['Forgery of the Commercial Bank of Scotlands Guinea Note.'] Lithographic notice in copperplate handwriting, 'given to enable the public to distinguish the forged from the genuine Notes', with illustrations.

Author: 
[Commercial Bank of Scotland; George Salmond, Writer [solicitor], Glasgow [Procurator-Fiscal of Lanarkshire]; forgery]
Publication details: 
Without place or date, but with reference to 'George Salmond, Writer, Glasgow'. Early nineteenth-century.
£650.00
SKU: 14009

2pp., 4to. On leaf untidily torn from an album, resulting in a ragged edge with minor loss of text (a few parts of words). On aged and chipped paper. The document is headed 'Forgery of the Commercial Bank of Scotlands Guinea Note', and begins: As a few off these Forged Notes have made their appearance in Glasgow, e following directions are given to enable the public to distinguish the forged from the genuine Notes.' A detailed description follows, with small illustrations given of the shapes of the letter 'B' in forgery and genuine note, with other illustrations of a thistle both with and 'without prickles'. The document ends: 'It is requested that if any of these forged Notes are presented, the same and those offering them may be detained and proceeded with according to the Law, and that notice may be immediately sent to George Salmond, Writer, Glasgow, who will pay the expenses, and liberally remunerate those giving any information which may be of Service or may lead to Conviction of offenders.' No other copy traced, either on COPAC or WorldCat. The Scottish guinea note was introduced in 1758 and discontinued in 1828. The book 'Rambling Recollections of Old Glasgow' by 'Nestor' contains a reference to 'Mr. George Salmond, long Procurator-Fiscal at Glasgow', who 'kept an album, or rather nigrum, containing a collection of forged notes, with notices of the results to the persons implicated in their forgery or issue. There seldom was a Circuit in Glasgow where there were not several men or women sentenced to death for such crimes, and several expiated their offences on the scaffold'. Salmond was Procurator-Fiscal by 1826, so this item would appear to date from before then.