Banknotes were originally hand-written; although they were partially printed from 1725 onwards, cashiers still had to sign each note and make them payable to someone.

Following the death of Elizabeth II, the Bank unveiled new notes, in the same design but featuring Charles III, on 20 December 2022.

[1][2][3][4] All current Bank of England banknotes are printed by contract with De La Rue at Debden, Essex.

[5] They include the printed signature of the Chief Cashier of the Bank of England, Sarah John, for notes issued since mid-2018, and depict the British monarch in full view, facing left.

They also include the EURion constellation, a pattern of yellow circles which stops copying of banknotes and is easily identified by photocopiers.

[18] Over the years, various acts of Parliament were introduced in the United Kingdom to increase confidence in banknotes in circulation by limiting the rights of banks to issue notes.

The Treasury had issued notes of these denominations at the start of the First World War in 1914 in order to supplant the sovereign and half-sovereign and remove gold coins from circulation.

The custom of depicting historical figures on the reverse began in 1970 with Series D, designed by the Bank of England's first permanent artist, Harry Eccleston.

However, inflation, particularly after the 1967 sterling devaluation, was eroding the note's lifespan in circulation and it was decided to replace it with a 50 pence coin, which was first issued in 1969.

[24] The first Bank of England £1 note was issued on 2 March 1797[24] under the direction of Thomas Raikes, Governor of the Bank of England, and according to the orders of the government of William Pitt the Younger, in response to the need for smaller denomination banknotes to replace gold coin during the French Revolutionary Wars.

In 1940 a metal security thread was introduced, and the colour of the note was changed to blue and pink for the duration of the Second World War, to combat German counterfeits (see below).

[24] The first Bank of England £5 note was issued in 1793[24] in response to the need for smaller denomination banknotes to replace gold coin during the French Revolutionary Wars.

On 11 November 1971, the Series D pictorial £5 note was issued, showing a slightly older portrait of the Queen and a battle scene featuring the Duke of Wellington on the reverse.

The Series D pictorial note appeared on 20 February 1975, featuring nurse and public health pioneer Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) on the reverse, plus a scene showing her work at the army hospital in Scutari during the Crimean War.

A second Series E note was issued on 7 November 2000 featuring naturalist and biologist Charles Darwin, HMS Beagle, a hummingbird, and flowers under a magnifying glass, illustrating the Origin of Species.

The note was predominantly purple and featuring a statue of William Shakespeare and the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet on its reverse.

In February 2006, the Bank announced a new design for the note[40] which featured Scottish economist Adam Smith with a drawing of a pin factory – the institution which supposedly inspired his theory of economics.

[41] The design of the £20 note was controversial for two reasons: the choice of a Scottish figure on an English note was a break with tradition; and the removal of Elgar took place in the year of the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth, causing a group of English MPs to table a motion in the House of Commons calling for the new design to be delayed.

[24] The Series D £50 note was released on 20 March 1981 featuring the architect Christopher Wren and the plan of St Paul's Cathedral on the reverse.

In 1994 this denomination was the last of the first Series E issue, when the Bank commemorated its 300th birthday by featuring its first governor, Sir John Houblon, on the reverse.

In May 2009, the Bank of England announced a new design in Series F, featuring James Watt, Matthew Boulton, the Whitbread Engine and Soho Manufactory.

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 £300,000,000, corresponding to a loan from the US to help shore up HM Treasury.

"[citation needed] A third note surfaced on the collector market, dated 8 September 2003 and with the serial number R016492; it is signed by Andrew Turnbull, Secretary to the Treasury, and cancelled.

A £10.000,000 Treasury Bill, stamped "cancelled", sold for £17,000 at auction in London on 29 September 2014 by Dix Noonan Webb.

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.

The circulating nature of the notes led to the City bonds robbery on 2 May 1990, when John Goddard, a messenger for the firm Sheppards, was mugged of £292 million in Treasury bills and certificates of deposit.

[57] After the start of the World War II in September 1939 the German Operation Bernhard attempted to counterfeit various denominations between £5 and £50.

Although the plans were classified, in November Michael Palairet, Britain's ambassador to Greece, got full details of them from a Russian émigré and reported them to London.

Although most fell into Allied hands at the end of the war and were destroyed, forgeries frequently appeared for years afterwards, so all denominations of banknote above £5 were subsequently removed from circulation.

However, it is a criminal offence to knowingly hold or pass a counterfeit bank note without lawful authority or excuse.