Bank of England £100,000,000 note


The Bank of England £100,000,000 note, also referred to as Titan, is a non-circulating Bank of England banknote of the pound sterling used to back the value of Scottish and Northern Irish banknotes. It is the highest denomination of banknote printed by the Bank of England.
It ensures that, for example, if a commercial bank in Scotland or Northern Ireland closes and no one can redeem the value stated on the notes it has issued, holders of such notes know the value of the note is kept as they can exchange them for Bank of England notes. The value of the quantity of the Bank of England notes needed for this hypothetical exchange is pre-donated by commercial Scottish and Northern Irish banks whenever they issue their own notes. The cash donated is then stored in bulk in the form of physical backing assets like Bank of England £100,000,000 notes, which subsequently guarantees the value printed on the Scottish and Northern Irish banknotes to everyday people.

Purpose

The £100,000,000 note backs the value of common circulating notes issued by the seven commercial banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The £1,000,000 note plays a similar vital role in the British currency system. Scottish and Northern Irish banknotes are often viewed with suspicion by businesses in England and Wales as businesses are not always overly familiar with all the different types of notes that are issued and may not be sure on how to check them for counterfeiting and, therefore, do not like to accept them. There is also the possibility of one of the commercial banks closing; all banknotes issued by a closed commercial bank would be considered worthless. The backing by the £100,000,000 notes and the £1,000,000 notes is intended to maintain public confidence in the value the notes represent. For every pound an authorised Scottish or Northern Irish commercial bank prints and issues in the form of its own notes, it must deposit the equivalent in pound sterling with the Bank of England. If necessary, notes from a struggling Scottish or Northern Irish commercial bank could be replaced with regular Bank of England issued cash.
The Bank of England prints £100,000,000 notes internally, rather than with its normal commercial printers dotted around the UK, for security reasons. The £100,000,000 notes are then locked away together with other backing assets either within the Bank of England vault, or in other authorised locations, to further ensure their security as physical assets. For even further security, £100,000,000 notes must be signed by the existing Chief Cashier in order to become legal tender and actually be used as a backing asset for commercial banks and their notes in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
meant that only the Bank of England could issue notes – excluding Scottish banks.

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