23rd May 2012

To celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee RBS has launched a new £10 commemorative note.

The note, approved by the Queen, is RBS' first ever £10 commemorative note. It is the third in RBS' royal commemorative note series, which includes a £20 note for The Queen Mother's 100th birthday in September in 2000, and a £5 note for the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002.

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The note features different images of the Queen taken during her reign:

  • The Queen at Epsom Racecourse in 2008.
  • Official palace photograph of the Queen taken in the 1940s.
  • The Queen with her family at Balmoral Castle.
  • The Queen with the Duke of Edinburgh and HRH Princess Anne attending the traditional service for the Order of the Thistle.

Buying the new note

It will take about 20 working days to process orders from the date of receipt of payment.

If you are in Scotland

You can buy the Diamond Jubilee commemorative note

  • from our branches in Scotland, or
  • by sending a cheque for the face value of the notes (maximum 20 notes per person) + £10 for Special Delivery postage to:

The Royal Bank of Scotland
Scottish Note Team
Drummond House
1 Redheughs Avenue
PO Box 1727
Edinburgh
EH12 9JN.

If you are outside Scotland

For legal reasons we cannot sell this note from branches outside Scotland.

To buy a note from outside Scotland, email FPSCNOT@rbos.co.uk.

Please give your full postal address. We reply to each request, and will let you know if we can send notes to your country.

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

Philip Hampton, RBS Chairman

The note will be available in branches in Scotland and available to order.  Notes with special serial numbers have been donated to some of RBS’s partners - Prince's Scottish Youth Business Trust, (PSYBT) Oxfam, National Museum of Scotland, Scottish Rugby Union, Scottish Golf Union and the STV Children’s appeal. A charity auction of this note, and other rare RBS banknotes, will be held later in the year  with the proceeds going to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Charity Trust

"We’re delighted to be given a commemorative Queen’s Diamond Jubilee note by RBS. 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."

Geoff Leask, Director, PSYBT

What could £10 buy you in 1952?

RBS Economist Stephen Blackman finds out.

They say the past is a foreign country, and it certainly looks that way when you compare prices. This is because, over time, rising prices reduces the value of every pound we earn. So how much could £10 buy you in 1952?

In 1952, having £10 in your pocket would have been rare occurrence - the equivalent of £187 today. When the Queen ascended the throne, a kilo of bacon would have cost you just 36p, milk cost less then 3p, eggs 23p a dozen, while a bottle of beer would have set you back 9p. Smokers may be upset to hear than a packet of 20 cigarettes cost less than 18p.

One of the biggest changes is in house prices. In 1952, when Winston Churchill was prime minister, the average house cost £1,891 in 1952. A similar house today (with mod cons of course) would cost £162,722. 

So times have certainly changed - at least when it comes to cost. Yet the economy now has a faint echo of that of 1952. Then too was a period of austerity. The economy grew by just 0.3% in 1952, while then, like now, real wages were negative. One difference is that the unemployment rate stood at just 1.9% in 1952, compared with over 8% now.

There's one issue where we hope history doesn't repeat itself. I952 was also an Olympic year. Yet the UK recorded their lowest ever medal tally in 1952, winning just one gold medal. This was achieved during the last event on the very last day of the competition. Let's hope for a better outcome this year.