24th April 2015
The bright spring sunshine provided a pleasant back drop for our specialist banknote auction, held on Wednesday 22nd April 2015. The auction room was well attended with over 150 lots for buyers to choose from.
First up on the rostrum was the British section which contained a broad range of cashiers; from this Bradbury 1915 Dardanelles Campaign 10 shillings; which sold for £401 including buyers' premium...
...to this Page 1973, £5 AN01 first run, in uncirculated condition, which achieved £177.
Particular highlights of this section included these Harvey notes, a 1923 £5 which sold for £436, and this Manchester Branch 1922 £5, which sold for £566.
This Mahon 1926 £5, graded as 'extremely fine', went for a total of £424.
Catterns notes proved popular with this 1929 £5, graded as 'good extremely fine', selling for £342, and this 1932 £10, graded as 'extremely fine', achieving £318.
Moving into the 1950’s, O’Brien notes were popular with buyers. This 1957 £5 sold for £389, and this 1960 £1 experimental issue made £424 on the day.
In the world banknote section Scottish notes drew a particularly large amount of interest, with 56 lots available for bidding. No wonder, as these notes are arguably some of the most beautiful ever produced. Many of the lots were also in high grades which only added to their overall appeal. They were lotted individually and as collections, such as lot 259, a Bank of Scotland range of 16 notes, selling for a tremendous £855 including buyers' premium.
Individually lotted notes also achieved above estimate results. This Clydesdale Bank 1946 £5, graded as 'extremely fine', and with a low serial number, sold for £401.
This early Commercial Bank of Scotland 1918 £5, graded as 'extremely fine', sold for £566.
This 1923 £5 achieved £531,
And this 1931 £20 sold for £424.
National Bank of Scotland notes proved popular with this 1930 £5, graded as 'extremely fine', selling for £448,
And this later 1954 £20 selling for £354.
There were 6 North of Scotland Bank lots, the highlight of which was this 1934 £20, graded as 'extremely fine', achieving £401.
The Scottish banknotes section came to an end with the Union Bank of Scotland notes. The stand out lot of this section was this 1947 £20, graded as 'extremely fine', which was snapped up for £377 by the lucky bidder.
Our next banknote auction will be held on Wednesday 17th June 2015. Look out for the full catalogue for this sale, which will appear on our website in the next few weeks. Also keep an eye on our Twitter and Facebook pages which will include updates of our latest auction news.
Are you thinking of selling your entire banknote collection or part of it? Would you like us to value your coins and banknotes and give you advice on how best to market them? Visit our coins and banknotes department page for more information.