Earlier this month two auctions highlighted the varieties of the £5 note through time.
At Spink's charity auction of Bank of England notes the first lot, auctioned by chief cashier of the Bank Victoria Cleland, was a specimen with the serial number AA01 000017 which sold for £4150.
With every single item selling above the estimated price, the sale realised £203,000 in total with money divided among three charities: Myotubular Trust, The Lilly Foundation and Bliss.
Spink auctioneer Barnaby Faull, said: “It is always a very special type of excitement when compassion is combined with a collector’s zeal to drive an auction, Spink very much looks forward to the next.”
The sale was also held online via thesaleroom.com.
The following day, the October 4 auction of British Banknotes (including the Collection of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland) comprised a range of new and old notes.
A Bank of Scotland £5 polymer note with the lowest possible serial number - AA000001- sold for £12,500.
Another highlight of the sale was a British Linen Company £5 note, dated August 1780, which sold for £1100.
The sale also included four £5 notes issued by the Bank of St Albans which went bust in 1842. They sold for £960.
