Banknotes
Countries
Paper money was (reputedly) first used in |
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China |
First European country to issue banknotes (1661) |
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Sweden |
First country to issue polymer banknotes (1988 – often referred to as 'plastic') |
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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 ... |
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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10/– note withdrawn from circulation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£1 note withdrawn from circulation |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" |
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Duke of Wellington |
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Battle scene |
1990 | Series "E" |
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George Stephenson |
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Rocket |
2002 | Series "E" |
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Elizabeth Fry |
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Fry reading the Bible to prisoners in Newgate |
2016 | Series "G" |
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Winston Churchill |
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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£10 notes withdrawn from circulation |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" |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
Florence Nightingale |
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Crimean War hospital scene |
1990 | Series "E" |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
Charles Dickens |
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Cricket match from The Pickwick Papers |
2000 | Series "E" |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
Charles Darwin |
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A magnifying glass (showing some flowers), a hummingbird, and HMS Beagle in the
distance |
2017 | Series "G" |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
Jane Austen |
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Austen's brother's house, and Elizabeth Bennet |
£20 |
1945 |
£20 notes withdrawn from circulation |
1971 | Series "D" |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
William Shakespeare |
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Balcony scene from Romeo & Juliet |
1992 | Series "E" |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
Michael Faraday |
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Royal Institution lecture |
1999 | Series "E" |
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Sir Edward Elgar |
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Worcester Cathedral |
2007 | Series "F" |
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Adam Smith |
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Pin factory (inspired his economic theories) |
2020 | Series "G" |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
J. M. W. Turner |
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The Fighting Temeraire, a quote ("Light is therefore colour"), a
signature |
£50 | 1981 | Series "E" |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
Sir John Houblon |
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Houblon's house in Threadneedle Street |
2011 | Series "F" |
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Matthew Boulton |
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The Whitbread Engine, and Soho Manufactory |
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James Watt |
2021 | Series "G" |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
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 |
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Grey |
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Classical |
€10 |
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Red |
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Romanesque |
€20 |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
Blue |
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Gothic |
€50 |
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Orange |
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Renaissance |
€100 |
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Green |
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Baroque and Rococo |
€200 |
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Yellow |
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Art Nouveau |
€500 |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
Purple |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
Modern (20th century) |
US Banknotes
Value |
|
Portrait on the obverse |
|
Illustration on the reverse |
$1 |
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George Washington |
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Great Seal of the United States |
$2 |
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Thomas Jefferson |
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Declaration of Independence |
$5 |
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Abraham Lincoln |
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Lincoln Memorial |
$10 |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
Alexander Hamilton |
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Treasury Building |
$20 |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
Andrew Jackson |
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White House |
$50 |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
Ulysses S. Grant |
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Capitol |
$100 |
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Benjamin Franklin |
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Independence Hall |
Key Dates
Bank of England (and the Bank of Scotland) founded; Bank of England issues its first (handwritten) banknotes |
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1694 |
Banknotes first (partially) printed – cashier still had to sign them by hand |
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1725 |
Bank of England moves to its present location on Threadneedle Street |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
1734 |
£5 notes first issued |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
1793 |
Notes fully printed from |
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1855 |
Treasury begins producing 10/– and £1 notes
in order to remove gold coins from circulation |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
1914 |
Bank of England assumed responsibility for producing 10/– and £1 notes (from the Treasury) |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
1928 |
Metal strip first included in British banknotes (£1 and 10/–) |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
1940 |
All denominations above £5 withdrawn |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
1945 |
Bank of England nationalised |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
1946 |
The first coloured £5 notes issued |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
1957 |
Sovereign (Elizabeth II) appears on Bank of England notes (10/– and £1) for the first time |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
1960 |
Series "C" £5 notes issued, with the Queen's head shown for the first time |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
1963 |
10/– note withdrawn |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
1970 |
Series "D", with famous people depicted on the reverse, issued (£1, £5, £10, £20) |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
1970/1 |
The first Series "E" note, with hologram, issued (£50) |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
1981 |
£1 note ceased to be legal tender |
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1988 |
Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee given responsibility for setting interest rates |
![Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer](../Query4.jpg) |
1997 |
© Haydn Thompson 2017–21