1 — One Pound
The artwork
Front: Archibald Campbell, Lord Ilay, first Governor of the Bank, engraved from Allan Ramsay's 1744 portrait — full-bottomed wig, plain coat, named in small caps at lower right. The green wording promises to pay the bearer one pound sterling "at their head office here in Edinburgh", dated 24th July 1991, over a faint engraving of Dundas House. Below, the Bank's arms and the chief executive's signature; the Bank's four-armed daisy device sits at the top centre.
Back: Edinburgh Castle seen from the west, perched above the Princes Street Gardens, with the crag falling away to the right and trees stepping down the slope — captioned simply EDINBURGH CASTLE. Across the foreground run the colonnades of the Royal Scottish Academy and the National Gallery of Scotland on the Mound. An orange sunburst rosette and pale star lattice fill the right, with the Bank's name in the same heavy green type.
In circulation
The Ilay design was introduced in 1987 and carried the Royal Bank's pound through the 1990s, this example dated July 1991. The Bank later wound down its £1 note, concentrating on £5 and above, and the Ilay portrait itself was eventually succeeded by the Bank's Fabric of Nature series notes.
Details
- CurrencyPound
- DenominationOne Pound
- Collectedon the United Kingdom journeys, 1991–2016
- IssuerThe Royal Bank of Scotland plc, Edinburgh
- SeriesIlay series, dated 24th July 1991
- PrinterThomas De La Rue and Company Limited
- SignatureChief Executive
- Dimensions135 × 67 mm