The Royal Bank of Scotland £5 note The Royal Bank of Scotland £5 note The Royal Bank of Scotland £5 note, also known as a fiver, is a banknote of the pound sterling. It is the second smallest denomination of banknote issued by The Royal Bank of Scotland. The current polymer note, first issued in 2016, bears an image of the author Nan Shepherd on the obverse and a pair of mackerel on the reverse. The Royal Bank of Scotland began issuing £5 notes in 1727, the same year as the bank's founding. Early banknotes were monochrome, and printed on one side only. The issuing of banknotes
Bank of England £20 note amount that had been redeemed. From 1853 printed notes replaced handwritten notes, with the declaration "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of twenty pounds" replacing the name of the payee. This declaration remains on Bank of England banknotes to this day. A printed signature of one of three cashiers appeared on the printed notes, though this was replaced by the signature of the Chief Cashier from 1870 onward. The right to redeem banknotes for gold ceased in 1931 when Britain stopped using the gold standard. The twenty pound note ceased to be produced by the Bank