Banknotes

Countries

Paper money was (reputedly) first used in		China
First European country to issue banknotes (1661)		Sweden
First country to issue polymer banknotes (1988 – often referred to as 'plastic')		Australia
Politician Sir Henry Parkes and suffragist Catherine Helen Spence appear on the banknotes of

Scottish banks that are licensed to issue banknotes: Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of Scotland, and ...

Clydesdale Bank

British Banknotes

10/–	1928	Bank of England produces its first ever 10/– notes
	1960	Series "C": 10/– and £1 notes include the Queen's portrait for the first time
	1970	10/– note withdrawn from circulation (20 November)
£1	1928	Bank of England issues its first £1 note since 1845
	1960	Series "C": 10/– and £1 notes include the Queen's portrait for the first time
	1978	Series "D" note shows Sir Isaac Newton on the reverse
	1988	£1 note withdrawn from circulation
£5	1793	Bank of England issues the first £5 notes owing to gold shortages caused by the Napoleonic Wars
	1957	Series "B": multi–coloured (predominately blue) £5 note issued
	1963	Series "C" £5 note, showing the Queen's portrait, issued
	1971	Series "D"		Duke of Wellington		Battle scene
	1990	Series "E"		George Stephenson		Rocket
	2002	Series "E"		Elizabeth Fry		Fry reading the Bible to prisoners in Newgate
	2016	Series "G"		Winston Churchill		Houses of Parliament, and his Nobel prize
£10	1759	£10 note first issued owing to gold shortages caused by the Seven Years War
	1945	£10 notes withdrawn from circulation
	1971	Series "D"		Florence Nightingale		Crimean War hospital scene
	1990	Series "E"		Charles Dickens		Cricket match from The Pickwick Papers
	2000	Series "E"		Charles Darwin		A magnifying glass (showing some flowers), a hummingbird, and HMS Beagle in the distance
	2017	Series "G"		Jane Austen		Austen's brother's house, and Elizabeth Bennet
£20	1945	£20 notes withdrawn from circulation
	1971	Series "D"		William Shakespeare		Balcony scene from Romeo & Juliet
	1992	Series "E"		Michael Faraday		Royal Institution lecture
	1999	Series "E"		Sir Edward Elgar		Worcester Cathedral
	2007	Series "F"		Adam Smith		Pin factory (inspired his economic theories)
	2020	Series "G"		J. M. W. Turner		The Fighting Temeraire, a quote ("Light is therefore colour"), a signature
£50	1981	Series "E"		Sir John Houblon		Houblon's house in Threadneedle Street
	2011	Series "F"		Matthew Boulton		The Whitbread Engine, and Soho Manufactory
				James Watt
	2021	Series "G"		Alan Turing		(Various)

Note: two sets of £5, £10 and £20 notes were issued in Series "E".

Euro Banknotes

Unlike the coins, Euro banknotes are the same in all Eurozone countries (although each country prints its own notes).  The notes are made of cotton fibre, which makes for good durability, and depict examples of various classic European architectural styles (on both sides).

Value		Main colour		Architectural style
€5		Grey		Classical
€10		Red		Romanesque
€20		Blue		Gothic
€50		Orange		Renaissance
€100		Green		Baroque and Rococo
€200		Yellow		Art Nouveau
€500		Purple		Modern (20th century)

US Banknotes

Value		Portrait on the obverse		Illustration on the reverse
$1		George Washington		Great Seal of the United States
$2		Thomas Jefferson		Declaration of Independence
$5		Abraham Lincoln		Lincoln Memorial
$10		Alexander Hamilton		Treasury Building
$20		Andrew Jackson		White House
$50		Ulysses S. Grant		Capitol
$100		Benjamin Franklin		Independence Hall

Key Dates

Bank of England (and the Bank of Scotland) founded; Bank of England issues its first (handwritten) banknotes		1694
Banknotes first (partially) printed – cashier still had to sign them by hand		1725
Bank of England moves to its present location on Threadneedle Street		1734
£5 notes first issued		1793
Notes fully printed from		1855
Treasury begins producing 10/– and £1 notes in order to remove gold coins from circulation		1914
Bank of England assumed responsibility for producing 10/– and £1 notes (from the Treasury)		1928
Metal strip first included in British banknotes (£1 and 10/–)		1940
All denominations above £5 withdrawn		1945
Bank of England nationalised		1946
The first coloured £5 notes issued		1957
Sovereign (Elizabeth II) appears on Bank of England notes (10/– and £1) for the first time		1960
Series "C" £5 notes issued, with the Queen's head shown for the first time		1963
10/– note withdrawn		1970
Series "D", with famous people depicted on the reverse, issued (£1, £5, £10, £20)		1970/1
The first Series "E" note, with hologram, issued (£50)		1981
£1 note ceased to be legal tender		1988
Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee given responsibility for setting interest rates		1997

© Haydn Thompson 2017–21