Bank of England £ 50 note - wikipedia Bank of England £ 50 note Fifty pounds ( United Kingdom ) Value £ 50 Width 156 mm Height 85 mm Security features Motion thread, raised print, metallic thread, watermark, microlettering, UV feature, see - through registration device Paper type Cotton Years of printing 1725 -- 1943 ; 1981 -- 1991 ; 1991 -- 2011 ; 2011 -- present ( current design ) Obverse Design Queen Elizabeth II Design date 2 November 2011 Reverse Design Matthew Boulton and James Watt Design date 2 November 2011 The Bank of England £ 50 note is a banknote of the pound sterling. It is the highest denomination of banknote issued by the Bank of England. The current cotton note, first issued in 2011, bears the image of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse and the images of engineer and scientist James Watt and industrialist and entrepreneur Matthew Boulton on the reverse. Contents 1 History 2 Future 3 Designs 4 See also 5 References 6 External links History Fifty pound notes were introduced by the Bank of England for the first time in 1725. 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. With the exception of the Restriction Period between 1797 and 1821, when the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars caused a bullion shortage, these notes could be exchanged in full, or in part, for an equivalent amount of gold when presented at the bank. If redeemed in part, the banknote would be signed to indicate the amount that had been redeemed. From 1853 printed notes replaced handwritten notes, with the declaration `` I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of fifty pounds '' replacing the name of the payee. This declaration remains on Bank of England banknotes to this day. A printed signature of one of three cashiers appeared on the printed notes, although this was replaced by the signature of the Chief Cashier from 1870 onward. A £ 50 note, issued in 1934 The ability to redeem banknotes for gold ceased in 1931 when Britain stopped using the gold standard. The £ 50 note ceased to be produced by the Bank of England in 1943 and did not reappear until it was reintroduced in 1981. These D series notes were predominantly olive green on both sides, with an image of Queen Elizabeth II on the front ( as with all subsequent £ 50 notes ) and an image of architect Christopher Wren on the back. As a security feature, this note had a metallic thread running through it, which was upgraded to a `` windowed '' thread from July 1988 onward. The thread is woven into the paper such that it forms a dashed line, yet appears as a single line when held up to the light. The series D note was gradually replaced by the series E, beginning in 1994. This reddish note replaced Christopher Wren with John Houblon, the first governor of the Bank of England, on the reverse. As an additional security feature, these notes had a foil patch on the front. The current £ 50 note was introduced in 2011. It features two portraits on the reverse : engineer and scientist James Watt and industrialist and entrepreneur Matthew Boulton, along with the Whitbread Engine and the Soho Manufactory, Birmingham. The note has a number of security features in addition to the metallic thread, including motion thread, raised print, a watermark, microlettering, a see - through register, and a colourful pattern that only appears under ultraviolet light. The current note is the first Bank of England banknote to feature two people on the reverse, and the first Bank of England note to feature the motion thread security feature. This is an image in a broken green thread that moves as the note is viewed from different angles. Future The Bank of England has announced it is creating new £ 5, £ 10 and £ 20 notes in polymer form. The Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney has said there are `` no plans '' for a polymer £ 50. Peter Sands, an advisor to the British Government and former Chief Executive of Standard Chartered, has raised concern with the Bank of England over high denomination notes and their role in tax evasion. He claimed that scrapping the £ 50, and other high denomination notes such as the CHF 1000 and $100, will reduce financial crime. However, a Bank of England source told the Financial Times ( FT ) in December 2016 that there were no plans to remove the note from circulation. The FT said the removal would be `` a loss of Liberty '' and raised points that the £ 50 is useful for high - value cash transactions, such as eating out. Furthermore, there is a worldwide precedent for mixed material currency as the Singapore Dollar has its 2, 5, and 10 dollar bills on polymer substrate and their 50, 100, 1000, and 10,000 dollar bills on paper. Designs Note First issued Last issued Ceased to be legal tender Colour Size Design Additional information White 1725 1943 16 April 1945 Monochrome ( printed on one side only ) 211mm x 133mm ( may vary ) Series D 20 March 1981 20 September 1996 Predominantly olive green 169mm x 95mm Front : Queen Elizabeth II ; Back : Christopher Wren First £ 50 note to carry a portrait of a monarch and used a ' windowed ' security thread ( July 1988 onward ) Series E 20 April 1994 2011 30 April 2014 Multicoloured ( predominantly red ) 156mm x 85mm Front : Queen Elizabeth II ; Back : John Houblon Foil patch for additional security Series F 2 November 2011 Multicoloured ( predominantly red ) 156mm x 85mm Front : Queen Elizabeth II ; Back : Matthew Boulton and James Watt Information taken from Bank of England website. See also Bank of England note issues References ^ Jump up to : `` A brief history of banknotes ''. Bank of England. Retrieved 28 April 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` Withdrawn banknotes reference guide '' ( PDF ). Bank of England. Retrieved 28 April 2016. Jump up ^ `` Steam engine heroes grace new £ 50 banknote ''. Channel 4. 30 September 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2015. Jump up ^ `` £ 50 Note -- Design Features ''. Bank of England. Retrieved 28 April 2016. Jump up ^ `` £ 50 Note -- Security Features ''. Bank of England. Retrieved 28 April 2016. Jump up ^ `` New £ 50 banknote in circulation ''. BBC News. Retrieved 28 April 2016. Jump up ^ Peachey, Kevin ( 2015 - 09 - 02 ). `` Paper banknotes disappearing fast as £ 20 turns plastic ''. BBC News. Retrieved 2017 - 01 - 06. Jump up ^ `` The £ 50 note may be taken out of circulation after Bank of England says there are ' no plans ' to introduce new plastic notes ''. The Telegraph. Retrieved 2017 - 01 - 06. Jump up ^ `` Ban £ 50 notes to tackle crime, ex-bank chief says ''. BBC News. 2016 - 02 - 08. Retrieved 2017 - 01 - 06. Jump up ^ `` Scrap £ 50 notes to stop plumbers and builders avoiding tax, urges government adviser ''. The Telegraph. Retrieved 2017 - 01 - 06. Jump up ^ Stott, Michael ( 15 December 2016 ). `` An Unloved Banknote - Is the £ 50 in Danger ? ''. www.ft.com. Financial Times. Retrieved 2017 - 01 - 06. External links Bank of England website Banknotes of the pound sterling England and Wales Bank of England Current £ 5 £ 10 £ 20 £ 50 Obsolete 10 / - £ 1 Scotland Bank of Scotland £ 5 £ 10 £ 20 £ 50 £ 100 The Royal Bank of Scotland £ 1 £ 5 £ 10 £ 20 £ 50 £ 100 Clydesdale Bank £ 5 £ 10 £ 20 £ 50 £ 100 Northern Ireland Bank of Ireland £ 5 £ 10 £ 20 £ 50 £ 100 Danske Bank / Northern Bank Current £ 10 £ 20 Obsolete £ 5 £ 50 £ 100 First Trust Bank £ 10 £ 20 £ 50 £ 100 Ulster Bank £ 5 £ 10 £ 20 £ 50 £ 100 British Crown Dependencies Guernsey pound Jersey pound Manx pound British Overseas Territories ( at parity with Sterling ) Gibraltar pound Falkland Islands pound Saint Helena pound See also Pound sterling Coins of the pound sterling Economy of the United Kingdom Sterling area Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bank_of_England_ £ 50_note&oldid = 834355332 '' Categories : Banknotes of England Fifty - base - unit banknotes Talk Contents About Wikipedia Bahasa Indonesia 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 5 April 2018, at 08 : 32. 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Question: when was the first £50 note issued
Answer: 1725