Banknote Database made by collectors, for collectors
What they're made of (2)
September 14, 2024 @ 18:48
England's £20 note featuring Michael Faraday was introduced by the Bank of England on June 5, 1991, as part of the Series E banknotes. This note paid tribute to the pioneering scientist Michael Faraday, celebrated for his groundbreaking contributions to electromagnetism and electrochemistry. Its design featured a portrait of Faraday, the Royal Institution’s lecture theatre, and imagery symbolizing his scientific achievements, emphasizing his impact on physics and chemistry. The note was designed by Roger Withington, who grew up in South Wales after being born near Manchester. Withington joined the Banknote printing works in December 1967 as an assistant to Harry Eccleston, the first full-time banknote designer for the Bank of England, and rose to become the country’s chief banknote designer in 1983. The Faraday £20 note carries a rather tragic story, if a banknote can have one. It was legal tender for less than 10 years!
The face features the Queen as engraved by Alan Dow and recreated on the series identically and in a neutral color. Each note in this series has a different Britannia image on the face, this one was lifted directly from earlier British banknotes, designed by Daniel Macalise in 1855. Covered on the obverse are images of the diagram of a Benzene molecule, discovered by Faraday, along with elements of magnetism. The benzene fills the background in a curving pattern and exists within the intaglio image for people with impaired sight. Arrows of attraction and repulsion fill in a pattern between the Queen and Britannia and hidden within are tiny microprint denomination markers. Obviously this wasn’t on purpose, but the arrows can be interpreted as a metaphor for Britannia being a symbol of the merchant class that often attracted and repulsed English monarchs over the centuries. Magnetic fields are shown both in literal and diagrammatic forms on the bottom. At the top right the circular pattern with white stems is based on a spherical condenser apparatus used by Faraday. Like the pen nib on the 10 and the spanner on the 5, it is also a tool used by the historic figure featured on the reverse. Within the printed word TWENTY there are tiny arrows, benzene molecules, and impossibly small denomination microprint.
Benzene molecules
Magnetic fields
Faraday's Spherical Condensers
The incredible microprint detail within the letters on the obverse
The reverse features a portrait of Faraday and a scene of him on stage giving a Christmas Lecture at the Royal Institution. On the table in front of Faraday are beakers and another spherical condenser. Faraday holds up a beaker in front of an audience with the sun in the background, enlightening the crowd. The sun is taken directly from the coat of arms of the Royal Institution. The scene itself is taken from a lithograph of Faraday created by artist Alexander Blaikley in 1856. It’s mirrored horizontally on the banknote. Looking at the source image and the banknote next to each other for comparison one can note the differences in the table, the added beaker, and the magnets on the floor in a herringbone pattern. Withington took the table currently in use in the lecture theatre and created a border on the table using patterns in the floor.
A comparison of the original and the source, followed by the new table in use today
The coat of arms of the Royal Institution, and words coined by Faraday
The central “sunburst” element is based on the dome in the same room, while the center is filled with a representation of Faraday’s work in liquifying gases showing billowing clouds and droplets. Radiating outward are the familiar benzene droplets. The border along the bottom of the reverse is based on the moulding in the lecture theatre. Withington obviously went there and noted all the architectural details, the room can still be visited today.
The dome in the Lecture Hall and moulding in the room are featured on the reverse along with Faraday's magneto device
The Series E £50 note was released in 1994 and is probably the least interesting out of the Series E notes. It features Sir John Houblon (called “whoblon?” by The Independent newspaper) the first governor of the Bank of England. The idea of including him was to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the bank. Withington probably wandered around the bank building for ideas because most of the elements on the note are architectural features. Britannia on the front is based on the first use of her on the bank seal from 1694, and it looks like she’s surrounded by barbed wire. The background that curves around Britannia is based on the dome of the Rotunda of the Broker’s Exchange building. Above Britannia are two coin images, each one side of the same 1694 Guinea coin. One side bears an engraving of the Monarchs William and Mary. Making this the only English banknote to feature two Queens and a King on the obverse! To the left of the coin are images of hops, as Houblon is French for “hop” and they feature in the family’s coat of arms. The pattern at the top left was inspired by a floor and mouldings in the bank building but very much on purpose altered to not look like a Nazi Swastika. Within the FIVE text are crosses, similar to the Maltese variety. These were symbols of the Huguenots, the religious sect from which Houblon was descended. Rounding out the design on the bottom is a border consisting of patterns taken from the interior lid of the Bank’s Great Iron Chest from 1735 – featuring a cherub and swan.
Architectural features on the obverse and cross details within the lettering
Altered designwork from a stairwell in the Bank building, no Swastikas here
The reverse features a portrait of Houblon and a view of his house, taken from a lithograph. Bank gatekeeper William Banning is shown guarding the entrance, sourced from another contemporary lithograph. Little is known about Banning other than he worked at the bank, and people were puzzled why anyone would go to the trouble to engrave such a nobody in the 18th century. It’s thought his portrait was made simply to show off the uniform. The large round element at the top in the center is based on the floor plan of the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli. You may be wondering why an ancient temple near Rome is featured on English currency. Withington admitted he just needed something round to keep up with the theme on all the other notes in the series.
Gatekeeper William Banning
The temple floorplain used as a basis for the sunburst on the reverse
The series E £20 note was designed in the 80s and had security features that were not keeping up with the rapid advances in home electronics and imaging. Faraday’s portrait is covered in a security measure called “Line Tint” in which the original engraving was run through a machine to convert it into horizontal and vertical linework. The difference can be seen through the portrait’s nose. The effort made by the Scientific Research Department at the Bank of England Printing works took some 8 years. It was undone by some counterfeiters in minutes using a scanner in 1993. 
The line tint on Faraday's portrait
Stephen Jory made a name for himself in the 1970s by selling fake perfumes. A large part of that was making realistic labels for the bottles. That printing knowledge gained on the labels allowed Jory to print fake stamps and bonds and eventually banknotes. At first having no success counterfeiting Scottish banknotes Jory and his team used a video disc image scanner to separate the colors on the £20 and almost immediately make a near perfect copy on a Heidelberg four-color press. The note became one of the most counterfeited of all time, and by 1998 it was thought there was £50 million in fake cash circulating in the UK. When the police finally found out, Faraday’s days on a banknote were numbered. Within months of the forgeries being discovered the bank announced on December 22, 1998 that the Series E notes would be replaced. When originally conceiving of historical figures to put on the banknotes Withington had come up with several names such as Grace Darling, the painter Thomas Gainsborough, Lord Tennyson, Keats, Edward Elgar, and Charles Darwin. Darwin was rejected in the 80s as being too divisive, but when it came to quickly redesign the £10, he was used. Faraday was eventually replaced on the £20 by Sir Edward Elgar, on a note that was released June 22, 1999. The shockingly short development time meant that the notes created by Withington after Series E just weren’t as full of little elements.
The reason Series E lasted barely 10 years