BankNotes4U - For collectors and researchers of banknotes, cheques and banking history

by Roger Outing

Childs Bank

Before cheques were printed they were, of course, handwritten. An example of 1754 from Childs Bank, Fleet Street, London is shown at Fig. 1a.

The full text reads:

“To Messieurs Child & Backwells.

York 27^th April 1754

Sirs, Pray pay at sight to Mr Robert

Fairfax of ???????? or Order Ten

Pounds & place the same to the account of

Yr. Humble Servt. (Signed) Tho. Fairfax”

The value of £10 is also entered in numbers and “May 15” bottom right indicates when the cheque was cashed in London – having been written in York over two weeks earlier.

The real fascination of this item can be found on the reverse that is shown at Fig. 1b. The reverse carries the following signatures:

“Robert Fairfax” - the original payee

“John Austin” – payee No. 2

“Robt Shillist?” – payee No. 3

“Received the Contents for Josiah Colville

Witness Wm. Friday” – the final payee No 4"

What this means is that this cheque for £10 originally payable to “Robert Fairfax” or his “Order” has been passed from hand to hand between the four people listed each of whom has signed it. This cheque has circulated as a piece of currency – almost in the manner of a £10 note. It also travelled from York to London during this circulation. It is perhaps little known that by endorsing (e.g. signing) an Order cheque on the reverse then cheques can pass from hand to hand thereby taking the role of paper money. This was an accepted procedure in past times.

It should be noted that cheques are no longer transferable in the manner detailed above. The Cheque Act of 1992 declared that any cheques that are crossed are to be considered as non-transferable e.g. they are applicable only to the original parties named therein. As all the cheques that we receive from the Banks are now crossed this means that the above procedure cannot now be undertaken. It is worth checking the reverse of old cheques to see if there is a list of different signatures that indicates that they have circulated as paper money.

This particular Childs cheque of 1754 was sold by BankNotes4U in April 2004 for £125. We produce specialist lists of classic cheques from time to time – please get in touch if you would like a copy of our next list.

Lloyds Bank Ltd

Shown at Fig. 2 is a brand new find for Lloyds Bank. This is a notebook size cheque and simply printed in black on a red background. The ‘Black Horse’ symbol can been seen upper left. The branch is Rugely and there is a “Lloyds Bank” watermark (partial) which goes across the cheque. This is an unusual piece and very different from anything else so far seen from Lloyds.

Design features indicate a date after 1930 (because the 5 digit Bank Code upper right commenced then) and before 1950 (because the £value was moved from lower left to mid right then).

Perhaps a clue is in the chequebook cover which came with this piece and which is printed with “Unstamped”. It should be particularly noted that the cheque does not carry a duty stamp. Stamp duty was not payable when used by certain legally defined institutions e.g. armed forces, government departments, charities etc. Was this special design intended for use without stamp duty by such institutions? It’s a possibility but we do not really know.

Has anyone seen a used example of this type of Lloyds cheque?

Barclay & Co Specimen

Yes, Specimen cheques do exist and Fig. 3 shows an interesting and puzzling example from Barclays. This is notebook size and printed in blue on white. There is no watermark nor any printers’ designation. This design type has not previously been reported.

It uses the first bank title of “Barclay & Company Limited” so must pre-date 1917. (Bank changed name to Barclays Bank Ltd in 1917). It has “London” printed in black below the Bank title. J.P. from Belfast has suggested that this was a counter cheque for use by the various London Branches of Barclays – there were 12 London branches of Barclays by 1917.

We are not convinced by the ‘counter cheque’ theory. Has anyone seen a used example of this design type? It is noted that the cheque had no duty stamp. Could this have been for use by tax exempt institutions similar to item No. 2 above. It is also a Bearer cheque, which is unusual for Barclays. Or perhaps this was a proposed design not actually taken into use? If you have any ideas then please let us know.

Crossed & Uncrossed

A cheque can be either ‘Crossed’ or ‘Open” i.e. without any crossing. An Open cheque can be crossed by the drawer simply by drawing two lines across the cheque and such examples are plentiful. Once a cheque has been crossed it can only be paid through a bank account – a useful security against fraud.

It is an arcane and little known technical point that the drawer of a cheque can legally remove the printed crossing from a cheque by “crossing out the crossing” and initialling the amendment. Fig. 4 gives an example. This is a Barclays cheque of 1947 from Downham Market and is the standard type of the period. It can be seen that the drawer has cancelled the crossing by wavy lines and initials.

Also the designation “Order” has been crossed out and also initialled. This additionally converts the cheque into a Bearer cheque – because all cheques are bearer cheques unless designated otherwise.

These two amendments convert this Crossed Order cheque into an Open Bearer cheque. This cheque is stamped as paid and has no reverse endorsement (or signature) because it was cashed as a bearer cheque.

An interesting little find but modern Bankers do not really like this sort of thing. It is doubtful that such amendments would be accepted today, so please do not try this at home.

A Blank Cheque

Illustrated at Fig. 5 is a minor conundrum. It is clearly a cheque form but contains no reference to a particular bank although there is space for Bank and branch details to be entered. The date style is “19—“. What exactly is it?

The clue is in the small print to the left which states “Printed & Sold by H. J. Ryman Ltd. London”. Ryman were the stationers who printed and sold these blank cheque forms, which could then be used at any Bank. A postage stamp to cover the Stamp Duty of 1d or 2d as appropriate would have been required. This item reminds us that cheques do not necessarily have to be made out on the forms provided by the bank – although the banks for very good reasons would much prefer this to be the case.

In the past stationers supplied a wide range of blank financial documents including cheques, bills of exchange and promissory notes. Given that you must first have funds in a bank (and thereby supplied with a cheque book) before you can write a cheque it is difficult to see that practical use of this form. However, one assumes that Ryman’s would not have printed them if there had not been a demand.

These blank cheque forms are not often seen and this example now resides safely in the BankNotes4u cheque collection. Thanks extended to M.V. for supplying this piece.

Any new information relevant to the above text is welcome. Please Contact BankNotes4U. Contributions will be openly acknowledged.

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