The Bank of England was founded in AD 1694 and began issuing notes soon afterwards. However, private banks also issued their own notes. By the early 19th century, there were hundreds of these banks all over the country issuing notes for local areas. In 1844, the Bank Charter Act gave the Bank of England the tasks of monitoring the activities of the banking system, and supervising the issuing of bank notes. During the rest of the 19th century, these banks consolidated into a smaller number covering the whole of England.

In the 19th century, as the empire and trade expanded, London became a centre of private merchant banking. These specialist banks attracted business from firms at home and abroad, and even governments. They issued shares and bonds, which were traded on the Stock Market and helped to finance large industrial and commercial ventures. Some of them flourish today, in spite of the fact that London no longer dominates the world’s financial markets.

Banks such as Coutts and Co still offer private banking, but the last private bank note was issued in 1921. Since then note issuing has been the monopoly of the Bank of England.