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| Over the years several copies of 'The Million Pound Note', used in the film of the same |
| name, have appeared on the open market. Notes of this denomination were never issued |
| for general circulation. Treasury Certificates £50,000 to £100,000,000 and Bank of England |
| £1,000,000 to £10,000,000 banknotes used for internal accounting only. |
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| The top value banknote issued by the Bank of England was one thousand pounds (£1000). |
Picture courtesy of the Daily Mail.
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The 1953 comedy The Million Pound Note was based on a Mark Twain short story, about an
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impoverished American sailor, Henry Adams, who gets caught up in an unusual wager between
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two wealthy, eccentric brothers, Oliver (Ronald Squire) and Roderick Montpelier (Wilfrid Hyde-White).
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They persuade a bank to issue a million pound note which they present to Adams in an envelope
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(telling him only that it contains money). Oliver believes the mere existence of the note will enable
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the possessor to obtain whatever he needs, while Roderick contends that it would actually have to
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be spent for it to be of be of any use. Ultimately, the money proves more troublesome than it's worth,
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when it almost costs Adams his dignity and the woman he loves, Portia Lansdowne (Jane
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Griffiths). The film is a rather turgid affair, centering on a single gag, strung out for ninety minutes -
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a pauper has no friends, whereas a millionaire is surrounded by sycophancy and limitless credit.
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Markets deal in confidence rather than cash. Using the retail price index (RPI), which shows the
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cost of goods and services purchased by a typical household from one period to another, the
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| equivalent of a million pounds in 1903 would be £73.8 million pounds today. |
| Written by Paul Donnely courtesy of The Daily Mail |
Actual One Million Pound Note used by Gregory Peck in the film.
Facsmile copies have been produced on thick creamy paper in two versions.
The first in a limited edition of 1000.
The second a limited edition of 2500 with numbered certificate.
Genuine notes that have come up in Auction
| Sotheby's 1988 Lot 1051 |
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| Sotheby's 1991 Lot 331 |
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| London Coin 2007 Lot 115 |
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| Lot Description :- |
| An amusing copy of theatrical quality loosely based on a traditional Bank of |
| England 'White Note' design,with fictitious 'face value' of £1,000,000 , bearing |
| a fictitious date 20 June 1903 and the facsimile signature 'S.K.Howard' , |
| prepared for use as the principal 'prop' in the film 'The Million Pound Note', |
| measuring 202mm x 265 mm. Nevertheless the Bank of England officials took |
| a close interest in the prop. In view of its similarity to official English banknotes |
| and to avoid any possible misunderstanding! |
Promotional note from Walt Disney's The Happiest Millionaire 1967.
Note depicting Fred MacMurray, Greer Garson and Tommy Steele
Specimen Bank of England Million pound note c.1990, used internally Copyright Bank of England
Treasury Certificate for one million Pounds 1948
Screaming Lord Sutch one million pound note of 1991, from his book
Modern Spoof £1,000,000 banknote
Welsh one million pound note by Haigh Williams
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