The Sir David Kirch Collection of Skit Notes

Bank of Engraving, J. Duck, Fitzroy Square, an advertising skit note for £5, 29 April 1840, serial number 1786, promising to ‘Engrave & Print in Letter press etc on Demand for the Sum of Five Pounds in the First Style of the Art, or forfeit the above sum’, signature of J. Duck, original paper, good fine and rare
Outing 4060 £100-£150

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Sir David Kirch Collection of Skit Notes.

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A worryingly passable imitation of a Bank of England note, these advertising pieces were engraved by J. Duck, who had a premises at Fitzroy Square in 1841. The notes were such a good imitation that they were used by fraudsters and ‘confidence-men’ several times, notably in Oxford in 1875, Hull in 1882 and Manchester in 1887.