The Bank of Scotland has unveiled the design of its £100 polymer note, the first to celebrate the contribution of a significant Scottish person, with the new note entering circulation on 9th May 2022.

The new £100 polymer note replaces the current cotton version – which is part of the ‘bridge series’– and will feature Dr Flora Murray, CBE (1869-1923), the Scottish medical pioneer and suffragette.

Flora Murray was born in Dumfries on 8th May 1869. Her career involved medical research, a leading member of the campaign for women’s suffrage, founding the Women’s Hospital for Children at 688 Harrow Road with Louisa Garrett Anderson (her lifelong partner) , and extensive war work. She died on 28 July 1923 from cancer.

The front of the new note also portrays the Scottish novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott, alongside an image of The Mound in Edinburgh as the current £100 cotton note does today. On the reverse of the first £100 green note is a striking portrait of Dr Murray, painted by Francis Dodd in 1921.It is accompanied by an image of female stretcher bearers outside Endell Street Hospital, London, bringing to life the significance Dr Murray had on the medical world and the fight for women’s rights.

The note has important security features which include an anti-counterfeit ‘window effect’ – transparent windows within The Mound frontage and a transparent vertical stripe – on the front of the note. Inside the vertical stripe is a multicoloured holographic foil strip which displays the image of Dr Murray, the bank’s logo, and ’£100.’ The foil also displays a ‘Northern Lights’ effect, with stars and colours resembling the phenomena appearing when the note is tilted. In addition, as with the £5, £10, £20, and £50 polymer notes, the £100 note will have a tactile embossed feature, to aid the visually impaired.

On 9th May 2022, Bank of Scotland will auction off 94 sought-after notes with an ‘FM’ prefix to celebrate Flora using her initials, alongside ‘AA’ prefix notes, at Spink House, London. Monies raised from the auction goes to the Bank’s charity partner Mental Health UK and The Royal Free Charity, London. So far, auctions of polymer collectors’ notes have raised over £584,000 for charity.

You may also like:

Scotland’s Suffragette Trump Cards Go To Schools and

“A Breath of Fresh Air”: The Story of the Orcadian Suffragists