| 757-796 |
Offa, King of Mercia, was considered the greatest Anglo-Saxon ruler in the eighth century. He was responsible for
establishing a new currency based on the silver penny which, with many changes of design, was the standard coin of
England for many centuries |
| 1060 |
A coin was minted in England shaped like a clover. The user could break off any of the four leaves and use them as
separate pieces of currency |
| 1694 |
The Bank of England was founded in 1694 by a Scotsman, William Paterson, and the Bank of Scotland in 1695 by an
Englishman, John Holland |
| 1789 |
In Britain, the law indicating the method of execution changed to hanging. Prior to that, burning was the modus
operandi. The last female to be executed by burning in England was Christian Bowman. Her crime was making counterfeit coins |
| 1793 |
The fiver is the longest running denomination of Bank of England note: it was first issued in 1793 |
| 1813 |
Since 1813, the guinea hasn't existed as an actual unit of currency. Guineas were originally minted of
gold imported from the Guinea Coast of West Africa, hence their name. The coin was first issued in 1663, when
the British crown authorized the Royal Mint to manufacture 20-shilling gold pieces "in the name and for the
use of the Company of Royal Adventurers with Africa." Forty-four of the coins were the equivalent of one
pound of gold |
| 1853 |
The Bank of England notes were not wholly printed until 1853. Until that year they were still signed by one
of the Bank's cashiers |
| 1870 |
The facsimile signature of the Chief Cashier appeared on Bank of England notes for the first time |
| 1908 |
Kenneth Grahame published the children's classic book "The wind in the Willows". He was the Secretary of
the Bank of England between 1898 - 1908, so it is possible that some of the characters in the book were based
on those people he knew and worked with |
| 1940 |
The metallic thread was first introduced into Bank of England notes |
| 1943 |
The highest value bank note issued by the Bank of England (£1000 denomination) was issued for the last time |
| 1960 |
The monarch's portrait appeared on Bank of England notes for the first time |
| March 1995 |
A check for 2,474,655,000 English pounds was issued by Glaxo plc for Wellcome Trust Ltd. As the printers could
not print such a figure, it was typed by an employee. She was so nervous, she had to type it 3 times! |
| Farthing |
In England, a quarter penny was originally known as a fourthing when coins were cut into pieces to make change.
"Farthing" is a corruption of the word fourthing |
| Dandiprat |
Dandiprat was an English coin of the value of three halfpence, coined by Henry VII |
| Gresham's Law |
The milled edges still found on many coins were originally designed to show that none of the valuable
metal had been shaved off the coin. Prior to the use of milled edges, circulating coins suffered from "shaving,"
a common problem where unscrupulous persons would shave a small amount of precious metal from the edge of a
circulating coin. This form of debasement in Tudor England led to the formulation of Gresham's Law. The
monarch would have to periodically recall, paying only bullion value of the silver, and re-mint circulating
coins |