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Funds were raised from private investors and the bank Bank of England bought government stock and issued securities, equivalent to bonds, while giving lending notes to the government. The securities acted as contracts and would give individuals return on those investments, while the funds given by the individual could be used to finance debt. Businesses and individuals also were allowed to deposit money. This created a pool of funding for the government that it was able to use without directly going to Parliament to raise taxes or use other creditors. Now, William III could finance his wars. Initially, the Bank of England was not a government institution but a private company created through a charter. However, as the government saw it useful to its efforts, it began to depend on the Bank moreand increasingly incorporate it as part of its policies. In 1708, the government let the Bank have sole rights to create currency notes. Notes did not have fixed values, as they do today, but could be changed by agreement. Within a year, the government also made it a monopoly, as other large banks were not allowed and other banks could not issue notes. By 1720, the '£' sign was created and by 1745 notes had fixed values of £20 to £1000. In the Seven Years war, another major conflict with France, led to the creation of small notes, £10, as this allowed more borrowing for smaller denominations. Over the course of the rest of the 18th century, the Bank had a greater role in the economy not only for the government but also in financing more enterprise throughout the country, including increasing trade. The system proved a success for England and other countries in Europe began to copy the system by the end of the century. In 1782, the Bank of Spain was created and in 1800 the Bank of France was established. The Bank of North America was the first public bank in the United States, but it soon was replaced by the Bank of the United States (Figure 2). All of these institutions tried to copy the system in England and attempted to create a system of public debt financing.<ref>For more on how the Bank of England evolved and how that influenced public financing and debt, see: Slater, Martin. 2018. <i>The National Debt: A Short History</i>. London: Hurst & Company. </ref>