Faces On The Back of English Banknotes
Submitted by Martin1983 on Thu, 05/10/2007 - 07:11
Tags:
£1
- Isaac Newton (scientist) 1978-1988 (The £1 note was discontinued in 1984 after the £1 coin was introduced, and finally withdrawn in 1988)
£5
- The Duke of Wellington (soldier in Napoleonic Wars and Prime Minister) 1971-1991
- George Stephenson (mechanical engineer, invented steam locomotive Rocket) 1990-2003
- Elizabeth Fry (prison reformer, philanthropist) 2000-present
£10
- Florence Nightingale (nurse) 1975-1994
- Charles Dickens (author) 1992-2003
- Charles Darwin (naturalist and scientist) 2000-present
£20
- William Shakespeare (playwright) 1970-1993
- Michael Faraday (physicist) 1991-2001
- Edward Elgar (composer) 2000-present/soon to be discontinued
- Adam Smith (philosopher & economist) 2007-present
£50
- Christopher Wren (architect) 1981-1996
- John Houblon (Governor of the Bank of England) 1994-present
English banknotes have been around since the seventeenth century. The Bank of England, though, has been issuing banknotes since the early 1920s.
Since 1960, the Queen's face has appeared on the front of the banknotes, always facing left with the Queen's face facing right on a watermark (to distinguish between counterfeit banknotes).
Following decimalisation in 1971, banknotes were issued in decimal nominations, as opposed to the old monetary system. And it has been since then, that English historical figures have featured on the reverse of the banknotes. Adam Smith, now on the £20 note was actually Scottish.