British notes highlight at Spink
Five days of frenetic auction action for Spink’s bank note team culminated in sale of 613 lots of British paper on Oct. 4.
The auction room presented a replay of the previous four days: a packed, hungry bear pit with Internet and telephones adding to the buzz. At sale’s end a further $632,772 [£510,300] worth of business had crossed the block. Bank note collecting is alive and thriving in London town.
First lot up provided top price of the day: an uncirculated Pudsey Bear Bank of Scotland £5 from the limited-edition polymer issue of July 17, 2015. It realized $23,064 [£18,600]. This note differed from all its siblings. The successful bidder was able to choose its eight-character serial number.
Three remaining Pudsey Bear fivers were also up for grabs. Serial PUDSEY32 took $2,827 [£2,280], PUDSEY35 $3,125 [£2,520] and PUDSEY39 $3,422 [£2,760].
Following on for Spink’s earlier Charity sale, low serial number notes of the March 25, 2016 Bank of Scotland polymer £5 were on offer. Serial number AA000001 took $18,600 [£15,000] with AA000002 making £1,080. Serial number AA888888 realized $4,762 [£3,840] while an uncut sheet of 60 notes found a good home for $7,142 [£5,760].
Central to the sale was disposal of the collection of the Chartered Bankers Institute in Scotland. For collectors into the bank notes of Bonnie Scotland a hard copy of the catalog is a must for your shelves.
The paper money of England managed to get a look in toward end of the sale. Top price here went to an uncirculated Treasury trial shilling circa 1918 signed by John Bradbury. It had no problems in being bid up to $10,416 [£8,400] on its £4,500-6,500 estimate.
Full catalog details and prices-realized are available from www.spink.com. A premium of 20 percent has been added to the prices stated that have been converted at a rate of 1GBP = 1.24USD.
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More Collecting Resources
• Keep up to date on prices for Canada, United States and Mexico coinage with the 2016 North American Coins & Prices guide.
• Order the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money, General Issues to learn about circulating paper money from 14th century China to the mid 20th century.
