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26 June 2024
An extremely rare £100 banknote from the Liverpool branch of the Bank of England dating from 1855 sold for a hammer price of £32,000 against an estimate of £24,000-30,000 in an auction of British and Irish Banknotes at Noonans Mayfair today (Wednesday, June 26, 2024).
Prior to the sale, Andrew Pattison, Head of the Banknotes Department at Noonans explained: “This remarkable note is of the highest quality and is dated from 26 January 1855, making it almost 170 years old. It is signed by Matthew Marshall who was Chief Cashier of the Bank of England between 1835 to 1864 and is one the highest denominations that he signed. The note has been cut in half and then taped back together. This is because £100 was so much money (around £15,000 today) that the two halves of the note were posted separately for security, and then put back together later on so the note could still be used” [lot 132].
Another of several rare Liverpool notes is a £10 from 23 December 1882, signed by the later disgraced Chief Cashier Frank May sold for a hammer price of £26,000 against an estimate of £15,000-20,000 [lot 133].
In addition, the auction featured a in impressive specimen £1,000 note signed by Ernest M. Harvey – dating from 1922 which sold for a hammer price of £28,000 against an estimate of £18,000-20,000 [lot 138].
Following the sale, Mr Pattison said: “All three of these were bought by pre-eminent collectors of British banknotes. All three comfortably exceeded their estimates because the market for such rare items is going from strength to strength. Newly published information regarding the minuscule surviving quantities of such banknotes (many are unique survivors) is giving bidders a well-founded sense of security when spending larger amounts. Additionally, these notes come up for auction so infrequently, if ever, that bidders are clearly concluding that they need to take the chance when offered, as they may never see another!”
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