BRITANNIA SERIES A
When the Bank of England first started to issue notes, back in the 17th century, they adopted Britannia as their emblem. The early large white notes and the first colour 10 shilling and £1 notes (which appeared in 1928) all featured a seated figure of Britannia on the left hand side of the obverse of the notes. These are generally referred to as Britannia or Series A notes. All Bank of England notes to this day feature Britannia somewhere within the design.

HELMETED BRITANNIA SERIES B
Only one note in this series was ever issued - the £5, designed was by Stephen Gooden. This was issued in February 1957 and known as the Series B or Helmeted Britannia. Designs were produced for the 10/- and £1 notes but Gooden died before he could produce a design for the new £10 note. In 1956 the Queen consented to have her portrait appear on Bank of England notes and the 10/- and £1 notes were never issued. A slight variation in the design appears as the denomination being denoted by a white symbol on the reverse rather than a blue symbol.

PORTRAIT SERIES C
Named because they were the first Bank of England notes to bear the face of the monarch (Queen Elizabeth II). The first of the new notes to be issued was the £1 in 1960. This was followed in 1963 by the 10/- note. The designs were produced by Robert Austin. The £5 and £10 notes in Series C were designed by Reynolds Stone. The £5 note was issued on 21st February 1963 and the £10 note exactly a year later.

PICTORIAL SERIES D
The Pictorial, Series D, notes were all designed by Harry Eccleston, assisted by Roger Withington and David Wicks. They are called pictorial because they feature pictorial representations of famous British figures. The first one issued was the £20 which was first issued on 9th July 1970. The Pictorial £5 note appeared on 11th November 1971 followed by the £10 note on 20th February 1975 and the £1 note on 9th February 1978.

The £5 was originally plate-printed. From 1973 it was printed on web presses, intaglio (raised ink) on the front and offset lithography on the back. This was indicated on the back of the notes with a small letter 'L' .

In 1981, the £1 note was switched to being printed on the web press - indicated by a small letter 'W' on the reverse. The notes were enhanced by the inclusion of additional background colours. The £50 note was introduced in 1981.

In 1984, the production of £10 notes was switched to a web machine, again the indication on the notes was a small letter 'L' on the reverse as with the £5 notes. The £20 note was given a new watermark and a 1mm windowed or stardust security thread.

In 1987, the security strip in the £5 note was widened from 0.5mm to 1mm. The £10 note gained a similar security thread to the £20 note.

HISTORICAL SERIES E
The Historical series are so called because they feature a famous historical character on the reverse. The £5 was first issued on 7th June 1990, and the £20 on 5th June 1991. They remain the current notes in circulation today (1999). The £10 was first issued on 29th April 1992, and the £50 on 20th April 1994. The £50 note incorporates an additional security device in the form of a foil Tudor rose and medallion.

In 1993 the denominations on the £5, £10, and £20 notes were enhanced to assist the partially sighted.

NEW SERIES E
The new series of notes ... The £20 was first issued on 1st January 1999, and the £10 on 7th November 2000. The £10 note is the first to have the metallic security thread 'windowed' on the reverse rather than the front of the note.

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