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 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