£50 notes

Given we now have a new polymer £50 in circulation, we thought that now might be a good time to look back at the paper issues of the £50 first introduced in 1994. The design was chosen to mark the 300th Anniversary of the bank’s founding in 1694. The portrait of the first Governor of the Bank of England, Sir John Houblon, appears on the back. His tenure is remembered today in the uniform of the bank’s gatekeepers which was based on the livery of Sir John Houblon’s own staff. A vignette of an early gatekeeper and a view of the façade of Houblon’s house in Threadneedle Street also features. The Houblon £50 on offer have with the signature of Andrew Bailey who, it so happens, is the current Bank of England Governor (B404)

Chris Salmon who was Chief Cashier at the Bank of England for a mere 3 years. This £50, first introduced when Salmon was Chief Cashier, was the last paper design for this denomination. (P410) HM The Queen appears on the front as usual with a dual portrait of Matthew Boulton and James Watt, Titans of the Industrial Revolution, on the back. Crisp Uncirculated and soon to vanish from circulation.

The design for this £50 note was unveiled in 1981 when Somerset was Chief Cashier and it was declared a masterpiece of design. A portrait of Queen Elizabeth II in State Robes adorns the front while on the back we find a portrait of Sir Christopher Wren and his own masterpiece, St Paul’s Cathedral, viewed from the River Thames. Our St Paul’s £50 notes are signed by G M Gill who followed Somerset as Chief Cashier (B356) As time passes, these are proving more and more elusive. We are delighted to offer Crisp examples at AU/Unc.