DURING an otherwise routine probabe valuation in a village near Saffron Walden, John Foster from Stansted Mountfitchet auctioneers Sworders discovered a box of coins tucked away in the back of a cupboard. On closer inspection he found an album of East Anglian banknotes which had probably been collected in the 1950s and 1960s for only a few pounds.
Included were Victorian notes from the now defunct Essex, Chelmsford, Saffron Walden, Romford, Sudbury, Hadleigh and Woodbridge banks - all institutions long since swallowed up by the big four clearing banks.
The collection sold on July 20-21 and made a remarkable £17,000, with the Essex bank notes providing the most popular lots, averaging £1000 each.
