Banknotes Featuring King Charles III Sell For Over Rs 9 Crore, 12 Times The Face Value

The first banknotes bearing the image of King Charles III have sold for £914,127 (Rs 9 crore). Spink & Sons auctioned the banknotes this summer, and they went for 11.7 times the face value of £78,430 (almost Rs 85 lakh).

This occurred while early prints of the new currency were being produced, and collectors were snapping them up. On June 5, new banknotes worth £5, £10, £20, and £50 portraying King Charles went into circulation in the UK. This is the first time the Bank of England (BOE) has changed the monarch on its notes.

Collectors are eager to obtain the most recent notes with the smallest feasible serial numbers, with prices paid matching the notes’ value, as per The Guardian. A £10 note bearing the serial number HBO1 00002 reportedly brought £17,000 (over Rs 18 lakh), and a £50 sheet set the record for the highest item sold at a BOE auction as it sold for £26,000 (almost Rs 28 lakh).

King Charles was given the whole set of the initial issues, all of which had the serial number 000001 at the end.

Because collectors want to find banknotes with a serial number as near to 000001 as feasible, the sums raised are substantial.

“Lucky numbers” reportedly drew high bids as well, according to Spink & Sons, reported CNN. There were two £5 notes up for sale that brought in £2,200 (over Rs 2 lakh) and £2,400 (over Rs 2,50,000), respectively, with serial numbers ending in 88 and 888.

The head cashier of the Bank, Sarah John, whose signature appears on the notes, expressed her excitement about the “remarkable” sum being raised, as per BBC.

In 1960, Queen Elizabeth II became the first person to consistently feature on BOE banknotes, marking the only time the monarch has changed since then.

Notably, the monarch is not shown on Scottish banknotes.

Ten organisations selected by BOE employees will benefit from the funds donated; these charities include the Trussell Trust, which supports food banks, and WWF-UK, a wildlife charity.

“Each charity does incredible work and the monies raised will have a positive impact on people across the UK,” Sarah was quoted as saying by CNN.

The UK has about 4.6 billion (almost Rs 50,000 crores) actual £5, £10, £20, and £50 banknotes in circulation, with a combined value of over £82 billion (Rs 884,780 crores), according to the central bank.