- A new £5 note with the image of King Charles III sold for £11,000 at auction
- It has the third lowest serial number of a new £5 note CA01 000003.
- It had an estimated price of £3,000 to £5,000.
A new King Charles III £5 note sold for £11,000 at a Bank of England charity auction this afternoon and went to a UK buyer, This is Money can reveal.
The auction, conducted by Spink & Son on behalf of the Bank of England, features 152 lots of new £5 notes depicting King Charles III.
The £5 note CA01 000003 was auctioned by Bank of England chief teller Sarah John as lot one, with bidding frenzied both online and in the room.
The next lot, a £5 note with serial number CA01 000005, sold for £7,000 and lot three, CA01 000007, sold for £4,800.
A new King Charles banknote with serial number CA01 000003 sold for £11,000 at a Bank of England auction today.
The new £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes have spread across the country and entered circulation for the first time last Wednesday.
This auction is the first opportunity collectors and the public have had to obtain new banknotes with ultra-low serial numbers.
Last week, This is Money exclusively revealed the prefixes for the first new notes, which are CA01 for £5 notes, HB01 for £10 notes, EH01 for £20 notes and AJ01 for £50 notes.
The most valuable £5 notes are those with low serial numbers starting with CA01, which both collectors and the general public are on the hunt for.
Earlier this week, This is Money revealed that a King Charles £5 note with serial number CA01 000003 was for sale in lot one of the charity auction.
This is the lowest serial number of a new £5 note available to the public, Spink & Son confirmed.
The first £5 note with serial number CA01 000001 is in the hands of King Charles III and This is Money understands that the second note, with CA01 000002, belongs to Queen Camilla.
This is Money, which attended the auction, can confirm that this £5 note with serial number CA01 000003 sold for £11,000 at auction, to a bidder present in the room and not to someone online.
The note had an estimate of between £3,000 and £5,000, but a banknote expert This is Money spoke to ahead of the auction said it would far exceed his estimate.
Simon Narbeth, of ticket seller Colin Narbeth & Son, thought it would cost £13,000, so it was closer to the asking price than the estimate.
When the next charity £10 note auction takes place on June 27, collectors will be able to get their hands on a £10 note with an even lower serial number, HB01 000002.
This is the lowest serial number to appear on a £10 note after the first King’s £10 note, which has serial number HB01 000001.
Because of this, Mr Narbeth hopes that the £10 note HB01 000002 could fetch up to £20,000 due to the rare opportunity it is for collectors to be able to get their hands on a note with such a low serial number.
The auction for new £20 notes will take place on 11 July and an auction for new £50 notes will take place on 25 July.
Note and glory: Helen Kirrane was able to see the note in person in Mayfair
Spink & Son’s Mayfair auction room is bustling with excitement. writes This is Helen Kirrane, Banking and Money Savings Correspondent.
An auction house employee tells me that there is much more activity than usual for a ticket auction.
But this is not just any ticket auction.
In the room are Sarah John, Chief Teller of the Bank of England, professional banknote buyers, private collectors and banknote experts.
They are all gathered to attend a Bank of England charity auction of new £5 notes featuring King Charles for the first time.
All five in this auction have some early serial numbers.
Before the auction has even started, the crown jewel, a £5 note with serial number CA01 000003, is bidding at £7,500 in pre-bidding.
This note was supposed to go to Rishi Sunak and is the lowest serial number on a £5 note that Spink & Son has ever auctioned.
After a flood of offers, Sarah John bids for the £11,000 ticket.
The buyer in the room is now in possession of the lowest serial numbered £5 note after King and Queen Camilla, and owns a piece of banknote history.