£5 notes

Bank of England £5 with The Duke of Wellington vignette. Litho printed with 'L' on back.

Bank of England, £5 Blue Historical Design. Chris Salmon as Chief Cashier (B407) Crisp Uncirculated

D H F Somerset £5 B343 Blue Pictorial Queen Eliz II/ Wellington EF

D H F Somerset £5 Blue Pictorial B343 Queen Eliz/ Wellington Unc

In 1990, the Bank of England unveiled a new series of banknotes. The first denomination to appear was the £5. It was distinguished by a much larger portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the front. The back featured the portrait of railway engineer George Stephenson, alongside a vignette of his most famous locomotive The Rocket (B357) Graham Gill was Chief Cashier. The first prefix for this new design was the letter A. We can offer this important note in two ways both in Uncirculated - notes with the very first prefix A01.

G M Gill £5 Blue Pictorial B353 Queen Eliz II/ Duke of Wellington Crisp EF

In November 2003 the George Stephenson £5 disappeared from circulation. It had been introduced in 1990 as the first in the new ‘Historical’ series of banknotes. In those 13 years of issues it underwent a few design changes and was issued under three different Chief Cashiers. Here we offer crisp uncirculated examples of the George Stephenson £5 signed by G.M. Gill as Chief Cashiers (B357) The Stephenson £5 was coloured blue with a large mature portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the front. On the back a portrait of George Stephenson alongside an illustration of the famous “Rocket” locomotive.

Bank of England, G.M. Gill Chief Cashier (1988-1991), £5 Duke of Wellington (B353) Crisp Uncirculated

It was while J B Page was Chief Cashier at the Bank of England in the 1970s that the Pictorial £5 was introduced. The front of the note has a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II in State Robes alongside a medallion of Britannia and a vignette of Winged Victory. The back has a portrait of the first Duke of Wellington and a vignette from the Peninsular War. There were several varieties of the Page Pictorial £5 and this issue we can offer Uncirculated examples of the second and third varieties which were printed on giant web presses (B334 presented here and 336) The fronts were printed intaglio and the backs offset litho, shown by the addition a small L on the back. If you are missing these varieties- now is the time to add to your collection in Crisp Uncirculated

Bank of England £5 with The Duke of Wellington vignette.

It was while J B Page was Chief Cashier at the Bank of England that the so called Wellington £5 note was introduced in 1971. A portrait of Elizabeth II is on the front while a portrait of the Duke of Wellington dominates the back alongside a vignette from the Peninsular War. The very first of these Wellington £5 notes were printed in sheets of 18 and have the catalogue reference B332. The very first of these sheet printed Wellington £5 notes had the prefix A-. We were delighted to recently purchase a small group of these first Wellington £5 notes, all with the prefix A. Crisp Uncirculated.

J B Page £5 Pictorial B336 Queen Eliz/ Duke of Wellington EF

High grade potrait £5. Very limited availability

J Q Hollom £5 Blue Portrait B297 Queen Eliz/ Young Britannia EF/GEF

In 1963, the Bank of England unveiled a new £5 note. It was an historic issue because it was the first time the Bank had issued a £5 note with a portrait of the reigning monarch (B297) With the signature of J Q Hollom, a portrait by Reynolds Stone of the young Queen Elizabeth II appears on the front. She is shown wearing the George VI diadem and her trademark three strand pearl necklace. The figure of a child Britannia is on the back. We offer this historic note in several grades, Fine, Very Fine, Extremely Fine and Uncirculated.

J Q Hollom £5 Blue Portrait Queen Eliz II/ Young Britannia Unc. The first Portrait £5 notes were issued when J Q Hollom was Chief Cashier(B297) This was the first Bank of England £5 note to feature a portrait of the reigning monarch. First issued in 1963 a youthful portrait of Queen Elizabeth is on the front and a rendition of a Young Britannia, based on the artist Reynolds Stone’s daughter, is on the back. Here we offer Choice Crisp examples in Uncirculated.

Choice examples of the Portrait £5 issued when J S Fforde was Chief Cashier (B312) The front features a youthful portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and a young seated Britannia on the back Choice GEF. Limited availability.

J S Fforde £1 Blue Portrait Queen Eliz/ Young Britannia B312 Crisp AU/Unc

J S Fforde £5 Blue Portrait B312 Crisp EF.

John Standish Fforde was Chief Cashier at the Bank of England from 1966 until 1970 when he was succeeded by J B Page. During his time, there were two varieties of the Portrait £5. The first continued the prefix sequence first begun under J Q Hollom his predecessor. These have the catalogue reference B312 in English Paper Money. We are delighted to offer this first of the Fforde £5 notes in Crisp EF and AU/Unc.

Known by collectors as the Britannia Blue, this £5 replaced the iconic Bank of England White £5 in 1957. It is one of the most impressive designs of the whole Bank of England series. It had a very short life because, in 1960, the Bank started to introduce notes with the Queen’s portrait for the first time and this series was never completed. A helmeted Britannia is on the front and a lion holding a key is on the back. An iconic note in its own right and available now in AU/Unc.

In March 2002, the Bank of England introduced a new design for the £5 note with a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the front and Elizabeth Fry, prison reformer, on the back. (B393) Within days, the Bank suspended the issue. Reports were coming in that the serial numbers could be easily rubbed off. The problem was addressed and in August 2002 the issue was resumed. We are offering Crisp Uncirculated examples of the very first £5 notes from this series all with the prefix HA01 and intact. Increasingly difficult to find in Uncirculated!

Merlyn Lowther £5 Blue Historical B393 Queen Eliz II/Elizabeth Fry Unc

In November 2003 the George Stephenson £5 disappeared from circulation. It had been introduced in 1990 as the first in the new ‘Historical’ series of banknotes. In those 13 years of issues it underwent a few design changes and was issued under three different Chief Cashiers. Here we offer uncirculated examples of the George Stephenson £5 signed by Merlyn Lowther as Chief Cashier (B380). The Stephenson £5 was coloured blue with a large mature portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the front. On the back a portrait of George Stephenson alongside an illustration of the famous “Rocket” locomotive.

The last of the web fed issue. In original Bank of England presentation wallet. Only 1500 issued.