Useful notes
Sir: Jock Bruce-Gardyne, for a Treasury minister and a Scotsman, appears to have surprisingly little knowledge of financial history (The economy; 16 September). So he would not put long odds on the survival of Royal Bank notes in free competition with the issues of the USA and Germany, would he (The economy, 16 September)? Royal Bank notes have been in circulation since 1727, with nary a suspension, a closure of doors or a refusal. In the same period, he might recall the dubious accep- tability of the 'greenback' from time to time, not to mention the round dozen of currencies Germany must have got through in the same period. He might note also that the system of competing currencies worked perfectly well in Scotland for a century or more before Peel got his hands on it.
LETTERS
And if the Scots prefer 'grubby' pound notes to his pocket-destroying coins, that is surely only a matter of market choice and I notice that these same notes appear to be enjoying something of a growing circulation in London.
R. G. Baird
17 Learmonth Terrace, Edinburgh
Previous page
