Banknotes

Country: Great Britain
King (reign): George VI - (1936 - 1952)
Denomination/metal: Banknote Pounds, One Million
Date/mint mark: Bank of England

0mm, 0g. VF - Small hole cancellation through signature. Light creases and some handling otherwise good very fine to about extremely fine and extremely rare.

One Million Pounds, 30 August 1948, D 000007, on Bank of England watermarked paper, PAYABLE ON DEMAND, signature of E.E. Bridges, Secretary to the Treasury, bottom right, stamped ‘CANCELLED, 6 OCT. 1948, BANK OF ENGLAND’. Monies received through the Marshall Aid plan after World War II, were subject to strict accountability. The Treasury had to borrow from the Bank of England on a short term basis and to help with the book keeping requested the printing of high value notes. The total order sent to The Bank of England printing works was for Three Hundred Million Pounds in varying denominations, starting from Twenty Five Thousand Pounds. It is believed that the entire issue was subsequently destroyed with the exception of numbers Seven and Eight for One Million Pounds which were presented to the British and American Treasury Secretaries respectively.