Adam Smith becomes first Scot to adorn an English banknote | Business | The Guardian Adam Smith becomes first Scot to adorn an English banknote Share on Messenger Close Adam Smith, the legendary Scottish economist, is to appear on the new £20 note - the first Scot to adorn an English banknote, and the first economist. Bank of England governor Mervyn King unveiled the new face on the note - taking over from Sir Edward Elgar - during last night's annual Adam Smith lecture at St Bryce's Kirk in Kirkcaldy, where the economist was born in 1723, and within Gordon Brown's constituency. The chancellor initiated the lecture series, in the church where his father used to preach, last year. The notes will be available from next spring and will carry a portrait of Adam Smith and an engraving showing the division of labour in pin manufacturing with the words "and the great increase in the quantity of work that results". His seminal work, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, was written in 1776. It is still read the world over and commentators of all political colours try to claim the economist as one of their own.

Britain has the right-wing thinktank the Adam Smith Institute, but Mr Brown launched the lecture series hoping to reclaim him as a man of the left. The right has always claimed that Adam Smith's "invisible hand" guiding markets, together with his argument that self-interest among traders produces a socially beneficial result, gives support to a laissez-faire approach to economies with minimal government interference. But the left points to Smith's other classic work - The Theory of Moral Sentiments - where he makes clear his opposition to selfishness and belief that people involved in commerce have a moral duty to show sympathy for others. For the governor of the bank of England, Adam Smith's most relevant theme is that to reap the benefits of the division of labour requires strong social institutions. "Social institutions and market economies go hand-in-hand," said Mr King. "Second, people who, for the most part, pursue their own self-interest, are also prepared to stand back and ask how their actions should be constrained by social institutions. Such institutions arise because we build them." However, the SNP leader, Alex Salmond, was unimpressed by Smith's image appearing only on a £20 note in England, when he features on the Scottish £50 note.

"Smith, with the fine appreciation of irony reflected in his work, would appreciate that the £50 note used in Scotland is debased to a £20 note in England," he said. bank of england banknote news - Pam West British Bank Notes bank of england banknote news Banknotes to value or sell E Mail pam@britishnotes.co.uk or Phone us 0208 641 3224 To purchase any of the English Banknotes below click on:- Browse notes - English Banknotes Buying £5 Polymer Churchill Victoria Cleland buying any 01's AB01 AC01 AD01 etc £8 each Also buying £10 LH01 £20 JH41 £50 AJ36 We are only interested in purchasing the above. We are not interested in AK47, it has reached an unrealistic price on internet auction/selling sites. Hyped up by artificial bidders. The Bank of England has printed 440 milion new £5 notes prefixes AA to AM. 60 million of each prefix. All prefixes are common. the only ones worth money are those listed above and special serials. ie.

123456 333333 888888 or similar. £10 LH40 £20 JJ40 Any JJ £50 AJ70 £5 LE90 £10 KC40 £20 HE80 Any HE £50 R70 & L90 Turner has been chosen to appear ont he polymer £20 due out 2018 concept design issued by the Bank of England Any Prefix £20 HE Buying £50s Withdrawn 30th April 2014 £50 Kentfield H70 or higher & LL--, Lowther K71 to K98 & L70, Bailey L71 or higher British Notes always looking to buy Modern Banknotes Bank Staff make money for the Xmas Party look in the vault at the old boxes in the corner We buy anything Bank related: Specimen Cheques - Old Travellers Cheques - Old envelopes Banking Ephemera - Old counter stamps - Signs - etc Sir Winston Churchill will appear on the new polymer Bank of England £5 banknote due out mid 2016.

Jane Austen will appear on a polymer £10 in 2017. Fake Overprint see more details in article on front page Fake Overprint, wrong colour and font Fake Overprint C tips curl in, 9 curved base Genuine Overprint Genuine Overprint C has straighter top and bottom, 9 side sweeps to base British Banknote AA01 First prefix Salmon £50 Matthew Boulton and James Watt (specimen overprint overlaid by British Notes to comply with Bank of England guidelines) Prefixes logged AA AB AC AD AE AH AJ Salmon £50 banknote Issued 2nd November 2011 Boulton & Watt £50 Issued 2nd November Image of Whitbread Steam Engine and Matthew Boulton's Soho Manufactory ???? There have been no reports of replacements or column sorts for sometime now. We can only speculate that the Bank has changed its printing procedures to eliminate replacements and column sorts. We, as collectors, will be vigilant in seeking out these banknotes, but, it may be we have seen their demise. Two bundles of five pound banknotes we have obtained direct from the Bank via De la Rue are bound with a digitally printed De La Rue wrapper bands.

When you think about it, what is the point of replacing a damaged sheet with a replacement numbered sheet, costing time in printing and labour when you can just calculate the number of good sheets printed that day and so on, until you have completed the quantity required. The digital age has arrived and replacements and column sorts may be the first casualty. News Release Boulton and Watt The New Faces on £50 Banknotes The renowned 18th century business partnership of entrepreneur Matthew Boulton and engineer James Watt provides the historical figures to be portrayed on the Bank of England’s redesigned £50 banknotes. Bank of England Governor, Mervyn King, made the announcement this evening when he opened a new exhibition at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery: ‘Matthew Boulton: Selling what all the world desires’. Commenting on the choice, the Governor said, “Just as the Bank of England plays an essential role in the economy as the United Kingdom’s central bank, so too did Boulton and Watt’s steam engines and their many other innovations as essential factors in the nation’s Industrial Revolution.

So many of the advantages society now enjoys are due in large part to the vital role of engineering and the brilliance and foresight of people such as Boulton and Watt whose development and refinement of steam engines gave an incredible boost to the efficiency of industry.” “The unique and rare opportunity that the Bank has through its banknotes to acknowledge and promote awareness of our nation’s heritage of artistic, social and scientific endeavour is an honour for us. The Bank’s choice of Boulton and Watt, a reminder of the invaluable contribution from engineering and the entrepreneurial spirit to the advancement of society, I think, well reflects this.” The Boulton and Watt £50 banknote, to be launched in around eighteen months time, will be the second note in the Series F ‘family’which began with the introduction of the Adam Smith £20 note in 2007. Therefore its overall appearance will be similar. But for the first time two portraits will appear together on the reverse of the note, those of Boulton and Watt, along with the image of a steam engine and the Soho (Birmingham) Manufacture.

As with the Adam Smith £20 banknote however, continuity is provided with the current portrait of Her Majesty The Queen, which was first used in 1990 and which will be retained on the front of the note. Further details of the design and the range of security features to be included on the new note will be revealed when the new note is launched, within a full promotion and awareness campaign. Andrew Bailey, the Bank’s Executive Director – Banking Services and Chief Cashier, whose signature appears on Bank of England banknotes, also attended the Birmingham exhibition opening. Commenting on the plans for the new £50 banknote, he said, “Not only am I delighted with the proposed design for the banknote but I am pleased too that the Bank has the opportunity again to introduce advances in anti-counterfeiting measures which have come on stream.” As new-design banknotes are introduced so the notes they replace are withdrawn - although they can always be exchanged at the Bank of England for their face value. The Boulton and Watt £50 banknote will therefore circulate in tandem with the current £50 banknote first introduced in 1994.

This earlier note, which features Sir John Houblon, the first Governor of the Bank of England, will be gradually withdrawn from circulation with the final date for its status as legal tender to be announced in due course. The design includes separate portraits of Boulton and Watt, developed from images held by the Bank of England (Bank of England copyright). The image of the Soho Manufacture, where Boulton produced small metalware and which became the first steam-powered mint and another, of the Whitbread steam engine designed by Boulton and Watt and installed by Samuel Whitbread in his London brewery, are worked from images owned by Birmingham City Council. Permission to use these two images was kindly given by the Council. Acknowledgement of the copyright and permission would be appreciated. The Boulton and Watt £50 is the second in Series F with the Adam Smith £20 the first (2007). The Houblon Series E was introduced in 1994. The only previous £50 banknote design was the Wren banknote, introduced in 1981 and withdrawn from circulation in 1996.

Prior to this there was a white £50 in issue between 1725 and 1943. At the end of December 2008 there were some 171 million (170,846,025) £50 banknotes in circulation (6.7% of total notes by volume, 18.8% by value); over the whole of 2008 the average figures were 157 million (156,987,390) £50 notes (6.7% of total notes by volume, 18.9% by value). B339b Seen 82J & 82K ? Top number was 80 For Prefix Updates Click 'News & Info' & go to 'English Paper Money Updates' British Banknote Bank of England L06 Column Sort Banknote British Banknote Bank of England M01 First Prefix B390 seen on CC 46 52 54 62 65 76 77 80 all on higher numbers 900000 plus.

CC01 seen 928893 Serials British Banknote CC80 Last on First B400 one only found in bundle of one hundred notes New English £20 Banknote 13 MARCH 2007 The Bank of England has issued a 'new-style' £20 English Banknote This new English Banknote is the same size as the previous design. The banknote features Adam Smith on the reverse. Purple / Mauve predominating. Many new security features. Adam Smith, regarded as one of the fathers of modern economics. RELATED LINKS Adam Smith FRSE (5 June 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneering political economist. One of the key figures of the intellectual movement known as the Scottish Enlightenment, he is known primarily as the author of two treatises: The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). The latter was one of the earliest attempts to systematically study the historical development of industry and commerce in Europe, as well as a sustained attack on the doctrines of mercantilism.

Smith's work helped to create the modern academic discipline of economics and provided one of the best-known intellectual rationales for free trade, capitalism, and libertarianism.

now depicted on the reverse of the New £20 pound banknote British Banknote First prefix Replacement banknote LL01 on new £20 Bank of England Chief Cashiers Signatures John Swanwick Bradbury, Norman Fenwick Warren Fisher, Charles Jewson, Abraham Newland, Henry Hase, Thomas Rippon, Mathew Marshall, William Miller, George Forbes, Frank May, Horace George Bowen, John Gordon Nairne, Ernest Musgrave Harvey, Cyril Patrick Mahon, Basil Gage Catterns, Kenneth Oswald Peppiatt, Percival Spencer Beale, Leslie Kenneth O'Brien, Jasper Quintus Hollom, John Standish Fforde, John Brangwyn Page, David Henry Fitzroy Somerset, George Malcolm Gill, Graham Edward Alfred Kentfield, Merlyn Vivienne Lowther, Andrew John Bailey, Chris Salmon Specialist banknote dealer Provincial banknotes English Banknotes for sale buying in circulation or new and old English Banknotes value Bradbury Fisher White Fiver Ten shilling note Error notes Specialist banknote dealer IBNS investment One hundred pound second hand banknotes paper currency The Banknote Store banknote yearbook Collect Paper Money Eire Republican Fenian Bond Auction Advice Wants Lists Managed Insurance Valuations Probate Valuations Auction Bidding

 Service Outright Purchase Commission Selling 35 Years Experience Confidentiality Assured World Currency British Isles we offer Military money Eire money Scotland banknote One stop shop People on banknotes new old current for sale banknote £5 LE46 £10 JH01 £20 HA01 £5 LE90 £10 KC40 £20 HD80 ::: A Short History of English Banknotes ::: Where did banknotes come from?

The earliest banking involved money-changing between coin and bullion and between different currencies, issuing bills of exchange (in the form of a letter asking one person to pay a sum of money to another on behalf of the person who wrote the letter) and accepting deposit of valuables or money which earned interest. English bankers found they had a steady level of money deposited with them and used this to provide loans on which they then charged interest. About this time they allowed customers to transfer a credit amount to someone else by writing an order to the bank - the forerunner of the bank 'cheque'. It was the bill of exchange which led to the issue of banknotes. On 27th July 1694 William Paterson, a Scottish merchant originally from Tinwald in Dumfries, obtained a Royal Charter from the king, William III, to form the the Bank of England in order to raise funds for the government of the day and started to issue banknotes. These were handwritten and made out to an individual who could cash them at any branch of the issuing bank. The Bank of England Act was passed which established the Bank of England as the worldï¿½s first national bank.

Its first Governor was Sir John Houblon and the first Chief Cashier, briefly, was John Kendrick, about whom little is known. In 1697 the first watermark was introduced. From 1725 the notes were partially printed with just the name to whom payable, date, amount and cashierï¿½s signature to be filled in by hand. Businessmen set up banks in London and 'provincial' banks as a way of raising capital for investment from the late eighteenth century. However by 1770 London banks had given up issuing their own notes and used the Bank of England banknotes instead.

The banknotes from 1725 were issued for amounts of ï¿½20, ï¿½25, ï¿½30 up to ï¿½100 in ï¿½10 stages, then ï¿½100 to ï¿½500 in ï¿½100 stages and lastly a ï¿½1000 note; in 1759 the first ï¿½10 and ï¿½15 notes appeared, in 1793 with economic difficulties due to the Napoleonic War a ï¿½5 note was introduced and in 1797 ï¿½2 and ï¿½1 notes. A total of 19 different notes! Worth noting that at this time ï¿½5 was more than the average working person earned in a year so rarely seen! The appearance of the low denomination notes meant that gradually more of the general public had to come to terms with paper money but banknotes were easy to counterfeit as many of their new owners were illiterate and not used to handling notes.

In 1833 Bank of England banknotes were made legal tender for all sums above ï¿½5 in England and Wales as a way of protecting the Bankï¿½s bullion reserves in times of crisis. However most of the notes over ï¿½10 had disappeared by 1852, the ï¿½300 by 1893 and the ï¿½200 in 1918. This left just the ï¿½10, ï¿½20, ï¿½50, ï¿½100, ï¿½500 and ï¿½1000 which were withdrawn in 1943. The ï¿½10 reappeared in 1964, the ï¿½20 in 1970 and the ï¿½50 in 1981. The big change came in 1855 when banknotes were fully printed including the chief cashierï¿½s signature and had the words I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of ....

People could use a banknote instead of coins and the system worked as long as people had confidence that the bank had the coin to redeem the note. In 1884 the Government decided to regulate the issue of banknotes by the Bank Charter Act and from then on the private provincial banks gradually merged until by 1921 the last provincial note had been issued. In 1914, the first issue Treasury notes, red 10 shillings and black ï¿½1, were signed by Sir John Bradbury and afterwards Sir Norman Fenwick Warren Fisher. A Tale of Two Women Up to 1928 banknotes were ï¿½whiteï¿½ notes printed in black on white paper and unprinted on the back. However on 22nd November the Bank of England took over the issue of banknotes from the Treasury and produced full colour 10/- and ï¿½1 notes printed on both sides. This first series is called Britannia Series A as they featured a rather demure seated Britannia with curiously a spear and an olive branch possibly offering a choice of peace or war.

The bee skep beside her may symbolise the bank as a store of the nation's riches or the industry of the bank in looking after the nationï¿½s money. The idea of dressing Britannia as a noble Saxon lady came from Daniel Maclise, RA, in 1855 who used his daughter as the model. The ornamental clasp on her cape indicates a rank of nobility. They were issued up to the early 1960's by four Chief Cashiers, Basil Catterns (19th Chief Cashier) 29-34, Kenneth Peppiatt 34-49, Percival Beale 49-55 and Leslie Oï¿½Brien 55-62. During the period from 1926 on the Bank of England set up 14 branches around the country which issued banknotes. However most ended by 1938, only Swansea continued until 1959 and Leicester issued notes from 1944 to 1972.

During the Second World War Germany produced some excellent forgeries so in 1940 the color of the Peppiatt 10/- note was altered to mauve and the ï¿½1 to blue. The regular colours returned after the war. In February 1957 the white ï¿½5 was finally replaced by a curious single note series known as Helmeted Britannia Series B. These were only issued under L.K.Oï¿½Brien and feature this lovely portrait. The artist Richard Horsman Solly created the first helmeted Britannia in 1818 as a proposal for a new series of ï¿½inimitableï¿½ one pound notes. The image was never used but artist Stephen Gooden recalled it almost exactly for the Britannia used on this blue five-pound note. On the reverse is a superb lion carrying a key. This note only lasted until 1964 when the Queen had given her permission to include her portrait on banknotes and the Portrait Series C appeared with a portrait designed by Robert Austin, Professor of Engraving at the Royal College of Art.

The 10/- note was issued from 1963, the ï¿½1 from 1960, the ï¿½5 from 1963 and the ï¿½10 from 1964 by four Chief Cashiers, Leslie Oï¿½Brien, Jasper Hollom 62-66, John Fforde 66-70 and John Page 70-80. On the Jasper Hollom ï¿½5 and ï¿½10 notes, the Queen has turned to look at us and a rather sad Britannia on the reverse of the ï¿½5 has found a shield and a pile of boulders. On the reverse of the ï¿½10, a rather odd lion holds the key. Ten years later the next series began to appear - the Pictorial Series D with a gentler portrait of the Queen and full-length pictures of English notables on the reverse. The John Fforde 10 shilling note had been replaced by the 50p coin in 1968 and so the smallest denomination from then on was the ï¿½1 note.

The notes featured: ï¿½1 - Sir Isaac Newton ï¿½5 - Duke of Wellington ï¿½10 - Florence Nightingale ï¿½20 - William Shakespeare ï¿½50 - Sir Christopher Wren The ï¿½1 note was issued from 1978, the ï¿½5 from 1971, the ï¿½10 from 1975, the ï¿½20 from 1970 and the ï¿½50 from 1981. The Chief Cashiers who issued them were John Fforde, John Page, David Somerset 80-88, Malcolm Gill 88-91 and Graham Kentfield 91-98. With devaluation over the years, the ï¿½1 note was replaced by a coin in 1983 and the last ï¿½1 note was issued by David Somerset in 1985. It went out of circulation in 1988. The next major series came in 1990 with Historical Series E.

A more mature Queen's portrait by artist Harry Eccleston and portraits of famous people and appropriate scenes on the reverse. Incidentally this series was the first to include a copyright notice although it always was, and is, a criminal offence to forge banknotes so what its purpose is remains obscure. The notes featured: ï¿½5 - George Stephenson and the Rocket locomotive ï¿½10 - Charles Dickens and The Pickwick Papers ï¿½20 - Michael Faraday and the Christmas Lectures ï¿½50 - Sir John Houblon and his house in Threadneedle Street. The green ï¿½5 note was issued from June 1990, the ï¿½10 from April 1992, the ï¿½20 from June 1991 (all revised in 1993 to aid the partially sighted) and the ï¿½50 from April 1994. The three Chief Cashiers who issued this series were Malcolm Gill, Graham Kentfield and Merlyn Lowther 99-03, who was the first female Chief Cashier.

Finally New (Revised) Series E ï¿½5 - Elizabeth Fry, showing a scene with her reading to prisoners in Newgate Prison ï¿½10 - Charles Darwin, a hummingbird and the HMS Beagle ï¿½20 - Sir Edward Elgar with a view of the west face of Worcester Cathedral. The ï¿½5 was issued from May 2002, the ï¿½10 from November 2000 and the ï¿½20 from June 1999. This replacement series was issued by Merlyn Lowther. In March 2007 the first note from the New Series F entered circulation. ï¿½20 - Adam Smith, with an illustration of ï¿½The division of labour in pin manufacturingï¿½, replaced the Series E Elgar note. It was issued by Andrew Bailey, the 30th Chief Cashier of the Bank of England. Sadly Britannia is now relegated to a very minor role and, only 7mm tall she is tucked away in a corner with her rocks, branch, spear and shield. Paper and Printing The paper used has always been chosen so as to give a distinct look and feel.

It is 80 to 90 gsm paper manufactured from cotton fibre sometimes mixed with linen and is impregnated with polyvinyl alcohol or gelatin to give it extra strength. One of the first papermakers was the firm started by a Huguenot, Henri de Portal, in 1712 at Bere Mill and in 1718 at Laverstoke Mill both on the river Test near Overton in Hampshire and carried on by his son Joseph Portal who bought Laverstoke Manor. They produced paper for Bank of England notes from 1724. They also invented the metallic thread incorporated into the paper which started off within the paper and latterly is allowed to come to the surface as a dotted line called 'windowed thread'. Printing is a combination of three processes ï¿½ Offset Lithography for the background tints and fine lines; Intaglio Printing gives the stronger coloured fine detail with slightly raised print and also never completely dries which is a useful security test; Letterpress is used for serial numbers. Some printing changes have been marked on the reverse of the banknotes.

In 1973 the Somerset ï¿½1 note was printed on a new web press and a little W appears; the ï¿½5 was also moved to a web press with offset lithography on the reverse, marked L; the 1984 ï¿½10 note on a web press was also marked W on the reverse. The latest security features to make life difficult for forgers include: holograms, fluorescent features, varnish coating, foil impression, windowed metallic thread and extremely fine print. POSTSCRIPT: Numismatics is the study of money, particularly coins, and a numismatist is a collector. However Notaphily is the study of paper money or banknotes and a notaphilist is a collector of such (according to Wikipedia). More about English coins .

Sources: historicle figures - Pam West British Bank Notes historicle figures HISTORICAL FIGURES ON BANK OF ENGLAND BANKNOTES by Jonathan Callaway The recent announcement by the Bank of England that they intend to introduce a new fiver in 2016 with Sir Winston Churchill on the back, replacing Elizabeth Fry, has prompted a lot of media interest in who appears on our banknotes and how these decisions are taken. This article looks at who we have seen so far and considers who might come next. Prior to 1928 Bank of England banknotes had hardly changed since the 18th century; they all looked like the old white fiver. But 1928 saw the introduction of a green £1 note and a reddish-brown 10 shillings note to replace the UK’s Treasury issues. The white fiver, meanwhile, continued to reign supreme right up to 1956.

The many higher denominations had all been withdrawn in 1944 thanks to Operation Bernhard, the massive counterfeiting operation undertaken by Nazi Germany, so until 1956 the population had to make do with just three Bank of England denominations and nothing larger than a five pound note. The white fiver was replaced by the blue ‘Lion and Key’ five pound note, a beautiful but short-lived design replaced after only ten years. It was only in 1960 that the Queen first appeared on a Bank of England note, accompanied on the reverse by a stylised image of Britannia. Britannia, an allegorical female representation of Britain, had always appeared on Bank of England notes in a vignette based on the Bank’s seal. She had also frequently appeared on English provincial banknotes in the 19th century, usually with sword and shield and sometimes with a lion at her feet in a range of poses from the frankly militaristic to the demurely feminine. The front of the Lion and Key fiver carried a bold image of Britannia wearing a Roman helmet, an image more classical Victorian than Elizabethan.

Britannia continues to appear on every note, be it as a small vignette, in the watermark or as one of the images in the hologram security device. Arguably, therefore, current Bank of England notes already have two females on them, the Queen and Britannia. In the late 1960s the Bank started thinking about further changes to its banknote designs and the view was formed that introducing historical figures on them would enhance their attractiveness while giving scope to the designers to bring in more anti-counterfeiting design features. It took until July 1970 for the Bank finally to get round to putting the first historical figure on one of its notes. The note chosen to initiate the new series was the re-introduced £20 note in a lovely design with the Queen on the front accompanied by a delightful vignette of George and the Dragon. On the reverse we see the first in a long line of historical figures, William Shakespeare (1564-1616).

It is difficult to think of a more fitting figure than our national poet and playwright to start this process but less well known is the fact that had the Bank decided not to issue a new 50 pence note to replace the old 10/- note, the honour would have gone to Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618), one of Shakespeare’s contemporaries but better known as an adventurer and explorer than as a writer (he wrote poetry). The 50p note was scuppered when a 50p coin was introduced instead. Shakespeare lasted 23 years on the £20 note before making way for Michael Faraday. We will now look at all those who came after him, taking them in chronological order. A summary at the end lists all these historical figures by denomination and date. In 1971 the next figure to appear was the Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), who shared the back of the new £5 note with a depiction of one of his famous victories, the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro. He lasted 20 years on the note.

The Duke was not only a famous military figure but also a former Prime Minister responsible for the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act (he was Irish born, though a Protestant) and presiding over the 1832 Reform Act. The next figure to appear, and the first female historical figure, was Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) in 1975. She enjoyed 19 years on the back of the £10 note and her image was accompanied by a scene from the hospital in Scutari (now part of modern Istanbul in Asian Turkey) where she first came to public attention for nursing soldiers wounded in the Crimean War. In 1856, after the war ended, she returned to Britain and went on to establish a number of training facilities for nurses. In 1978 the last £1 note was introduced with Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727) on the reverse. This small note, known as the ‘Luncheon Voucher’ was in circulation for only ten years and was the Bank of England’s last £1 note before it was withdrawn and replaced by a £1 coin.

Newton qualifies to appear on a banknote for his most famous moment, when the apple fell on his head and he ‘discovered’ gravity. This story is however apocryphal but he did write of watching apples fall and wondering why they always fell straight to earth. In 1687 Newton published his single greatest work, the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica ('Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy') which embodied his studies on gravity. He was by far the most eminent scientist of his day and felt by many to have been as influential on the development of physics as Albert Einstein himself. He found time amongst his scientific research and writing to become the Master of the Royal Mint, a position he took very seriously in his pursuit of counterfeiters. In 1981 we see Sir Christopher Wren appear (1632-1723) on the back of the newly re-introduced £50 note.

This was the first note of this denomination since 1944 and remains the highest Bank of England denomination (and is likely to stay as such, the Bank apparently deciding against issuing a £100 note on the grounds that it would give out a potentially inflationary signal and be used mainly in the cash economy). Wren appears along with an image of St Paul’s Cathedral, his most famous creation. Apart from being one of our most famous architects, Wren was also one of the founding members of the Royal Society and devoted much of his earlier years to the study of astronomy. In 1990 the Bank started a new series of notes, slightly reduced in size to previous issues. The theme of featuring a historical character on each note continued, however. The new series began with a new fiver portraying George Stephenson (1781-1848) on the reverse. He is seen with the Rocket, the famous steam locomotive he built and first ran on the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825. It had a top speed of an impressive 36mph.

Its success ushered in the railway age when thousands of miles of lines were built all over the UK, making a huge contribution to the success of the industrial revolution. A year later, in 1991, a new £20 note joined the tenner, this time the featured figure being Michael Faraday (1791-1867). Faraday was another scientist, his speciality being electromagnetism, a principle which paved the way for the development of electric motors. He devoted much time to lecturing and instituted the annual Christmas Lectures at the Royal Institution which continue to this day. An image of him delivering one of these lectures appears alongside his portrait. The £10 note was updated the following year, in 1992, and Charles Dickens (1812-1870) joins the illustrious list of historical figures. Dickens is still a hugely popular author as attested to by the numerous screen and TV adaptations of his novels. The note carries a scene from the cricket match described in the Pickwick Papers, one of his most successful novels.

In 1994 the £50 note was redesigned and a new figure appears on the reverse, Sir John Houblon (1632-1712), the Bank of England’s first Governor. Arguably the least well-known historical figure to appear on their banknotes, he is also one of the longest-lasting, still there after nearly 20 years. In 1999 it was decided to replace the £20 note once again, prompted perhaps by the increasing occurrence of attempts to forge the notes. The previous £20 note had lasted just ten years and this new one, featuring Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934), lasted just eleven. Elgar is one of Britain’s most famous composers who wrote a number of popular works such as his Pomp and Circumstance marches including Land of Hope and Glory. He made his name in the pre-First World War period with his composition Enigma Variations. A year later in 2000 a new £10 note was issued, featuring Charles Darwin (1809-1882).

Darwin is rightly lauded for his hugely influential work The Origin of the Species, which revolutionised scientific thought and propelled Darwin into the forefront of top-ranking scientists. It was however a controversial book in its day and even today is challenged by some religious groups. Darwin’s beard is said to have influenced the choice of his portrait given the apparent difficulty it presented to the banknote engravers – and thus to potential forgers. This consideration does not appear to have worked against the bald and clean-shaven Churchill. In 2002 Elizabeth Fry (1780-1845) was selected to grace the reverse of a new £5 note. She was a prominent 19th century philanthropist and penal reformer, a Quaker born into the Gurney banking family who were one of several Quaker families whose banks were merged to create today’s Barclays Bank. Her husband was a member of the Fry family who founded the J S Fry chocolate and confectionary business. In 2007 yet another £20 note was issued, with the first Scot to appear on an English note, Adam Smith (1723-1790).

Smith is considered by many as the father of modern economics whose work The Wealth of Nations argued in favour of free trade and the division of labour – thus providing a theoretical basis for the modern industrial factory system. There is no sign of any of the Scottish banks wishing to reciprocate by putting an Englishman on one of their notes, and indeed the Clydesdale could rightfully accuse the Bank of England of pinching their idea – Adam Smith featured on their £50 notes from 1981 to 2009. The most recent note to be introduced was another first, in that two figures were selected to appear on the reverse of a new £50 note in 2011, Matthew Boulton (1718-1809) and James Watt (1736-1819). Their claim to fame was their collaboration in the development of steam engines which powered many of the factories of the Victorian industrial revolution. They also established a coin mint in Soho, near Birmingham which supplied the Royal Mint as well as many foreign governments.

While the Bank is not easily influenced in its decision-making about who appears on its banknotes it does keep a list on its website of all the suggestions for new names made by the public. They range from Geoffrey Chaucer to David Beckham but the latter is highly unlikely to appear if the Bank sticks to its stated criteria, that the individual must be universally recognised as having made an outstanding and lasting contribution in their chosen field – and, though not explicitly stated – be dead. The choice of Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) on the new fiver is proving not uncontroversial. A feminist campaign group is threatening legal action under the Equality Act, insisting that the Bank reconsider its decision and choose another female figure. The Bank is currently resisting this and is refusing to disclose how its decision was actually made, though they do say that the final decision always rests with the Governor and that a shortlist of four had been drawn up (of which only one was female). One suspects, however, that when Darwin is eventually replaced on the £10 note they may reveal a greater sensitivity to arguments about women’s rights. Jane Austen or Emmeline Pankhurst anyone?

SUMMARY OF HISTORICAL FIGURES ON BANK OF ENGLAND NOTES STOP PRESS Looks like it will be Jane Austen! On 25 June 2013 the outgoing Governor of PRESS the Bank of England Sir Mervyn King hinted strongly that Jane Austen could indeed replace Charles Darwin on the £10 note in 2017. She has been “quietly waiting in the wings” and is one of the figures the Bank has been working for over two years. A formal announcement might take place before the new Churchill notes appear, probably in 2016, though the final decision will rest with the incoming Governor, Mark Carney, the former Governor of the Bank of Canada. He would be a brave man to change it now! Banknote Characters | Bank of England Characters featured on current notes Polymer £5 – Sir Winston Churchill Sir Winston Churchill was one of the greatest statesmen of all time, and is the only Prime Minister to win the Nobel Prize for literature. The images on the back of the note show a view of Westminster and the Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) from the South Bank looking across Westminster Bridge.

Also shown in the background image is the Nobel Prize medal, which he was awarded in 1953 for literature, together with the wording of the prize citation. Paper £5 - Elizabeth Fry The images on the back of the note are related to the life and work of this social reformer. The main illustration shows Elizabeth Fry reading to prisoners at Newgate. In recognition of her work she was awarded the key to the prison and this is used in the design of the banknote. Paper £10 - Charles Darwin As a young man Darwin was employed as the naturalist on board the ship HMS Beagle an illustration of which is depicted on the back of the note. Also pictured is an illustration of Darwin's own magnifying lens and the flora and fauna that he may have come across on his travels. Paper £20 - Adam Smith Smith is one of the fathers of economics. In one of his great works, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Smith famously used the example of workers in a pin factory to describe the benefits created by the division of labour, and, as explained on the note, "the great increase in the quantity of work that results".

Paper £50 - Matthew Boulton and James Watt Boulton and Watt entered a partnership to develop and market steam engines. Initially these were for use in the mining and textile industries before they extended the innovation to benefit a wider range of industries in the UK and worldwide. Characters featured on previous notes The Bank has featured historic figures on banknotes since 1970. The characters depicted on previous notes have been: Charles Dickens (writer) Sir John Houblon (first Governor of the Bank of England) Sir Isaac Newton (scientist) 1st Duke of Wellington (general/statesman) Sir Christopher Wren (architect)

Question: Who is the first Scotsman to appear on the reverse of an Bank of England banknote?
Answer: ADAM SMITH