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22 Pounds 1697 handwritten note
| Issuer | Bank of England |
|---|---|
| Year | 1697 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Entirely manuscript note in period hand, bearing a handwritten promise-to-pay inscription with payee names, sum of twenty-two pounds, place, and date. A partial inscription at lower right reads 'Bank of [England]', consistent with early Bank of England cashier notes of this period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Promise to pay Prof. Cotsman(?) & Howds(?) or_ Demand Twenty two pounds, London June 18: 1697. |
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| Comments |
The Bank of England was chartered in 1694, and its earliest notes were entirely manuscript — written out by hand by the bank's cashiers, each one a unique document rather than a printed instrument. This is one of those notes. The denomination itself, 22 pounds, reflects the running cash note system then in use, where notes were issued for whatever sum a depositor placed with the bank, not rounded to a convenient face value.
Fewer than a handful of notes from the bank's first decade are known to survive in private hands. Most were presented for payment and destroyed upon redemption — which was, after all, their purpose.