So, to start off with, I've obtained quite a few provisional banknotes:
Plymouth Dock Bank
Retford Bank
Dartmouth Bank, which has a lovely Congrieve reverse
Derby Bank
Gainsborough Bank
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And some specimen pieces
Union Bank of Scotland (Plate Proof)
Deal Bank - so far as I can tell, this particular piece was not made for Deal Bank so looks to be a printer's promotional/experimental piece. But isn't it gorgeous?
A full set of the Provisional Bank of Ireland's set for The Franklin Mint in 1978 - recognisable by their Maltese cross serial
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A couple of early Bank of England notes
A genuine £5:
And a Bernhard £50
Oddly enough this now means I have a £10/£20/£50 Bernhard but no £5. And only a genuine white fiver, no other denominations!
A nice selection of “Skit” notes, of which you may remember I showed one for April 1st…
They are extremely fragile, even by old paper standards. But a nice bit of fun.
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An unused “sight” note of Huddersfield bank. IIRC its from about 1825 or so. Certainly around that era
However, what really drew me to the one was the vignette. I was certain I had seen an almost identical piece amongst my collection. And I had on a 1975 note. So almost 150 years later, the design was recycled for a Guernsey note…
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My first foray into Welsh money. Haven't yet read up on this bank, but I have a book on order. 🙂
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A couple of Hong Kong notes for fun
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An early Canadian provincial
My first graded note, although I didn't buy it for that reason.
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A couple of other exonumia pieces
A US certificate of deposit:
A Belgian mine share
And this early book frontspiece which I've used as the front bookmark to my English notes.
And fresh from the bank after my trip to the Highlands last week. 2x £50s and 1x £100 polymers.
Unbelievably, I forgot to get the Bank of Scotland's current £20, so not finished that set. But I'm back up in about 3 months so I'll hopefully grab it then. Might get a fresh £5/£10 as my current examples are very circulated anyway.
The last one completes the current “Fabric of Nature” series for the Royal Bank. Shame it's slightly circulated but only one the cashier had. 🤷♂️
And fresh from the bank after my trip to the Highlands last week. 2x £50s and 1x £100 polymers.
Some awesome old notes!
But how did you manage to get current notes in unc?! I was in Scotland for 2 weeks 2 years ago and I don't know how many bank branches I walked into, but never any unc notes. One AU 100 and some decent 20s from ATMs but the rest is just beat up …
Great group of notes! A Collector - wow an amazing mix, the 19th century joke ones made me laugh “When our dafhing ladies have gathered more delicacy and our Fops more brains” Even funnier with the long s in it (1810 still in common use yet Misses is sans the long s). I also love the one saying “FIVE” in elaborate scroll letters and then “Halfpence” meaning its basically near worthless.
I remember one book showing an image of the “Hanging Pound” from 1819 which was some artist's (Cruikshank?) criticism for the penalty of hanging for forging a one pound note. Obviously the arrival of gold sovereigns and the reform act of 1832 got rid of such primitive punishments for trivial offences. The white fiver is a real triumph too and Operation Bernhard forgeries, much more successful that German attempts at faking stamps like the ½d of 1935 changed to “This war is Jewsh war” and showing Stalin with a hooked nose.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
Bruno - A lovely Chinese coin there, I like that one with the Great Wall on it. Hope others see it amongst my wall of paper!
53th0s - Afraid it was just luck of the draw 🤷♂️ I just wandered into the Fort William branches of Bank of Scotland & Royal Bank of Scotland. As I bank with both, both served me at branch. ATMs are much more hit & miss with quality.
Mr Midnight - The merriment one is interesting. Was the only one backed on card at some point in the distant past. It should have more text on the reverse but thats covered. 😔
Gorgeous Spanish coin BTW. Stunner!
Oh,Look! - A nice contemporary piece there.
Moneytane - thank you, pleased they brought a smile. The clothing one is my favourite too. The five half-pence is interesting in that the place really exists as a private residence in Knaresborough. Not a million miles from me.
Apparently they were designed as a laugh for the owner, but quickly began circulating as the real deal. So the owner had as many destroyed as he could.
I know the note you mean. The bank restriction note. Been trying to get one for a couple of years. Last two came 2nd in the auction. 😕
Do have a cheap replica though. 😁
And the Bernhard stamps too. Don't have any but read an excellent book showing some.
And when held up to the light (reversed). You can see some of the original reverse text giving days (every Tuesday & Saturday). Something about children under 12…
2nd EDIT: Found another Merriment note. This is what the reverse looks like:
EDIT: Updated photo taken in brighter sunlight
Original posted image:
Also, I've found out that the pantomime is almost certainly a performance of the nursery rhyme:
The lion and the unicorn Were fighting for the crown The lion beat the unicorn All around the town.
Some gave them white bread, And some gave them brown; Some gave them plum cake and drummed them out of town.
Must say, I rather hope the performance was a bit more than just two verses!
This was later adapted by Lewis Carroll in the 1871 Through the Looking Glass, the sequel to Alice's adventures in Wonderland.
In a weird personal twist, the graves of Lewis Carroll's parents is in a town called Croft, less than 20 miles from me. What a small world it is.
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And here's the Cruikshank note. Sadly not as brilliantly detailed & clear as an original but it does enough.
Some finer details have been lost, such as the long pennant flags should read “Transportation”.
I remember reading that the Bank of England itself was largely against the death penalty, excepting in extremis.
But as it was unable to influence the laws, being set by Parliament, it had to follow the law as it was. Which included proper reporting of fraudulent notes. And usage of them, even if you were unaware yourself it was a fraud, could result in death.
Transportation was a common punishment for small sums such as a pound, but a bad mooded judge or egregious criminal may get the death penalty. Other forgers had slightly better outcomes. One forger called Francis Greenaway ended up in Sydney town during the rule of Governor MacQuarie and became a gifted architect designing a lighthouse, the old immigration barracks and Sydney mint and a large church in Hyde Park Sydney.
Francis Greenaway
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
Oooh, thanks for that. Might have a nosey for a copy. This is my book on it, written by an actual survivor of the operation.
Think the original is in German.
About 250 pages, plus appendices & photographs. A rather harrowing book as it details his life before, during concentration camps, and then The Fates intervening and getting him onto the counterfeiting side.
A very human story; it more focuses on the people and the life rather than the objects forged. But a fascinating, if grim & sometimes emotionally difficult, read.
A very human story; it more focuses on the people and the life rather than the objects forged. But a fascinating, if grim & sometimes emotionally difficult, read.
Makes sense: I watched the 2007 Counterfeiters movie & it was much like that to watch as well. Great sad story but really well done (I felt) considering the subject matter.
Among the most prolific countermarkers ever, Devins & Bolton were pharmacists in Montreal. They countermarked only copper coins, especially US large cents and Canadian bank tokens.
