PREVIEW: BANKNOTES 1-2 MARCH

Kenneth O. Peppiatt served as Chief Cashier to the Bank of England from 1934 to 1949, holding office when the £500 white note was withdrawn from circulation in 1945.

The Nazis conducted a vast scheme to forge English banknotes, both to fund their own operations and destabilise the currency, but this largely failed.

The Bank of England started to withdraw notes valued at £10 and over towards the end of the war, with these ceasing to be legal tender on 1 May 1945. It is thought that the problem with administering Exchange Controls was the chief reason for this rather than the forgery campaign.

Nonetheless, when the sheer scale of the Nazi forgery operation came to light, the Bank attempted to counter any damage by introducing a £5 note with a metallic strip.

As the second highest denomination issued after the £1,000 note, the £500 white notes were always rarities, far more so now, 78 years after their withdrawal.

White notes, which had been introduced in 1725, were issued from branches outside London, at Liverpool and Leeds.

Noonans will offer this Peppiatt £500 note, issued in Leeds on 30 April 1936, in the 1-2 March Banknotes auction. With several hand stamps it is one of only two known examples and is expected to fetch £18,000-22,000.