Many faces of the monarch: Diamond Jubilee £10 note launched

A new £10 note to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee has been launched by Royal Bank of Scotland.

The commemorative note features images of the Queen through the years, from the official palace photo taken of her in the 1940s to a picture of the Queen at Epsom Racecourse in 2008.

The design is the third in RBS’ royal series, which also includes a £20 note for The Queen Mother’s 100th birthday in 2000 and a £5 note for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002. It celebrates the Queen’s connections with Scotland and the bank, which was the first to include a portrait of the British monarch in 1727. The Bank of England began to feature the monarch in 1960.

The new Diamond Jubilee note is legal tender and will available from Scottish RBS branches or on order. 2 million of the commemorative notes have been put into circulation, a week before celebrations for the jubilee begin.

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“RBS has a long connection with royalty and a tradition of issuing notes to commemorate royal celebrations,” RBS chairman Phillip Hampton said. “We felt that this was the most fitting way to honour the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and her long reign as monarch”.

Notes with special serial numbers have also been donated to charitable causes, including the Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust, (PSYBT) Oxfam and the National Museum of Scotland.

“We’re delighted to be given a commemorative Queen’s Diamond Jubilee note by RBS,” PSYBT director Geoff Leask said. “PSYBT have been working in partnership with RBS for over 20 years and we’re hoping that auctioning the commemorative note will raise money to help young people in Scotland set up their own business.”

What would £10 have bought you when the Queen was crowned?

Having £10 in your pocket in 1952 would be the equivalent of £187 today. And here's a sample of what it could have bought you:

• 28 kilos of bacon -  bacon cost 36p a kilo in 1952

• 333 pints of milk - milk cost less than 3p in 1952

• 522 eggs - Eggs were 23p a dozen in 1952

• 111 bottles of beer - beer cost 9p a bottle in 1952

• 1,111 cigarettes - a packet of 20 cigarettes cost less than 18p in 1952