bavarikon4UPaper money in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
The United Kingdom is a union of the four countries England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In addition, there are Crown Dependencies and other territories belonging to the British Crown, such as the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands. The United Kingdom is governed and administered centrally, with the parts of the country having partial autonomy rights. This is reflected in the history of its paper money.
The first precursors were the goldsmith’s notes, which were issued by goldsmiths and were a kind of bill of exchange or promissory note. In 1694, the Bank of England was finally founded. It issued banknotes that circulated throughout the Union territory and were declared legal tender in 1833. The Bank of England remains the central bank of the United Kingdom to this day, which makes it one of the oldest central banks in the world still in existence.
Shortly after the Bank of England was founded, the Scottish Parliament decided to establish its own bank. And so, the Bank of Scotland was established in 1695. Despite the protest of the Bank of Scotland, a second institution, the Royal Bank of Scotland, was founded in 1727. Northern Ireland also had its own central banks, some of which still exist today. Scottish and Northern Irish banknotes are not compulsorily accepted in England and Wales. Only Bank of England notes can be used for payment without restriction in all parts of the country.
In addition, there were numerous private central banks in Great Britain. They issued banknotes for a specific region or place. The number of central banks rose to over 500 at the beginning of the 19th century. With the Peel Banking Act of 1844, the founding of new private central banks was prohibited. Gradually, the number was reduced until finally, in 1920, the last remaining central banks relinquished their right to issue banknotes.
Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man are British Crown Dependencies directly subject to the British Crown. The first issues of paper money were made by private banks, which were replaced by state issues. Gibraltar has been under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom of Great Britain since 1704. As a British Overseas Territory, it has its own government and the head of state is the British Queen. The first paper money was issued by the government in 1914. Issuing banknotes in Gibraltar remains a privilege of the government to this day.
Note: For copyright reasons, the banknotes of the Bank of England and the Royal Bank of Scotland cannot be shown.
>> This collection is part of the holdings of "Paper money in Europe" of the Giesecke+Devrient Stiftung Geldscheinsammlung (Giesecke+Devrient foundation: collections of bank notes).