Edinburgh – The Museum on the Mound (British Linen Bank)

A sign from the former British Linen Bank, a long-standing bank which was in operation from when it received its Royal Charter in 1746. It actually started life as the British Linen Company and was primarily established to promote the linen industry, although by the 1760s it was predominantly operating as a bank.

The bank continued to grow during the nineteenth century and was renamed as the British Linen Bank in 1906. In 1919 the bank was taken over by Barclays Bank and it was later bought out by the Bank of Scotland in 1969 and they used the brand for their merchant bank business from 1977 until 1999. Sadly that was the end of the business, although their bank notes and cheques seem to be doing quite a trade on eBay.