bank-note
[See bank n.3, and note.]
A promissory note given by a banker: formerly, one payable at a fixed date and to a specified person; now, one payable to bearer on demand, and intended to circulate as money.
(Their issue is now regulated by Act 7 & 8 Vict. cap. 32.)
| 1695 Lond. Gaz. No. 3046/4 A Bank Note for 17l. 2s. 4d. payable to Philip Wheake. 1714 Ibid. No. 5239/3 Lost..10 Bank Circulation Notes..none of them payable for several Months. Ibid. No. 5271/4 Four Circular Bank Notes for 100l. each all payable to Mr. Pope..or Bearer, with Interest. 1789 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Wks. (1812) II. 116 So prudent, numbers each bank-note and jewel. 1812 Examiner 28 Sept. 622/2 What is a bank note but a promise to pay the bearer a certain quantity of gold? 1870 Bowen Logic ix. 274 Money may mean either specie, or bank-notes, or currency consisting of a mixture of these two. |
| fig. 1850 Carlyle Latter-d. Pamph. v. 9 If speech is the banknote for an inward capital of culture. |