‘Exceptionally rare’ Bank of England £5 note registered in Leeds in 1900 fetches £32,000 at auction

The £5 note was dated July 12, 1900 and signed by Horace G. Bowen who was Chief Cashier at the Bank of England from 1893 to 1902.

The note was expected to fetch between £12,000 and £16,000 and was auctioned off in a sale of British and Irish Banknotes at Noonans in London yesterday (Thursday).

After the sale, Andrew Pattison, Head of Banknote Department at Noonans commented: “Bidding was extremely fierce, with the notes going to two different buyers, both of whom are advanced collectors of English banknotes.

"There were multiple bidders on each note right to the top, which just shows that interest in rare and unique collectable banknotes is extremely strong.”

The sale also included another very rare £5 note from Leeds signed by Matthew Marshall who was Chief Cashier of the Bank of England between 1835 and 1864 that is dated 28 July 1862. This sold for a hammer price of £20,000 against an estimate of between £10,000 and £15,000.