Catalog
80 Pounds White, 1759 issue
| Issuer | Bank of England |
|---|---|
| Year | 1759-1775 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Pound sterling (1158-1970) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 1764 I Promise to pay to _ or Bearer on Demand the Sum of EIGHTY Pounds London on the 6 day of June 1764 For the Govr and Compa of the Bank of England. £EIGHTY Ent.d |
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| Protection description | Britannia watermark incorporated into the handmade paper, visible when held to light. |
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| Comments |
The "White Notes" of the Bank of England — unprinted on the reverse, handwritten in part, and signed by a cashier — were the dominant form of high-value paper currency in Britain for nearly two centuries. The £80 denomination is among the more unusual of the series; most large-value transactions clustered around rounder figures, and £80 denominations were issued to satisfy specific commercial needs rather than as a standard offering. The partial manuscript completion, including payee name and date, means no two examples are identical documents.
The 1759 dating coincides with the height of the Seven Years' War, when Bank of England note issuance was under considerable strain financing government borrowing.