- Charity auction of new King Charles £5 notes to be held on June 13
- We can reveal the lowest serial number of a £5 note up for auction
There is a unique opportunity for a buyer to get their hands on one of the lowest serial numbered banknotes ever offered to the public in the coming weeks, This is Money can reveal.
New £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes have been launched across the country and entered circulation for the first time last week.
They have captured the imagination of collectors and already a wave of people has rushed to sell the new banknotes on Ebay.
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.
A new £5 note with serial number CA01 00003 will be available for purchase at a charity auction held by Spink & Son on June 13.
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.
When the notes were released last Wednesday, auctioneers Spink & Son revealed to This is Money that a £5 note with an “unprecedented” serial number would be available to buy at the auction.
Today, This is Money can confirm that a King Charles £5 note with serial number CA01 000003 is up for auction in Lot 1 at a charity auction being held by Spink & Son on Thursday 13 June.
Spink & Son confirmed that this is the lowest serial number of a new £5 note available to the public.
Bidders can attend the event in person, while people around the world can bid online.
The first two £5 notes, serial number CA01 000001 are held by King Charles III and This is Money understands that CA01 000002 belongs to Queen Camilla.
In this way, buyers can obtain banknote number three, the lowest serial number ever auctioned in an auction of this type for new banknotes.
The £5 note CA01 000003 has an estimated price of £3,000 to £5,000.
But experts believe that it will far exceed this figure.
Simon Narbeth, of ticket seller Colin Narbeth & Son, said: “No doubt this note will sell for at least £13,000, if not more.”
‘This is the lowest serial number for a £5 note to be auctioned since 2021 saw the auction of a £5 note presented to former Prime Minister Harold McMillan in 1967, which also had the serial number 01 000003.
“That note sold for £22,000 at auction.”
To put the 03 note into context, a charity auction in 2016 for the new fiver started with AA01 000017 as the lowest note, and sold for £4,150.
Additionally, the Bank of England has more charity auctions on the calendar, including one for £10 notes on June 27.
This auction is “even more exciting” according to Mr. Narbeth, as a banknote with an even lower serial number is available: HB01 000002.
It means that the buyer would own the second note, and the number one would be in the hands of the King.
He adds: “I hope it sells for at least £20,000.”
A spokesperson for Spink & Son said: This is the lowest serial number we have ever auctioned in an auction of this type.
“We have previously auctioned a banknote with serial number 01 000005.”
The £5 note CA01 000003 is one of 152 £5 notes being auctioned on Thursday, with serial numbers ranging from CA01 000003 to CA01 002024.
Estimates for the full range of £5 notes on sale at the auction range between £150 and £5,000, depending on the serial number.