Bank marks 50 years of the Queens portrait

713AM GMT seventeen Mar 2010

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Bank outlines 50 years of the Queen"s mural Photo PA

The Bank of England released a new �1 note on Mar seventeen 1960 that was the initial to lift an picture of the monarch.

A new exhibition, A Decoration and a Safeguard, will see behind on the past 50 years when it opens at the bank"s notable relic in London.

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Curator John Keyworth pronounced "Kings and queens have been decorated on Britain"s coinage given Anglo-Saxon times but it was not until 1960 that the sovereign initial appeared on a Bank of England note.

"There were dual main reasons to deliver the stately portrait.

"Firstly, the Bank had been nationalised in 1946, and by portraying the sovereign on the records the establishment recognized that it was right away publicly owned.

"Secondly, the rarely specialised art of the hand-engraved mural combined a challenging anti-forgery feature.

"Taking in to comment the coming on postage stamps and coins given 1952 and on Bank of England records given 1960, the Queen"s mural is probably the majority reproduced picture in the story of the world."

Five opposite portraits of the Queen have been used on banknotes given 1960.

These were by Robert Austin (1960), Reynolds Stone (1963), Harry Ecclestone (1970 and 1971) and Roger Withington (1990).

Letters and element relating to the five portraits will be on arrangement at the muster that will additionally underline formerly secret sketches and design from the bank"s pick up together with deserted designs and early unissued banknotes.

A Decoration and a Safeguard - The Portrait of the Monarch on Bank of England Notes will be at the Bank of England Museum, Bartholomew Lane, only off Threadneedle Street, London from currently until Jun 4. Admission is free.