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Queen Elizabeth QE II 1971-1980 J B Page United Kingdom Duke of Wellington £5 Pound Circulated Bank Note
This listing is for one very lightly (1) circulated £5 note I have had in my possession from a trip to the UK in June, 1980. It features a beautiful depiction of Queen Elizabeth II on the front, and Arthur Wellesley, The 1st Duke of Wellington on the back. This note is from the Series D pictorial series issues between 1971 and 1991, although this particular note dates to pre June 1980. I have blurred out the serial number in the photos, it begins with CW49 and the balance of the number can be provided through messages. It was while J B Page was Chief Cashier at the Bank of England in the 1970's that the Pictorial £5 was introduced. The front of the note has a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II in State Robes alongside a medallion of Britannia and a vignette of Winged Victory. The back has a portrait of the first Duke of Wellington and a vignette from the Peninsular War. There were several varieties of the Page Pictorial £5 note.
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of the United Kingdom. He is among the commanders who won and ended the Napoleonic Wars when the coalition defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Wellington is famous for his adaptive defensive style of warfare, resulting in several victories against numerically superior forces while minimizing his own losses. He is regarded as one of the greatest defensive commanders of all time, and many of his tactics and battle plans are still studied in military academies around the world. After the end of his active military career, he returned to politics. He was twice British prime minister as a member of the Tory party from 1828 to 1830 and for a little less than a month in 1834. He continued as one of the leading figures in the House of Lords until his retirement and remained Commander-in-Chief of the British Army until his death.
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