Bank of England note issues of the note; these notes are now very rare and sought by collectors. The Stephenson £5 note was withdrawn as legal tender from 21 November 2003, at which time it formed around 54 million of the 211 million £5 notes in circulation. The first Bank of England £10 note was issued in 1759, when the Seven Years' War caused severe gold shortages. Following the withdrawal of the denomination after the Second World War, it was not reintroduced until 21 February 1964 when a new brown-coloured note was issued in the Series C design. The Series C note was withdrawn on
Bank of England £20 note of England in 1943, and it was not until 1970 with the introduction of the series D notes that the denomination reappeared. The predominantly purple series D notes were two-sided, with an image of Queen Elizabeth II appearing on one side, accompanied by an image of Saint George and the Dragon (all subsequent Bank of England notes also feature an image of the Queen) and an image of William Shakespeare appearing on the other. This note also had a security feature in the form of a 'windowed' metal thread. The thread is woven into the paper so that it forms