The use of the writer on the note proved surprisingly controversial, with campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez leading the call for female representation on notes after the £5 note featuring prison campaign reformer Elizabeth Fry was phased out (replaced by Winston Churchill).
Also sparking comment is the use of a quote from Pride and Prejudice: “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading,” which critics point out is spoken by Caroline Bingley, who pretends to be an avid reader solely to impress the dashing Fitzwilliam Darcy. The existing cotton-paper £10 notes featuring Charles Darwin will cease being legal tender from next spring.
Banknotes take centre stage at the two-day World Paper Money Fair running at The Bloomsbury Hotel in Great Russell Street, on Friday September 29 and Saturday September 30. The 30-plus dealer fair is described by organiser and exhibitor Pam West as “an invaluable opportunity to meet some of the best paper money dealers in the world”.
West will bring a range of English banknotes including this promotional Dickens note, produced in 1977 by the London company Bradbury Wilkinson and Company to show off the illustrative quality of the firm’s ‘intaglio’ work. It is priced at £60.
