Inflation and deflation

This is a photograph of a £20 note from 1859. You might be forgiven for thinking that it is not a very good photograph, it being a bit fuzzy. The reason for the lack of quality is that it is only 1/16th of an inch in size and was taken down the microscope.
The tiny photograph was made by John Benjamin Dancer, a Manchester-based instrument maker and inventor, best known as the pioneer of microphotography (the production of photographs viewable only through a microscope). He developed the process during the 1840s, and lived to see it become extremely popular. 
By the 1850s Dancer had developed a method of producing microphotographs containing a full picture occupying only 1/16th of an inch. Microphotographs were made of portraits, monuments, and many other  popular subjects. A list published around 1870 contains over 100 titles, the £20 bank note being number 51.
This information has been taken from the Whipple Museum website.
By the way, £20 in 1859 would be worth £13,000 today, based on average earnings.