Nine £1 million notes were issued in connection with the Marshall Plan on 30 August 1948, signed by E. E. Bridges, and were used internally as "records of movement" for a six-week period, along with other denominations, with total face value of £300 million, corresponding to a loan from the U.S. to help shore up HM Treasury.
A third note surfaced recently on the collector market, dated 8 September 2003, serial number R016492, and it is signed by Andrew Turnbull, Secretary to the Treasury, and cancelled.
London's banks and other financial institutions would bid for these instruments, at a discount, specifying which day the following week they wanted the bills issued.
[citation needed] This circulating nature of the notes led to the robbery on 2 May 1990, of John Goddard, a messenger for the money broker Sheppards, with £292 million in Treasury bills and certificates of deposit having been stolen.
As no merchant can make change for it, he is perceived as wealthy, and therefore is extended credit and is able to live in luxury.