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245-year-old Royal Bank of Scotland note expected to sell for over $2,000

“This is as much an historical document as it is a banknote."

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The Royal Bank of Scotland 1777 One Guinea note. (Noonans via SWNS)

By Ellie Forbes via SWNS

A Royal Bank of Scotland note dating back to 1777 is expected to fetch £2,000 ($2,420) when it goes under the hammer.

Experts described the 245-year-old note as a "historical document" which is thought to be first tri-colored note to be issued in Scotland and possibly in Europe.

It will be sold by auctioneers Noonans, in London, later this month and is estimated at between £1,500 and £2,000 ($1,815-$2,420).

“This is as much an historical document as it is a banknote,” said Andrew Pattison, Noonans’ Head of Banknotes.

“Politics and finance originally came together to shape the history of Scotland with the collapse of the Darien venture.

“The Royal Bank of Scotland was able to prosper as a shareholding company because the Scottish regional banking system was not restricted by the monopoly of the Bank of England, as institutions were south of the Border.

“The modern banking system has its origins in the days when this note was issued, and it is a fascinating reminder of those times.”

Scotland’s attempt to monopolize the Atlantic to Pacific trade route across Panama ended in the Darien disaster of the 1690s.

The Royal Bank of Scotland 1777 One Guinea note. (Noonans via SWNS)

It cost the Scots around 20 percent of their circulating wealth and was a major factor leading to the 1707 Act of Union with England, which agreed to bail out the losses.

The company formed to manage the payments realized it had money over to invest and petitioned the king for approval to start a bank.

In 1727 a royal charter duly allowed the establishment of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The existing Bank of Scotland’s trading monopoly had already lapsed, creating the opportunity for the new Royal Bank to expand.

But instability because of the 1745 Jacobite uprising made this difficult.

In 1727 a royal charter duly allowed the establishment of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

In 1777 the bank issued a One Guinea note, signed by two directors of the Royal Bank of Scotland Charles Moore and James Simpson.

Dated September 1, 1777 it carried the serial number 857/297.

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