Spinks held their first World Bank e-auction of 2024 in January. There were 971 lots, with a good showing for British Banknotes.
The First Issue Treasury notes faired relatively poorly, most achieving lower end of the estimate or even below estimate when the hammer went down. A First Issue Bradbury 10 Shilling note, with serial number A/1 000086 had a hammer price of £800 versus an estimate of £700-1100. The note was PMG graded 53, and I would suggest this was good value for the successful bidder. The later issued Treasury notes didn’t fair much better, though the bulking of some of the lots provided buyers with an opportunity to pick up some nice notes at a very reasonable price.
The white £5 and £10 notes faired better versus estimate, though the number of lots available were limited compared to some previous sales.
In the post-1960 section of the auction, there were a number of lots with multiple notes in them. There were some bargains snapped up here. An example was a lot of eight £10 Lion & Key notes with Hollom, FForde and Page signatures achieving a hammer price of just £140.
Low numbered Firsts like the Salmon B410 £50 note continued to perform well, with a hammer price of £350. Again, the Cleland and John polymer Firsts achieved strong results. An example being the B415 £10 note with a serial number of AA01 000180 achieving a £280 hammer price.
One sleeper was lot 339 with an estimate of just £50-100. In the end the First Run Ten Shilling note and Lion & Key £10 note sold for a hammer price of £650. An interesting result.
As the year goes on we will continue to keep you updated with Auction news.
