{{Short description|Obsolete denomination of British currency}} {{Infobox banknote | country = United Kingdom | denomination = Ten [[Shilling (British coin)|shillings]] | value = 10/– [[Pound sterling|sterling]] | unit = | width_mm = 140 | height_mm = 67 | security_features = | paper_type = Cotton | years_of_printing = 1928–1969 | obverse = Bank of England 10s obverse.jpg | obverse_design = [[Queen Elizabeth II]] | obverse_designer = | obverse_design_date = 12 October 1961 | reverse = Bank of England 10s reverse.jpg | reverse_design = [[Bank of England]] logo | reverse_designer = | reverse_design_date = 12 October 1961 }} The '''Bank of England 10 shilling note''' (notation: '''10/–'''), colloquially known as the '''10 bob note''', was a [[pound sterling|sterling]] banknote. Ten shillings in [[£sd]] (written 10s or 10/–) was half of one pound. The ten-shilling note was the smallest denomination note ever issued by the [[Bank of England]]. The note was issued by the Bank of England for the first time in 1928 and continued to be printed until 1969. The note ceased to be legal tender in 1970 and was discontinued in favour of the [[Fifty pence (British coin)|fifty pence coin]] due to inflation and [[Decimal Day|decimalisation]].
==History== [[File:HM-treasury-note-10-shillings-bradbury-A.jpg|left|thumb|Obverse side of the 10/– banknote issued by [[HM Treasury]]]] In the 18th and 19th centuries, banknotes were handwritten or part-printed and could be exchanged, in whole or in part, for an equivalent amount of gold when presented at the bank. During the [[First World War]] the [[British Government]] wanted to maintain its stocks of bullion and so banks were ordered to stop exchanging banknotes for gold. [[Bank of England £1 note|£1]] and 10/– notes were introduced by the [[HM Treasury|Treasury]] in lieu of gold [[Sovereign (British coin)|sovereigns]]. These notes were nicknamed "Bradburys" because of the prominent signature of [[John Bradbury, 1st Baron Bradbury|Sir John Bradbury]], [[Permanent Secretary to the Treasury]] displayed on the notes.<ref name="BoE Withdrawn">{{cite web|url=http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Documents/withdrawnrefguide.pdf|title=Withdrawn banknotes reference guide|publisher=Bank of England|access-date=3 May 2016|archive-date=29 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329073154/http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Documents/withdrawnrefguide.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Britain returned to the [[gold standard]] in 1925, but the Bank of England was only obliged to exchange notes for gold in multiples of 400 ounces or more.{{clarifyme|date=January 2018|reason="or more" contradicts "multiples". And were these troy ounces?}} The responsibility for the printing of 10/– notes was transferred to the Bank of England in 1928, and the right to redeem banknotes for gold ceased in 1931 when Britain stopped using the gold standard.<ref name="BoE History">{{cite web|url=http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Pages/about/history.aspx|title=A brief history of banknotes|publisher=Bank of England|access-date=3 May 2016}}</ref> The first Bank of England 10/– notes were two-sided, red, printed banknotes featuring the declaration "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of ten shillings" on the front. This declaration remains on Bank of England banknotes to this day. In 1939, early in the [[World War II|Second World War]], [[List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Greece|UK ambassador to Greece]] [[Michael Palairet]] was notified about the [[Operation Bernhard|secret German plans to forge sterling notes]], and in 1940 10/– notes were issued in a new mauve and grey colour scheme in order to frustrate counterfeiters, although the design remained the same. At the same time, a metallic thread running through the paper was introduced as a security feature. After the war 10/– notes were again issued in their original red colour. The earliest post-World War II notes did not have the metallic thread security feature, but those issued from October 1948 onward did.<ref name="BoE Withdrawn"/>
The ten-shilling note was nicknamed a "half-note," especially in Scotland and Ireland.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/half-note_n|title=half note, n. meanings, etymology and more | Oxford English Dictionary|website=www.oed.com}}</ref><ref>Partridge, E. (2006:522).'' A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English''. UK: Taylor & Francis.</ref>
A new design for 10/– notes was introduced in 1961, with the old notes ceasing to be legal tender in 1962. These new series C notes were slightly longer and narrower, and were the first 10/– notes with a portrait of [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]] on the front. The reverse design incorporated the logo of the Bank of England.<ref name="BoE Withdrawn"/> In the late 1960s it was decided that future banknotes should feature a British historical figure on the reverse. The first such note was the series D [[Bank of England £20 note|£20 note]], first issued in 1970, featuring [[William Shakespeare]]. A design for a 10/– note featuring [[Walter Raleigh]] on the reverse was approved in 1964, but this was never issued.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishnotes.co.uk/news_and_info/picture_library/englishpictures/reverses/seriescdef.php|title=Reverses of English Banknotes|publisher=British Notes|access-date=3 May 2016}}</ref> It was initially intended that the Walter Raleigh note would be issued as a 50 pence note, but due to spiralling inflation the note's lifespan had declined to about 5 months in circulation and instead it was replaced by a [[Fifty pence (British coin)|coin]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/14/newsid_3151000/3151539.stm|title=New 50-pence coin sparks confusion|publisher=BBC News|date = 14 October 1969|access-date=3 May 2016}}</ref> The series C 10/– notes ceased to be legal tender on 22 November 1970.<ref name="BoE Withdrawn"/> In the Isle of Man, both the English and Manx 10/– notes continued to be legal tender for 50 pence until 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.im/news/2013/aug/01/withdrawal-of-plastic-manx-1-note/|title=Withdrawal of Manx Plastic £1 note|publisher=Isle of Man Government|date = 1 August 2013|access-date=2 November 2023}}</ref>
==Details== {|class="wikitable" !Image !Note !First Issued !Last Issued !Ceased to be<br>legal tender !Colour !Size !Front !Back !Additional information |- | | Series A (1st issue) || 22 November 1928 || Unknown || 29 October 1962 || Red-brown || 138 × 78 mm || || || |- |[https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/images/banknotes/withdrawn/10-shillings-emergency-wartime-issue-19790321.jpg?h=359&la=en&mh=359&w=319&hash=1EDE2F5079FB8FE741AD6128C20289802934D482] | Emergency wartime issue || 2 April 1940 || Unknown || 22 October 1962 || Mauve and grey || 138 × 78 mm || || || Incorporated metal thread for the first time; same design as series A |- |[https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/images/banknotes/withdrawn/10-shillings-a-2nd-issue-1928-197903023.jpg] | Series A (2nd issue) || 17 June 1948 || Unknown || 29 October 1962 || Brown || 138 × 78 mm || || || Reissue of unthreaded pre-war notes |- |[https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/images/banknotes/withdrawn/10-shillings-a-3rd-issue-197903017.jpg?h=359&la=en&mh=359&w=314&hash=9C606A49324F26DF1BC113DA7B5D20A56876DE25] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190718065902/https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/images/banknotes/withdrawn/10-shillings-a-3rd-issue-197903017.jpg?h=359&la=en&mh=359&w=314&hash=9C606A49324F26DF1BC113DA7B5D20A56876DE25 |date=2019-07-18 }} | Series A (3rd issue) || 25 October 1948 || Unknown || 29 October 1962 || Brown || 138 × 78 mm || || || Metal thread introduced permanently |- |[https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/images/banknotes/withdrawn/10-shillings-1961-19790323.jpg?h=359&la=en&mh=359&w=367&hash=D70963BEBD7CFF6F4BDA6A829E8CF3CE4B19FD9D] | Series C || 12 October 1961 || 13 October 1969 || 22 November 1970 || Red-brown|| 140 × 67 mm ||Queen Elizabeth II||Bank of England logo || First 10/- note to carry portrait of monarch |- |[https://hammersfan01.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/50p-note.png] | Series D || colspan=3 {{n/a}} ||Red-brown || 121 × 62 mm ||Queen Elizabeth II||Sir Walter Raleigh|| Intended as 50p note following decimalisation; never issued |}
Information taken from Bank of England website.<ref name="BoE Withdrawn"/><ref name="BoE History"/>
==See also== {{Portal|Money|Numismatics|United Kingdom}} *[[Bank of England note issues]]
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== *[http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Pages/default.aspx Bank of England website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171119004318/http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Pages/default.aspx |date=2017-11-19 }}
{{s-start}} {{succession box | title= Ten shilling note | before= [[Half sovereign|Half Pound]] | after=[[Fifty pence (British coin)|Fifty pence coin]] | years=1928–1969}} {{s-end}}
{{Banknotes of the pound sterling}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bank of England 10s note}} [[Category:Banknotes of England]] [[Category:One-half-base-unit banknotes]] [[Category:Currencies introduced in 1928]]