Studio Brief 01 - Licence To Print Money - Research

Banknotes As there are a lot of currencies in the world, I decided to only focus my research on the uk as this was the currency I was going to redesign.

Sterling banknotes are the banknotes of the United Kingdom and British Islands, denominated in pounds sterling (GBP). £5 (five pounds) £10 (10 pounds) £20 (twenty pounds) £50 (fifty pounds) each denomination has its own size and colour All our bank notes bear HM The Queen's head on one side and a famous historical person on the other side. Queen Elizabeth ll is the first monarch to have her portrait printed on a bank note. It was first done in 1960 as a way of helping to prevent forgeries. £5 (5 pounds) The current £5 note features Elizabeth Fry, who made her name fighting for improved living conditions for women in European jails. (Old £5 note features George Stephenson. Ceased to be legal tender on 21 November 2003) Actual note size: 135mm x 70mm (approx.) £10 (10 pounds) The current £10 note features Charles Darwin, the Victorian naturalist who developed the theory of evolution. Also pictured is an illustration of Darwin 's own magnifying lens and the flora and fauna that he may have come across on his travels. Actual note size: 142mm x 75mm (approx.) £20 (20 pounds) The current £20 note features Sir Edward Elgar, a British composer whose orchestral works include Enigma Variations (1896) and five Pomp and Circumstance marches (1901–1930). Actual note size: 149mm x 80mm (approx.) The Bank of England issued a new-style £20 note on 13 March 2007 . The note features Adam Smith, one of the fathers of modern economics, on the back and incorporates enhanced security features. The new-style £20 notes will circulate alongside the old-style Elgar note which will be progressively withdrawn from circulation. The date when its legal tender status ends will then be announced, as is usual practice. £50 (50 pounds) The current £50 note features Sir John Houblon, the first Governor of the Bank of England. Actual note size: 156mm x 85mm (approx.) Quid The slang term for a British Pound is Quid. One pound sterling is referred to as "A QUID", five pound sterling as "Five Quid" and ten pound sterling as "Ten Quid". Other names for a pound coin include a smacker, or smackeroon. The two Banknotes with other names are the "Fiver" (£5) or the "Tenner" (£10) . For example "It only cost me a tenner" New 20 pound note £20 Note (Adam Smith) - Security Features Security Features  |  Design Features Feel of the paper - banknotes are printed on special paper that gives them their unique feel.  Raised print - by running your fingers across the front of the £20 note you can feel raised print in areas such as the words 'Bank of England' and in the bottom right corner, around the number 20. Metallic thread - there is a metallic thread embedded in every banknote. This appears as silver dashes on the back of the £20 note. If you hold the note up to the light the metallic thread appears as a continuous dark line. Watermark - hold the £20 note up to the light and you will see an image of the Queen's portrait together with a bright £20. Print Quality - the printed lines and colours on the £20 note are sharp, clear and free from smudges or blurred edges. Microlettering - Using a magnifying glass, look closely at the lettering beneath the Queen's portrait on the £20 note - you will see the value of the note written in small letters and numbers. Ultra-violet feature - if you look at the front of the £20 note under a good quality ultra-violet light the number 20 appears in bright red and green. Randomly spread bright red and green flecks are also visible on both the front and back of the note. The remainder of the note appears dull in contrast. Holographic strip - the strip on the £20 note has a number of foil patches along its length which contain alternating holographic images. The positioning of the patches varies along the strip. When the note is tilted, one hologram shows a multi-coloured image of Adam Smith, the other changes between a multi-coloured £ symbol and the number 20. The number 20 is also embossed on the strip and is positioned in the same place on every note - just to the right of the signature of the Chief Cashier. See-through register - hold the £20 note up to the light and you will see coloured irregular shapes printed on the front and back that combine to form the £ symbol. The new 20 pound note was introduced with these features to help prevent forgery. The 20 pound note also tends to be used the most frequently so the old note was becoming more worn meaning they need to somehow get it out of circulation and update it  with features such as better quality paper to prevent things like this happening again.  Pound sterling Half sovereign minted in Sydney, Australia, 1914 features St. George and the dragon George IV sovereign, 1828 Queen Victoria half crown in silver. 1886 Gold Mohur of the East India Company, 1840 The farthing, 1951 The pound sterling (GBP; £ or ₤) is the official currency used in the United Kingdom. It is also used in British overseas territories, Isle of Man, Bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey. The pound is divided into 100 pence. Today's coins are 1 penny, 2 pence, 5 pence, 10 pence, 20 pence, 50 pence, £1 and £2. The notes are £5, £10, £20 and £50. Contents    1Etymology 2The old system 2.1Coins 2.2Notes 2.3Decimalisation 3Decimal currency Etymology A pound coin originally weighed one troy pound of sterling silver, giving the currency the name "pound sterling". "Sterling silver" means mixed metal that has 92.5% or more real silver. One pound sterling was originally divided by 240 sterling pence. This was because there are 240 pennyweights in a troy pound. So a single one–pound coin weighed one troy pound and a single 1–penny coin weighed one pennyweight. The Latin word for "pound" is libra. The £ or ₤ is a stylised writing of the letter L, a short way of writing libra. This is similar to how a pound of mass is abbreviated "lb". Up until around the 1970s, especially on typewriters or keyboards without a "£" symbol, it was common to write "L" instead of "£". The symbol for pennies is p (pronounced "pee" like the letter). The British write 50p or £0.50 and say it "fifty pee". The old system The pound has only been divided into 100 pence since 1971. Before this time it was divided into 20 shillings. Each shilling was divided into 12 pennies. The symbols for shilling and penny came from Roman coins: "s" for shilling (from the Latin word solidus) and "d" for penny (from the Latin denarius). The penny was divided into 4 farthings. The farthing became obsolete (was no longer used) in 1961 because it was worth so little. Coins just before the change in 1971 were: 1/2d (ha'penny), 1d (one penny), 3d (threepence; the coin was called a "thrup'ny bit"); 6d (sixpence); 1s (one shilling, also called one "bob"); 2s (a florin); 2s6d (half a crown; the crown, 5s (a quarter of a pound sterling), was not used in modern times). How prices were written and pronounced in the old system: ½d (half a penny) was pronounced "haypenny" (spelt: ha'penny or halfpenny) 2d (two old pennies) was always pronounced "tuppence" 3d (three old pennies) was always pronounced "thrupence" or "thruppenny bit" for the 3d coin" (spelt threepence) One shilling was written "1/–" (sometimes called a "bob"). Prices in shillings and pence were pronounced like this: 2/6 (or: 2s6d) "two and six" (or: "two shillings and sixpence"). The price £4 6s 3¾d was pronounced: "four pounds six shillings and thruppence three-farthings" There was also a guinea. Originally the guinea was a gold coin. Although the coin had not been minted or circulated for a long time, prices were still sometimes given in guineas. A guinea was 21s (or £1 1s 0d). A price of 58 guineas was, in fact, £60 18s 0d, which sounds more than "58 guineas". Coins (Following the Great Recoinage of 1816) Units Pence Shillings Pounds Quarter Farthing 1⁄16d 1⁄192/- £1⁄3,840 Third Farthing 1⁄12d 1⁄144/- £1⁄2,880 Half Farthing 1⁄8d 1⁄96/- £1⁄1,920 Farthing 1⁄4d 1⁄48/- £1⁄960 Halfpenny 1⁄2d 1⁄24/- £1⁄480 Penny 1d 1⁄12/- £1⁄240 Threepence 3d 1⁄4/- £1⁄80 Groat 4d 1⁄3/- £1⁄60 Sixpence 6d 1⁄2/- £1⁄40 Shilling 12d 1/- £1⁄20 Florin 24d 2/- £1⁄10 Half Crown 30d 2/6 £1⁄8 Double Florin 48d 4/- £1⁄5 Crown 60d 5/- £1⁄4 Half Sovereign 120d 10/- £1⁄2 Sovereign 240d 20/- £1 Double Sovereign 480d 40/- £2 Quintuple Sovereign 1,200d 100/- £5 Notes (Following the Great Coinage of 1816) Units Pence Shillings Pounds Ten Shilling Note 120d 10/- 1⁄2 One Pound Note 240d 20/- £1 Two Pound Note 480d 40/- £2 Five Pound Note 1,200d 120/- £5 Ten Pound Note 2,400d 200/- £10 Fifteen Pound Note 3,600d 320/- £15 Twenty Pound Note 4,800d 400/- £20 Twenty Five Pound Note 6,000d 520/- £25 Thirty Pound Note 7,200d 600/- £30 Forty Pound Note 8,400d 800/- £40 Fifty Pound Note 9,600d 1000/- £50 One Hundred Pound Note 16,600d 2000/- £100 Two Hundred Pound Note 33,200d 4000/- £200 Three Hundred Pound Note 49,800d 6000/- £300 Five Hundred Pound Note 120,000 10,000/- £500 One Thousand Pound Note 240,000d 20,000/- £1,000 Decimalisation In circulation before 1971 were the halfpenny, penny, threepence, sixpence, shilling, florin, crown, sovereign, ten shilling note, and the one, five, 10, 20 and 50 pound notes. The crown and sovereign were legal currency before 1971. By then they were commemorative coins and not commonly found in circulation. They are both still legal currency at a value of 25 pence and £1 respectively. In 1971, the pound sterling of the United Kingdom and the Irish Pound of Ireland were decimalised (divided into 100). Most coins were de-monetised. £1 was equal to 100 pence after then. One shilling became 5 pence, remaining 1⁄20 of £1. £1 stayed the same. Decimal currency Units Value Mintage Notes Halfpenny 1/2p 1971-1984 No Longer Legal Tender Penny 1p 1971-present Two Pence 2p 1971-present Five Pence 5p 1968-present Equal to Shilling (1s) Ten Pence 10p 1968-present Equal to Florin (2s) Twenty Pence 20p 1982-present Equal to Double Florin (4s) Fifty Pence 50p 1969-present Equal to Half Sovereign (10s) One Pound £1 1983-present Equal to Sovereign (£1) Two Pounds £2 1988-present Equal to Double Sovereign (£2) Notes Value One Pound Note £1 Five Pounds Note £5 Ten Pounds Note £10 Twenty Pounds Note £20 Fifty Pounds Note £50