Scotland - 1 Scottish Pound - P-322a - 1941 dated Foreign Paper Money

1 Pound. P-322a. Scottish banknotes represent the pound sterling currency issued by three retail banks in Scotland. The Bank of Scotland, recognized as the oldest bank in the nation, was the first institution in Europe to successfully print its own banknotes in 1695. The issuance of these banknotes by retail banks is governed by the Banking Act 2009, which nullified previous regulations concerning banknote issuance, alongside the Scottish and Northern Ireland Banknote Regulations 2009. Presently, the three retail banks authorized to produce notes for circulation in Scotland are the Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and Clydesdale Bank.

Scottish banknotes are distinctive for two primary reasons: they are issued by retail banks rather than a central government bank, and they do not qualify as legal tender anywhere within the United Kingdom. In fact, Scottish banknotes are not considered legal tender even within Scotland, where no banknotes, including those from the Bank of England, are legally defined as such. Instead, they are categorized as promissory notes, and the law mandates that the issuing banks maintain a reserve of Bank of England banknotes or gold equivalent to the total value of the notes they have issued.