Austen notes highlight charity sale

Victoria Cleland, chief cashier of the Bank of England, auctions off Jane Austen £10 note number AA01 000010 in this year’s charity bank note auction. Post sale, Cleland observed: “I am delighted that the charity auction of Jane Austen £10 notes raised £270,000 for three fantastic charities. The buzz in the room suggested that cash was far from dead, and I certainly enjoyed my time as auctioneer!” (Images courtesy & © Bank of England)

Spink London’s annual charity sales have become a regular feature of the fall calendar. The auctions feature low and special serial numbers of new issues of the Bank of England and several Scottish banks of issue. All proceeds go to charity.

This year’s sales took place in early October in the aftermath of several major world paper auctions. The BoE sale was conducted by the chief cashier of the bank, Victoria Cleland, and featured the new Jane Austen £10 polymer note.

The 141 lots realized a total of $355,544 [£269,338]. This was divided between Candlelighters, Haven House Children’s Hospice and Macmillan Cancer Support.

The lowest possible serial number available to collectors was AA01 000010. Cleland had no difficulty in driving up the bidding to $9,504 [£7,200]. It was not the highest price of this catalog. That was the $17,821 [£13,500] paid for a full uncut sheet of 54 £10 notes.

Top selling BoE £10 note number AA01 000010 that fetched $9,504.

The Scottish sale took place four days later. Two No. 1 serial notes were on offer. A Bank of Scotland £10 polymer of June 1, 2016, AA000001, matched the top BoE single note price of $9,504 [£7,200]. A Clydesdale Bank polymer £5 of Feb. 13, 2016, W/HS 000001, made £6,600. And a Royal Bank of Scotland polymer £5 of Feb. 11, 2016, AA123456, took £3,360.

Full catalog details and prices realized are available at the Spink website at www.spink.com. The prices include a buyer’s premium of 20 percent.