Could the currency in your possession be worth thousands? The search is underway for the final banknotes printed featuring the late Queen Elizabeth II. These last printed notes, which will soon be replaced with profiles of King Charles, are not only historically significant but may also fetch a substantial amount at auction. Each banknote has a unique serial number for identification and dating purposes. Today, we can reveal the serial numbers of the last £5, £10, £20, and £50 notes featuring the Queen, and if you happen to have one, you might find that it’s worth far more than its face value.
Collectors and members of the public alike seek out special or rare banknotes and coins as treasured pieces of history. In fact, several years ago, the first polymer banknotes sold for thousands of pounds in online auctions, with one £5 note fetching £4,150 – a remarkable 830 times its face value. Now, collectors will eagerly examine the serial numbers, hoping to possess one of these rare final notes. And here’s why you should join them.
Polymer banknotes from the Bank of England, such as the £5 note featuring Winston Churchill and the £10 note featuring Jane Austen, have ten-digit serial numbers consisting of two letters, followed by two numbers, a space, and then another six numbers. The Bank of England has shared with The Mail on Sunday the first two letters and numbers of the most recent batches of notes for each denomination:
– £5 notes: BC60
– £10 notes: EM54
– £20 notes: DM45
– £50 notes: AE80
The last batch of £5 notes was printed in July 2018, £10 notes in December 2020, £20 notes a month after the Queen’s passing in October 2022, and £50 notes in April 2022. These notes, produced by British company De La Rue, have already entered the bank’s reserves and will be put into general circulation as needed. However, some notes have already been issued and are currently in circulation.
There are 999,000 notes printed for each prefix, numbered from 000001 to 999000. However, the final Queen Elizabeth II notes may not end with 999000. This is because the serial numbers for the King Charles banknotes will continue from those of Queen Elizabeth II, rather than starting anew at 0000001. As of now, the exact point where the Queen Elizabeth II notes end and the King Charles notes begin remains undisclosed by the Bank of England. Once we have this information, we will know which notes are the very last to be printed and therefore the most valuable. Holding on to notes with the aforementioned prefixes until we have this clarification could prove fruitful.
Richard Beale, a valuer at Warwick & Warwick, states that a 1960 £1 note with the serial number A01 000122, the first to feature a portrait of Elizabeth II, sold for £380 in a recent auction. A similar premium is expected for the last Elizabeth II banknotes. If you happen to acquire one of these last-ever notes, it is advisable to keep it in the best possible condition in case it becomes valuable.
Arnus Savickas from Spink and Son suggests that collectors are likely to want the last prefixes of Queen Elizabeth II banknotes in mint or near-mint condition. The focus is likely to be on the final numbers rather than the sheets they were printed on. Interest is expected for the last 5,000 notes to some extent, but the last 1,000 or even 100 will likely be the most sought-after by collectors. Simon Narbeth, who runs the International Bank Note Society and co-founded Colin Narbeth & Son Ltd, advises collectors eager to pay higher prices to proceed with caution. While the possibility of owning one of the last Queen notes is exciting, it remains to be seen if they will truly command high prices at auction. However, if sold at a charity auction, these notes could potentially set a new record.
In the past, This is Money revealed the serial numbers of the very first £5 polymer notes featuring Winston Churchill, which were released in September 2016. These notes garnered significant attention from collectors, with some AA01 notes selling for up to £200 on eBay. At a Bank of England charity event, the serial number AA01 000017 note sold for an astounding £4,150.
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