This boring banknote may look like it is from the 18th century, and I wouldn’t fault
you for thinking that. But believe it or not, not only is it from the 21st century,
but it’s also perfectly legal tender.
It’s called Titan and is a 100% real 100 million pound banknote. Yep - that is 1 followed by eight
zeros. One hundred million. Its cousin, the Giant, is a £1 million banknote and is also legitimate,
issued by the Bank of England, just like any other Pound Sterling banknotes you're familiar with.
You might think the number of zeros in these notes is ridiculous, but they aren’t even the largest
denominator of the bill seen in a country. This is Zimbabwe's 100 Trillion Dollar note
equivalent to a whopping 40 US cents and here is a 100 Trillion Mark from war-torn Germany,
equal to some 20 US dollars at that time. Hungary, Argentina,
Yugoslavia, and Venezuela have had their big notes at different points in history.
These banknotes are a result of financial crisis and hyperinflation
and although these bills have absurd values, many are basically worthless,
and those that do have value are worth nowhere near as much as the number on the paper.
There are endless reasons why a country would be pushed into hyperinflation, and we won’t discuss
them here, but often when corrupt governments make bad financial decisions and banks irresponsibly
start to print more money than is sensible, existing bills devaluate, sometimes until they
lose all their worth. Such notes are useless and almost nothing more than a fine piece of paper.
So it might come as a surprise that the United Kingdom also has its own mega-banknote. Britain
hasn’t had any serious inflation in ages. In general, pound sterling is a stable currency,
meaning the £100 million Titan and £1 million Giant are literally worth what
they say they are. While they’re legal tender, the concept is bewildering;
who would need a million-dollar banknote in a digitized world where most transactions happen
over computers? And if that’s true, then why do these notes even exist?
It turns out the answer is not quite what you expect.
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and it has a monopoly on the issue
of notes for England and Wales. No other bank in England and Wales is allowed to print money,
but this wasn’t always the case. Until the middle of the 19th century,
printing banknotes was considered the norm as most of the UK’s
Privately owned banks - big or small - issued their own bills of different colors,
sizes and featured personalities, depending on their local history.
They were backed up by actual assets, usually gold to maintain the confidence of people in the notes.
However over time banks weren’t all doing it responsibly and were not able to back
the notes up with actual assets, especially in times when the country faced a shortage of Gold.
When a series of banks collapsed in England and their issued banknotes created chaos among people,
the government realized the need to restrict the note-issuing powers of banks.
Through various Banking Act along the way and finally, by Bank Charter Act of
1844, the parliament gave exclusive note-issuing powers to the central Bank of England.
The English Pound Sterling issued by the bank holds the portrait of the British Monarch and are
the most popular Pound Sterling notes in the UK. On a Sidenote, the Queen has appeared so many
times on so many banknotes in the last 85 years that you can actually
make a progressive timeline of her life. Credit goes to LEMMiNO for this animation.
In Scotland and Northern Ireland, the case was different. Their banks were relatively
more responsible and were harmed much less in financial crisis over the years,
so they argued that there was no need for them to restrict their rights of printing their own money,
which, they believed, was a part of their cultural identity.
This guy named Walter Scott, a popular novelist, and poet in Scotland,
adopted the transparent persona of one of his characters and wrote letters and
pamphlets to launch a caustic attack on the government proposal. Public meetings were
held throughout the country to tell people that the Scottish Banking System was doing just fine
and the new banking measures would prove to be disastrous for them.
It was unjust to punish Scottish banks for the misdeeds of their English neighbors.
As a result of the vigorous campaign, the parliament made exceptions for the region,
private banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland got to keep their note-issuing powers and Walter
Scott got featured on some of the Scottish notes. Win for all you would think except now,
the government required these private banks to back up their paper money with
an equivalent amount of Bank of England notes as security, to avoid over-printing.
Every pound in currency these banks produced, another pound was deposited to the Bank of
England for safekeeping. This means that in the event of one of these Scottish or
Northern Irish banks collapsing and their pound notes falling out of circulation,
the same value of money was secured in the Bank of England.
Thus, holders of the uncommon pound notes had security that their bills were still worth their
real value because the Bank of England was holding their money in English pound notes.
Now, printing billions of pounds worth of notes and then holding this money as a backup for
centuries was a problem for the Bank of England and in order to reduce the vault space used,
they used a solution – compress an enormous value into just a few banknotes. These bills
are the Titans and Giants, worth £100 million and £1 million respectively.
Unlike smaller values of notes, the Titans and Giants are printed
internally and locked in maximum security, which explains their primitive design.
Unlike the typical pound note or dollar bill; the Titans are printed on A4 paper and Giants are
printed on A5 paper. Titans require signing by the Chief Cashier before they can become legal tender.
The Titans are Giants are not in circulation for obvious reasons.
No cash machine will ever dispense a £1 million or 100 million pound note,
unless in the case of hyperinflation, like that of Germany after World War I.
However complicated it may sound, this system has allowed Scotland and Northern Ireland
to have their own banknotes in fantastic colors and designs,
which represent their culture and pay respect to their personalities.
After various consolidation and rebranding, currently, there are 3
banks in Scotland and 4 in Northern Ireland that issue their paper money.
They are the only ones in the UK that do not feature the Monarch.
In 2015, Scotland’s Clydesdale Bank was the first to issue a polymer note in the Great Britain.
Ulster Bank from Northern Ireland recently issued the first vertical banknote in the country.
These attractive colorful notes also act as a marketing tool for banks
since the bearer is often reminded of these banks and it's a major reason why banks
don't want to give up their rights of printing money.
All is not well, though, Scottish and Northern Irish banknotes have been
subject to much controversy and confusion among English people. Like I said before,
these bills are legal and authorized by the UK parliament, which means they are accepted in
all banks and post offices across the UK. They are widely used for day-to-day transactions of
goods and services in their respective regions, and also in England and Wales to some extent.
However, technically speaking, they're still not considered "legal tender" according to the law.
"Legal Tender" is a technical term with little practical meaning and it should not be confused
with the "Legal" or "Authorized" nature of a Banknote. Not being a 'legal tender' means that
a person can refuse to take these notes to settle a debt issue and he/she cannot be taken to courts.
But as long as buyers and sellers agree to use these banknotes for
day-to-day transactions, there will be no issue.
Ignorance and misinformation have led many businesses in England and Wales to believe
that Scottish Banknotes are less valuable than English ones, so they look at them suspiciously.
A survey conducted among Scottish people in 2014, found that 70% of scots have had their
cash payments rejected in England. 50% of them were told that their money wasn't legal tender.
Another survey conducted among English people in 2019,
found that 76% were unable to identify where the Scottish currency was from while 33%
believed the notes to be counterfeit or fake. Many thought they looked like monopoly money.
All of this causes much embarrassment and irritation to Scots when their
paper money is rejected in England. Several MPs from Scotland have raised
objections against this discrimination of Scottish paper money in the last decades.
The proposed bill to legally compel businesses in England to accept Scottish banknotes was
rejected in 2009 and again in 2019. Many argue that Scottish and Northern Irish
banks should just use the same printed currency as England to avoid confusion.
In the fight between banknotes, these regional banks seem to be losing the battle. Last year,
one of the 4 banks of Northern Ireland announced that they would gradually stop issuing their own
banknotes and would switch to dispensing Bank of England notes from their ATM network. Another
Northern Irish bank has withdrawn their £50 & £100 notes and now issue Bank of England £50 instead.
If more banks follow this way, the Giants and Titans may not be needed to back the value of
uncommon notes anymore. For now, the Titans and Giants live on and lay claim to a great
deal of fame. One 1 million pound note was sold for £69,000 at a specialist sale in
London a decade ago, even though it is, in a practical sense, still just a piece of paper.
And that’s the small but curious tale of Britain’s 100 million pound banknotes. If you like the video
then I highly recommend the story 'The Million Pound Bank Note' by the famous Mark Twain. It's
available on audible and you can get the audiobook for free if you use the link in the description.