Canada The Bank of Upper Canada, York (Toronto) 10 DollarsPick S2037 (Charlton Unlisted) dated 1st January 1861 Number 43552, a manuscript signature at lower centre right and with no observable overprint, in a PMG holder graded VF 20 this is a fabulous example of this Exceptionally Rare note. A collaboration of engraving by Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson, New-York on plate patented 30th June 1857 and printed by the American Bank Note Company is the result of this fabulous note in black on green underprint featuring a young portrait of Queen Victoria at lower left, seated Britannia with trident and shield with the crest of Upper Canada at right, and at upper centre 2 Allegorical female figures symbolizing Upper and Lower Canada, which united in 1841, and a Lion and a Unicorn, possibly representing Great Britain, and 3 crests in the middle. The 3 crests as follows - lower left and right depict the arms of the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada and the top - surmounted by a crown, shows the badge of The Order of the Garter, a clear reference to the monarchy. Below the whole allegory is a plinth carrying the words "VICT...TTANNIARM RE DEF"-Victoria, Queen of the Britons, Defender of the Faith. The reverse with an ornate panel and value at centre. An excellent example from one of the first Canadian Banks to issue their own banknotes following the success and the provided model of the Bank of Montreal, the very first Bank to issue any banknotes in Canada just following its establishment in 1817, and which in turn was itself following the model of the First Bank of the United States established in 1791 by Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. secretary of the Treasury. Also, one of the most influential early banks which ended up in a "Bang" in 1866 after having setup close relationships with the government from the moment of its establishment. The first significant bank failure in Canadian history, with its shareholders losing all their capital, which at a time had amounted up to over three million dollars and the government losing another million dollars. Banknotes at the time represented the principal liability of a bank and were redeemable in specie, upon demand. The issue of banknotes was well received by the public and became the principal means of payment along with the fact that they helped mitigate the problems that were associated with having a vast range of foreign coins circulating with different ratings. This note is a bit of an outlier as although featuring Royal portraits and images to relate to Great Britain, the Bank chose to use dollars as their denomination in contrast to others circulating in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland that were typically denominated in Pounds, Shillings, and Pence. Online research could not find any of this denomination offered in recent times, with only a few of the lower denominations in similar grades that were so keenly sought after they ended up in the 4 figure range, and the only example that occured is currently in the collection of the Bank of Canada Museum and these early issues are very unlikely to be seen in much higher grades, infect the current SCWPM prices them only up to the VF grade. Such an early Rarity, especially in issued format, is certainly a 'tasty' find for any serious collector and will most certainly serve as an absolute treasure in their collection. According to an official publication of the Canadian Paper Money Society Journal Volume 50, Number 143 of December 2014 this denomination was ordered May 1861 in Sheet Numbers 34001 - 44000 and October 1861 in Sheet Numbers 44001 - 49000 and was in a total of only 60000 notes
Isle of Man Westminster Bank Limited 1 PoundPick 23Ab (BY IM10e, IOMPM M314) a very LAST date 10th March 1961 with date partially stamped and printed signatures P. F. Barlow & T. D. Russell and serial number 244727, VF - GVF Minor fold Tear and an Exceptionally Rare example of one of the very LAST of the Westminster Bank issues. The note in black on light yellow underprint featuring the Bank's Coat of Arms at upper centre depicting a Crowned Triune flanked by the Royal Crowned Lion of England and Unicorn of Scotland, "Incorporated in England" text below Bank's name and promissory text with value in panel at centre. The reverse with a large triune at centre, guilloche value panels and Bank's head office address. Printed by Waterlow & Sons Limited, London on unwatermarked paper.
Isle of Man Westminster Bank Limited 1 PoundPick 23Ab (BY IM10e, IOMPM M314) dated 15th March 1960 with date partially stamped and printed signatures P. F. Barlow & T. D. Russell serial number 236987, VF Minor pencilled and inked marginal annotations at upper right and a Rare example of the last of the Westminster Bank issues. The note in black on light yellow underprint featuring the Bank's Coat of Arms at upper centre depicting a Crowned Triune flanked by the Royal Crowned Lion of England and Unicorn of Scotland, "Incorporated in England" text below Bank's name and promissory text with value in panel at centre. The reverse with a large triune at centre, guilloche value panels and Bank's head office address. Printed by Waterlow & Sons Limited, London on unwatermarked paper.
Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Reduced size Lizars design 1 PoundPick 322b (BY SC802d; PMS RB55d) dated 1st October 1949 signature Thomas Brown serial number P/1 476204, about UNC - UNC and pleasing in this high grade. Blue on pale yellow and red/brown sunburst underprint featuring Portrait of George I flanked by the Lion of England and Scotland's Unicorn, along with female allegorical figures at lower left and right. The reverse with a blue panel value and Bank's name at centre flanked by illustrations of the Head office buildings with Edinburgh at left and Glasgow at right, the later without the W. Egan's hidden name.
Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland further Reduced size Lizars design 1 PoundPick 325a (BY SC804b; PMS RB56b) dated 1st December 1965 signature G.P. Robertson serial number CJ 330404, a choice UNC and very pleasing in this high grade. Blue on pale yellow and red/brown sunburst underprint featuring Portrait of George I flanked by the Lion of England and Scotland's Unicorn, along with female allegorical figures at lower left and right. The reverse with a blue panel value and Bank's name at centre flanked by illustrations of the Head office buildings with Edinburgh at left and Glasgow at right, the later with the W. Egan's hidden name.
Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland 5 Pounds Reduced size issue Pick 323a (PMS RB58a, BY SC807a) dated 1st March 1952 serial number G890/7953 signatures John McArthur Thomson titled Cashier & General Manager and John D C Dick titled Chief Accountant. The note in blue and red on yellow underprint, uniface and featuring an eye pleasingly designed panel at left and a portrait of George I flanked by a Lion at right and Unicorn at left, W & A.K. Johnston Limited Edinburgh below portrait. A crisp and presentable GVF or slightly better
Scotland The Royal Bank of ScotlandLizars design reduced size 1 PoundPick 321 (PMS RB54b, BY SC802b) dated 31st October 1935 serial number K 776299 printed signature D. Speed for Accountant and manuscript signature D B Berwick for P. Cashier. Blue on yellow and brownish underprint with the obverse featuring a portrait of George I at top flanked by unicorn and lion at top and 2 Allegorical women figures at bottom left and right corners. The reverse with a blue panel with illustrations of the Bank's head office building in Edinburgh and Glasgow. A presentable and relatively crisp VF and Scarce
Canada The Bank of Nova Scotia10 DollarsPick S623f dated Halifax, N.S. 2nd January 1929 series D number 1715512 in black on ochre and blue underprint featuring miners scene at lower left, Coat of Arms with unicorn and Native American at centre and Sailing ship at lower right. Printed by the Canadian Bank Note Company Limited inscribed in small script at bottom centre on obverse and reverse. About VF
ScotlandBank of Scotland5 Pounds Deep Blue Borders ESSAY dated 14th August 1962 serial number 10/N 1234 signatures Bilsland for Governor & Watson for Treasurer with 3 punchhole cancels across the signatures and blue SPECIMENoverprint diagonally across obverse and reverse with design similar to that of Pick 106 (Calloway-Murphy BA 107a). The note with deep blue border margins and in blue and light brown with medallion at centre, arms and unicorns at left and value in wording in black panels at upper centre left and right in addition to the numerical ones to lower of the note on obverse and reverse in light brown with sailing ship at right, arms at centre and values in words in each 4 corners. Despite the introduction of solid £5 symbols it appears that the public continued to confuse £1 and £5 notes so renewed experimentation with the colours of the £5 notes was undertaken. In 1963 it was agreed to prepare essays in blue to reflect the chosen colour of Bank of England £5 notes. About UNC and an Exceptionally Scarce and seldom seen issue
ScotlandBank of Scotland5 Pounds Lighter Blue Borders ESSAY dated 14th August 1962 serial number 10/N 1234 signatures Bilsland for Governor & Watson for Treasurer with 3 punchhole cancels across the signatures and SPECIMENoverprint diagonally across obverse and reverse with design similar to that of Pick 106 (Calloway-Murphy BA 107a). The note with lighter blue border margins and in light blue and light brown with medallion at centre, arms and unicorns at left and value in wording in black panels at upper centre left and right in addition to the numerical ones to lower of the note on obverse and reverse in light brown with sailing ship at right, arms at centre and values in words in each 4 corners. Despite the introduction of solid £5 symbols it appears that the public continued to confuse £1 and £5 notes so renewed experimentation with the colours of the £5 notes was undertaken. In 1963 it was agreed to prepare essays in blue to reflect the chosen colour of Bank of England £5 notes. About UNC and an Exceptionally Scarce and seldom seen issue
ScotlandBank of Scotland5 PoundsWhite Borders ESSAY dated 14th August 1962 serial number 10/N 1234 signatures Bilsland for Governor & Watson for Treasurer with 4 punchhole cancels across the signatures and blue SPECIMENoverprint diagonally across obverse and reverse with design similar to that of Pick 106 (Calloway-Murphy BA 107b). The note with white border margins and in light blue and light brown with medallion at centre, arms and unicorns at left and value in wording in black panels at upper centre left and right in addition to the numerical ones to lower of the note on obverse and reverse in light brown with sailing ship at right, arms at centre and values in words in each 4 corners. Despite the introduction of solid £5 symbols it appears that the public continued to confuse £1 and £5 notes so renewed experimentation with the colours of the £5 notes was undertaken. In 1963 it was agreed to prepare essays in blue to reflect the chosen colour of Bank of England £5 notes. UNC and an Exceptionally Scarce and seldom seen issue
ScotlandBank of Scotland 20 pounds Pick 94e (Calloway-Murphy BA109e) dated 11th June 1956 serial number 10/A 4257 brown on pale orange with blue medallion at centre, arms with 2 unicorns at left, values in brown quadrilateral lozenge shaped panels at upper centre left and right on obverse and uniface. GEF - about UNC and Scarce in this high grade
ScotlandBank of Scotland5 Pounds Stanley Curister ESSAY undated 21st January 1945 similar design to Pick 97 (Calloway-Murphy BA 102b) serial number 8/Q 4233 signatures Lord Elphinstone for Governor and Crawford for Treasurer black SPECIMENoverprint diagonally at centre. The note features a grey Scotia medallion at centre, Great Seal of Scotland, Arms with unicorns at left on obverse and reverse in Dark Grey featuring Arms at centre and value at centre left and right. In 1943 the Bank started to consider redesigning the £5 note. A committee was set up with a brief to examine ways of reducing the size of the £5 note and adding a printed reverse. Stanley Curister, the Curator of the National Gallery at the time, prepared designs for the printed reverse featuring the Bank's shield against a lined background which was approved in May 1944 after several variants were submitted experimenting with different coloured inks. The inks were produced by A B Fleming & Co Ltd, the long standing ink manufacturers for the Bank. A number of these essays have come on to the market, all in the reduced dimensions. This essay type seen with both the SPECIMEN and CANCELLED overprint. About UNC and Exceptionally Scarce
ScotlandBank of Scotland 5 Pounds SPECIMEN undated no prefix/serials signatures Bilsland for Governor & Watson for Treasurer similar design as Pick 101 (Callaway-Murphy BA 105b) red SPECIMEN overprint diagonally on obverse. The note in light brown and light blue featuring Scotia medallion at centre, arms and unicorns at left and values now also in wording and in black panels at upper centre left and right in addition to the lower numerical values on obverse and sailing ship at right, arms at centre and value in wording in all four corners on the reverse. About UNC - UNC and Scarce
Scotland The British Linen Company One Pound uniface card Proof issue Edinburgh 22 Sept 1898 black and grey on white coat of arms with lion and unicorn at the top EF evidence of once being mounted reverse and with three punch holes at the bottom
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