The First Banknote Portraits of Elizabeth II

We are delighted to offer choice examples of the J B Page Portrait £10 issued in 1971(B326) The fronts have a youthful portrait of Queen Elizabeth II with a lion astride the back trailing a ribbon from its mouth. Choice examples of the last Portrait £10 before it was replaced a mere 4 years later in 1975.

During the Second World War, the Bank of England did away with all denominations above £5 in an attempt to thwart counterfeiters. It wasn’t until 1964, when J Q Hollom was Chief Cashier, that the Bank reintroduced the £10 denomination into circulation. These new £10 notes followed the Portrait series with a youthful portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the front with a lion trailing a ribbon in its mouth and holding a two-sided key in its paws on the back. This remained the highest denomination until 1970 and was issued under three different Chief Cashiers. We recently purchased a run of these first Portrait £10 notes with J Q Hollom’s signature (B299) They have seen no circulation and grade Crisp Good Extremely Fine. Lovely examples of the first Portrait £10 note in GEF.

J Q Hollom £5 Blue Portrait Queen Eliz II/ Young Britannia Unc

J S Fforde 10 shillings Red Brown Portrait B310 Unc

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

It's now been over 30 years since the last £1 note was issued. Four £1 note designs have been gathered into this collection. They were issued in the period before and after World War II. You get the Blue Pink Pound, which was printed during World War II. You get the green Britannia Pound, the first Portrait Pound of Queen Elizabeth II and the last, smaller-sized portrait note of Queen Elizabeth II. The collection is available here in EF/Unc.