List of oldest banks in continuous operation
Depending on the definition, the world's oldest bank is either Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena or Berenberg Bank. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena was founded in its present form in 1624, but traces its history to a mount of piety founded in 1472. The Berenberg company was founded in 1590 and has operated continuously ever since with the same family as owners or major co-owners. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena is today a large Italian retail bank, while Berenberg Bank is primarily involved in investment banking and private banking for wealthy customers; in any event Berenberg Bank is the world's oldest merchant bank or investment bank. The world's oldest central bank is the Sveriges Riksbank, which was founded in 1668.
Jemmy Wood
Wood inherited the bank from his grandfather who had founded it in 1716. The bank was said to have been one of the oldest private banks in Britain, having survived the financial consequences of the Napoleonic Wars when many other banks went out of business. It operated from Wood's drapery shop in Westgate Street, Gloucester and Wood's practice was to offer no interest on deposits of less than one year. The whole bank was believed to have consisted of just Wood and two clerks. On the counter were nailed counterfeit coins as a warning to customers not to try and pass them off on the bank. The bank was taken over by the "County of Gloucestershire Banking Company" in 1838, which eventually became part of "Lloyds Bank" in 1897.