Superb Set of Australian Banknotes sold by Spinks for £350,000
On September 29th, Spink held a sale in London of A Superb Set Of The 1913 – 1914 Commonwealth of Australia Banknotes.
The notes were found in a chest of drawers in the North Yorkshire home of an elderly man when his home was being cleard out for an estate sale. He had been unaware of their existence until he was told by the auctioneer who was clearing his house, that a windfall might be coming his way.
Recognising that these notes were a rare find indeed, an astute Rodney Tennant of Tennants of Leyburn asked London coins and banknote specialists Spink to sell the six notes – all with early serial numbers and all marked Cancelled.
Spink offered them (in the separate catalogue) as lot number one of their banknotes sale of September 28. They did not quite make their £400,000-450,000 estimate, but the vendor’s family was delighted to learn that they had sold to an Australian private collector at £350,000.
Background from the Catalog:
From May 1913, the first distinctive Commonwealth of Australia banknotes were issued. They were controversial in that no portrait of the reigning monarch, King George V, was included in the design. It was also feared that the release of a ten-shilling denomination (reportedly the first by any government within the British Empire) would spread diseases from the lower to middle and upper classes. Specimen notes were prepared from regular note stocks by perforating them horizontally with the word ‘CANCELLED’. Such notes were taken at random from the print runs as required, so many bear relatively high serial numbers. It wasn’t until the issuance of the 1923 series bearing George V’s effigy that low numbers were reserved for specimen notes.
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Earlier this year the coin was brought in by a lady who discovered it in a field near Salisbury. After dusting the earth from the face of the coin the lady, who wishes to remain anonymous, knew that she had tripped upon something very unusual.
“We are delighted to add such a knowledgeable and well-respected numismatist to lead the Spink Smythe team. We are extremely proud of our past and look forward to continued success in the future with our new, truly global presence,” said Tracy L. Shreve, Chief Operating Officer of Spink USA.















