bank of England's workhorse instruments for high-value transactions throughout the late Georgian period. These were not notes in the popular sense; they circulated almost exclusively among merchants, attorneys, and the financial houses of the City, rarely passing through more than a handful of hands before being presented for payment and cancelled. The £70 denomination is among the more unusual in the series, sitting awkwardly between the round-figure values that dominated commercial use.
Forgery was a persistent problem with these notes during the Napoleonic Wars period, and the Bank prosecuted forgers aggressively — sometimes capitally. The design's very plainness, paradoxically, made imitation easier.