The Bank of England £1 note was a sterling banknote. After the ten shilling note was withdrawn in 1970, it became the smallest denomination note issued by the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government o ...

. The one pound note was issued by the Bank of England for the first time in 1797 and continued to be printed until 1984. The note was withdrawn in 1988 due to inflation and was replaced by a

coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order ...

History

One pound notes were introduced by the

for the first time in 1797, following gold shortages caused by the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Pruss ...

. The earliest notes were handwritten, and were issued as needed to individuals. These notes were written on one side only and bore the name of the payee, the date, and the signature of the issuing cashier. Between 1797 and 1821 the lack of bullion meant that banks would not exchange banknotes for gold, but after the end of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

the shortage was alleviated such that notes could be exchanged for an equivalent amount of gold when presented at the bank. One pound notes ceased to be issued in 1821 and were replaced by gold sovereigns. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

the

British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

wanted to maintain its stocks of gold and so banks were ordered to again stop exchanging any and all denominations of banknotes for gold. Gold sovereigns were replaced by one pound notes issued by the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or i ...

. These notes were nicknamed "Johns" because of the prominent signature of Sir John Bradbury, Permanent Secretary to the Treasury displayed on the notes. Britain returned to the

gold standard A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from th ...

in 1925, although the Bank of England was only obliged to exchange notes for gold in multiples of (the typical size of a " Good Delivery bar") or more. The responsibility for the printing of one pound notes was transferred to the Bank of England in 1928, and the ability to redeem banknotes for gold ceased in 1931 when Britain stopped using the gold standard. The Bank of England's first post-World War I one pound notes were two-sided green notes which were printed – not handwritten. The name of the payee was replaced by the declaration "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of one pound". This declaration remains on Bank of England banknotes to this day. This signature of the issuing cashier was replaced by the printed signature of the Chief Cashier of the Bank of England. In 1939, following the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, UK ambassador to Greece

Michael Palairet Sir Michael Palairet (29 September 1882 – 5 August 1956) was a British diplomat who was minister to Romania, Sweden and Austria, and minister and ambassador to Greece. Early life Palairet was the son of Charles Harvey Palairet, by his mar ...

was notified about secret Nazi plans to forge British paper money, and in 1940 one pound notes were issued in a new blue-orange colour scheme to deter counterfeiters, although the design remained the same. At the same time, a metal thread running through the paper was introduced as a security feature. After the war, one pound notes were issued in their original green colour. The earliest post-World War II notes did not have the metallic thread security feature, but those issued from September 1948 onward did. A new design for one pound notes was introduced in 1960, with the old notes ceasing to be legal tender in 1962. These new series C notes were slightly narrower, and were the first one-pound notes to feature a portrait of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

on the front. The reverse design incorporated the logo of the Bank of England. Series C notes were replaced by the series D notes from 1978 onward. These slightly smaller notes featured an entirely new design with Queen Elizabeth II on the front and scientist and master of the Royal Mint

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, Theology, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosophy, natural philosopher"), widely ...

on the back. The note was redesigned slightly in 1981 to feature brighter background colours. Following a consultation with retailers and other groups it was announced on 31 July 1981 that the one pound note would be replaced by a one pound coin. Inflation had collapsed the note's average circulation lifespan to nine months and the vending industry preferred coins to banknotes. The new

nickel brass Nickel silver, Maillechort, German silver, Argentan, new silver, nickel brass, albata, alpacca, is a copper alloy with nickel and often zinc. The usual formulation is 60% copper, 20% nickel and 20% zinc. Nickel silver does not contain the elem ...

coin was introduced on 21 April 1983 and the one pound note ceased to be legal tender on 11 March 1988. Bank of England £1 notes are still occasionally found in circulation in Scotland, alongside £1 notes from Scottishbanks. The Bank of England will exchange old £1 notes for their face value in perpetuity.

Designs

Information taken from Bank of England website.

References

External links

Bank of England website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bank of England 1 note Banknotes of England One-base-unit banknotes

History

Designs

See also

References

External links