Leslie O'Brien (1955-1962)

It was in 1960 when L K O’Brien was Chief Cashier that the Bank of England decided to issue notes with the portrait of the reigning monarch Elizabeth II. This was quite a departure because until that point the only illustration on Bank of England notes was of Britannia. Britannia was still featured but this time in a seal which appeared on the back of the notes. The portrait of the young Queen Elizabeth II appeared on the front. There were two regular varieties of the O’Brien Portrait £1 note with the catalogue references of B281 and B282. Here we offer the B281 £1 Note with the prefix A- in Uncirculated condition.

It was in 1960 when L K O’Brien was Chief Cashier that the Bank of England decided to issue notes with the portrait of the reigning monarch Elizabeth II. This was quite a departure because until that point the only illustration on Bank of England notes was of Britannia. Britannia was still featured but this time in a seal which appeared on the back of the notes. The portrait of the young Queen Elizabeth II appeared on the front There were two regular varieties of the O’Brien Portrait £1 note with the catalogue references of B281 and B282. Here we offer the first £1 note with the B282 prefix –A in Uncircualted condition

The first Portrait Pound notes were issued by the Bank of England in 1960 when L K O’Brien was Chief Cashier. In those days, when notes were damaged in production, they were replaced from a reserve pile. These ‘replacement’ notes can be identified by the prefix which usually contained the letter M. We are delighted to offer Crisp AUncirculated examples of the Replacement Portrait £1 issued with L K O’Brien’s signature and with the M prefix (B286) Limited availability.