Rare Bank of England Banknotes to be Offered at Noonans
Rare Bank of England and Irish notes—from an 1895 £10 to an 18th-century wartime issue—headline a Noonans sale, with several examples believed unique in private hands.
A spectacular Bank of England £10 note dating from 1895 is expected to fetch up to £26,000 in an auction of British and Irish Banknotes at Noonans Mayfair (16 Bolton Street) on Wednesday, March 25, 2026 [lot 153].
As Andrew Pattison, Head of the Banknote Department at Noonans, explains: “Late Victorian Bank of England notes are incredibly rare, and this £10 signed by the Chief Cashier, Horace Bowen, is likely the only surviving example of this denomination in private hands. It represented a very large sum of money at the time of issue - around £1300. This was several months wages for many people, and it is therefore likely that most people would have gone through life never even seeing a note like this.”
While from the Birmingham branch of the Bank of England is a £5 note dating from 1856, which is estimated at £18,000-£22,000 [lot 149].
As Mr Pattison explains: “In 1855, the Bank of England decided to update the design of their notes and bring in larger, sharper and more secure version of the classic black and white design that had been in service for more than a century. This incredible note represents one of the first of the newly updated design and is even more incredible for being issued in Birmingham. Most notes of the era were issued from the head office in London, and this is believed to be the only Birmingham example in private hands. The updated design was only modernised exactly 100 years later in 1956.”
And dating from 1798 is a rare £2 note from the Bank of England, which is estimated at £12,000-£16,000 [lot 135].
Mr Pattison added: “This is a fascinating note that dates back to the French Revolutionary Wars at the close of the 18th century. The Bank of England was forced to begin issuing paper money in small denominations of £1 and £2 in order to finance the wars with France and this is one such note. It is a £2 of 1798 and the condition is so exceptional that we have no hesitation that it is amongst the finest in private hands.”
The sale also includes some very rare Irish banknotes, such as a simply spectacular Bank of Ireland £1 note that was issued in Newry, Dublin, and Armagh in 1831. This rare discovery is estimated to fetch £8,000-10,000, and is a note which was known to exist, but none of which had ever been seen [lot 301].
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