Clydesdale Banking Company Currency & Banknote Values

The Clydesdale Banking Company series of Scotland in the World Currency contains 18 distinct entries.

The Clydesdale Banking Company (CLY) was founded on 7 May 1838 by James Lumsden and a group of fellow Glasgow merchants. By 1873, it had grown to 71 branches after acquiring several other banks, including the Greenock Union Bank, the Edinburgh & Glasgow Bank, and the Eastern Bank of Scotland. The branch network expanded into England the following year with branches opening just over the border. This led to complaints from the English banks and in response, the Clydesdale Banking Company undertook to open no further branches apart from an office in London.

Although it has been acquired by, and merged with, other banks over the years, it still retains note-issuing authority, one of only three Scottish banks to do so. It currently operates under the name of Clydesdale Bank plc.

Date Varieties

Given the tremendous number of printing dates for many Clydesdale Banking Company note types through 1950, variety letters are not assigned to individual dates as is the standard elsewhere in The Banknote Book. Further, to conserve space and improve legibility, dates are not reproduced as printed on the notes, but rather have been standardized to DD.MM.YYYY format.