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Our Archive Collection
Our archives date back as far as the 1660s and include Britain's oldest banking records. We are proud of the role we have played over the centuries, both in the UK and internationally, and are pleased to make our archives available to researchers.
We hold an extensive archive relating to around 300 constituent banks and the people connected with them over three and a half centuries. Stored in environmentally-controlled conditions in a purpose-built repository in Edinburgh, the collection is surprisingly diverse.
It ranges from the customer ledgers of early goldsmiths, to photographs and architectural drawings of our branches, banknotes, staff registers, advertising material and financial records. The archive and the information it contains is used by us on a day-to-day basis, but we also recognise its importance for many people beyond our business.
We offer a search room where members of the public can study our historical records and our archive collection is regularly used in this way by social, economic, business, architectural and local historians, genealogists and biographers.
Here you can:
- search our archive guide
- put an enquiry to our archivists
- get advice on how to use our archives
- find out how to visit us
- order copy images and apply for reproduction rights.
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- How old is the Royal Bank?
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The Royal Bank of Scotland itself was established by royal charter on 31 May 1727. Some of our constituent businesses are even older, dating back as far as the 1580s. You can learn more about them at RBS Heritage On-line.
- Is it true that Scottish banknotes are not legal tender?
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Yes, it is - but Bank of England notes aren't legal tender in Scotland either. Officially, the phrase 'legal tender' means money that a person is obliged to accept if offered it in payment of a debt. Under Scottish law, that does not include banknotes, which are classified as 'legal currency' but not 'legal tender'.
The only historical exception was during the two world wars, when as a temporary measure the government made banknotes legal tender in Scotland, as a way of reinforcing people’s trust in them. This was important in a time of shortages, when the government needed to be sure that people would not hoard gold.
