Alan Banks was born in London, England, on 29 March 1944. At
the Tollington Grammar School where he went to, he was drawn to metalwork, geometrical
drawing and art. After school he became an apprentice at Sprague & Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Perkins Bacon, where
he learnt to engrave lettering. He stayed there for five years, in the meantime
taking engraving courses at the London College of Printing.
In 1968, banks came to work for De La Rue. After an initial
further training period under the stamp engraver Edward Dawson, Banks came to work on banknote engravings. In the
1980s, he tried to move to America, hoping to find work at the ABNC, but this
did not materialise. He was, however, approached by the CBNC which resulted in Banks
working for them for a while, though he never moved to Canada. In 1996, Banks
moved back to DLR, where he remained until 2000.
As far as is known, Banks only engraved a single stamp
during his career: the 1972 Iceland stamp depicting Mt Herdubreid.
You will find Alan Banks' database HERE.