Why banknotes languishing in your pockets might be value 1000’s
Collectors are on the hunt for the final banknotes printed that includes the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Money emblazoned with the picture of King Charles will start to enter circulation subsequent yr, so collectors consider that notes that includes the much-loved late monarch is not going to solely have vital sentimental worth, however maybe monetary worth too.
Each banknote has its personal distinctive serial quantity that may date and establish it, and now This Is Money has revealed the codes to look out for.
If you run right into a £5, £10, £20 or £50 observe and it has the suitable code, it might be value excess of the worth it says it’s.
Collectors have at all times been looking out for uncommon banknotes and cash. In 2016, one of many first polymer £5 banknotes offered for a whopping £4,150 – 830 instances its unique worth.
Banknote serial numbers are 10 digits lengthy and have two letters adopted by two numbers, earlier than an area after which one other six numbers.
The Bank of England has instructed The Mail on Sunday the primary two numbers and letters on the final printed notes that includes Queen Elizabeth II for every of the 4 denominations.
The prefixes – referred to as cyphers – are as follows:
If you will have any notes with these codes on them, it might be value storing them in a protected place relatively than spending them.
The final lot of £5 notes displaying the Queen have been printed in July 2018 with the final £10 notes popping out in December 2020. The ultimate £20 notes have been printed a month following her demise in October 2022 and the final £50 notes in April of the identical yr.
Richard Beale, a valuer at Warwick & Warwick, had some pearls of knowledge to share: “In our June sale, a 1960 £1 A01 000122, which was the first with a portrait of Elizabeth II, sold for £380.
“We would expect a similar premium for the last Elizabeth II banknotes.”
Arnas Savickas, head of banknotes in Europe and the USA at Spink and Son, shared Richard’s sentiment: “Although we cannot provide guidance in terms of the value of these notes, it is most likely collectors will want to have the last prefixes of QE II notes in their collections in mint or near- mint condition.
“It would more likely fit that the last amount of numbers will be more sought after rather than sheets in which they were printed.
“There is likely to be interest in the last 5,000 to some extent, however the last 1,000 or even 100 is going to be where collectors will put their focus.”
Simon Narbeth, who runs the International Bank Note Society and is co-founder of banknote retailer Colin Narbeth & Son Ltd, believes the ultimate notes of Queen Elizabeth might fetch a fortune: “The possibility of owning one of the last Queen notes is very exciting. Thanks to The Mail on Sunday’s investigation, we now know what the last printed notes are likely to be.
“The problem is, I don’t know of any last high serial numbers to go for a really high price in the past – but this last Queen run is likely to buck the trend. If sold at a charity auction this could create a new record.”