A TINY marking on your £10 note could make it 1,700 times more valuable.
At a recent charity auction hosted by Spink and Son, a £10 note, produced by the Bank of England, featuring King Charles III sold for an astonishing £17,000.
This isn’t just an isolated incident—four other notes sold for substantial sums, ranging from £2,400 to £5,500.
The key is to watch out for the prefix “HB 01” in the serial number, located at the bottom right corner of the note.
The serial number on a banknote isn’t just a string of digits—it’s a potential goldmine.
Collectors highly prize notes with specific serial numbers, and the recent auction highlighted just how valuable these can be.
The star of the auction, a note with the serial number HB01 000002, fetched the highest price of £17,000.
Other notable sales included HB01 000003 for £5,500, HB01 000004 for £2,400, HB01 000005 for £3,200, and HB01 000006 for £2,700.
While it’s unlikely that you’ll come across these exact notes in your change, lower serial numbers are still circulating and could appear in your wallet.
Serial numbers starting with “HB 01” are particularly sought after, but other patterns can also be valuable.
For instance, notes with multiple eights in the serial number or those ending in 111111 tend to attract high bids from collectors.
Moreover, special dates like those on Jane Austen £5 notes or JMW Turner £20 notes can significantly increase the note’s value.
If you believe you’ve stumbled upon a valuable banknote, there are several ways to sell it.
Ebay and Facebook Marketplace are popular platforms, but auctions remain the safest and often most profitable route.
The Royal Mint’s Collectors Service can authenticate and value your note, although this service comes with a fee.
Selling on platforms like Facebook does carry risks, especially regarding scams.
Always meet in public, well-lit areas, and prefer cash transactions to avoid fraud.
Auction houses, while taking a commission, offer a secure and reliable way to sell high-value items.
Next time you receive a £10 note, take a closer look at the serial number.
That tiny marking could turn your tenner into a small fortune.
As more notes featuring King Charles III enter circulation, the chance of finding a valuable serial number increases.
Stay vigilant, and you might just hit the jackpot.
Meanwhile, it’s not just serial codes you need to watch out for. In fact, one lucky brit bagged £10,000 for their £10 note all because of a squiggle everyone ignores.
Elsewhere, loose change can also prove just as lucrative, one TikToker shared his crucial tips to scoring 4,000 times a 50ps face value – leaving coin owners quite the fortune.
