UK: Polymer £5 and £50 Banknotes Soon?

Started by Bimat, September 04, 2011, 07:49:42 AM

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Bimat

New plastic £5 note fetches £50,000 on eBay - could you be sitting on a fortune?

14:25, 4 OCT 2016 UPDATED 14:26, 4 OCT 2016

A new polymer £5 banknote has fetched an eye-watering £50,000 on eBay, it has been revealed.

WestBriton reports the special note was put up for sale on the online auction website by a Plymouth resident last month.

While the identity of the mystery buyer remains unclear, many Birmingham residents who have got their hands on the "longer lasting" and "harder to forge" new note will be keen to discover whether they could bag a fortune.

The note which sold has the serial number AK47 489327 and the sale follows thousands of instances of sellers auctioning off have the new five pound notes on eBay.

Collectors are looking for five pound notes with the lowest serial numbers as these attract the highest bids.

Experts say the new polymer notes are resistant to dirt and moisture so stay cleaner for longer than paper banknotes, and are also more secure, ensuring enhanced counterfeit resilience.

The first five pound note to be printed by the Bank of England, which has a serial number with AA01 000001, was given to the Queen but there are 999,999 other new fivers with the AA01 prefix.

A search on eBay currently reveals Brummie users are trying their luck and selling the note for as high as £20,000 - but it remains to be seen whether anybody bites.

The note from the seller, with a serial number ALI666, is described as "extremely rare" and is currently being viewed by multiple eBay users per hour.

Last week, a representative at a Birmingham auctioning company Joseph Cottrial told us many of these eBay sellers are not likely to make the profit they are hoping for.

Mr Cottrial, who works for Warwick & Warwick Ltd, said: "The one going for £50,000 is worth a fiver.

"The only one that stands a chance is the fiver that was given to the Queen.

"People can put anything on eBay but I suspect the users are trying their luck and being speculative...these prices are just too high.

"I even think in the future we'll see a massive drop in the value.

"In 2017, I reckon, the most you can sell these fivers would be £100. Now, I would say you should sell for about £200."

Source: Birmingham Mail
It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. -J. K. Rowling.

Figleaf

I saw the plastic banknotes last weekend during the WoC Paris meeting. Interesting, especially the see-through part. Also interesting was the general reaction of the group: "cheap-looking", the more so as the plastic notes may be more expensive than paper notes.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

Pabitra

Quote from: Figleaf on October 18, 2016, 11:24:02 AM
the more so as the plastic notes may be more expensive than paper notes.

Yes, they tend to be about 25 percent more expensive.
The economic justification given is as follows.
The higher cost is partly recovered by higher security and balance by about 20 percent longer life.

SandyGuyUK

Hi all -

Just drawn out £20 from my local bank machine today and got 4 of the new fivers (with consecutive serial numbers - see the group photo attached to this posting).

What's interesting is that the picture of Churchill on these 4 seems much darker than the picture on a fiver that I drew out from a different machine last week (and which has a completely different serial number range).

Has anyone else noticed that there is this difference - it's particularly noticeable in Churchill's hair with the amount of detail visible? (see second picture attached).

Thoughts anyone?  Much as I wouldn't want to be a complete mercenary and put it on eBay for all of the other numpties to go mad bidding on, it does make one wonder whether these are any sort of rarity or there is just a difference in terms of the print/ink quality etc.
Ian
UK

Bimat

Yes, the density of hair seems different in both the photos! Could it just be a light effect, or is it really so, when you hold them in hands?

Aditya
It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. -J. K. Rowling.

SandyGuyUK

It's definitely noticeable when holding them...
Ian
UK

Bimat

Perhaps they wanted to show how hair treatment works over a period of time. ;D

Aditya
It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. -J. K. Rowling.

Bimat

Fake new plastic £5 note eBay bid worth £80,000 leaves seller heartbroken

06:30, 22 OCT 2016

A disappointed eBay seller who thought he had pocketed a gargantuan amount of money has been left empty-handed.

Gareth Wright believed he had successfully shifted a polymer banknote from the Bank of England with a rare serial number beginning with the prefix 'AK47'.

Unfortunately, the bid - which equalled an eye-watering £80,000 - was fake.

Typically, the notes with the lowest serial numbers attract the highest bids, but quirky prefixes have also fetched a healthy sum.

Gareth eventually 'sold' it at £80,100, more than 16,000 times its value.

But, perhaps unsurprisingly, he's since had difficulty trying to collect the money.

Gareth told The Sun the 'buyer' got back to him and said he was unable to give him the cash because he's "waiting for a shipment of cocaine to come in".

"I'm finding it very childish, especially coming from a grown man," Gareth added.

All of it leaves Gareth's hopes of an easy fortune being made in tatters for now.

Before the auction ended had talks of his plans for what he would do with the money.

He said: "I do think most of these bids are fake but you never know! I can only hope for the best and that someone does want to buy it."

"If I do get the money I will probably look into buying my mother's house for her and then travel to South America."

The Bank of England will print 440 million of the notes while the paper note will be phased out.

According to the Bank of England, although more expensive to print than the paper notes, in the long run the polymer ones are better value for money and last on average two and a half times longer.

Source: Birmingham Main
It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. -J. K. Rowling.

Alan71

Pardon me for being thick, but what's so significant about an AK47 prefix?

Nice that Gareth was fine about accepting drugs money...


Bimat

Quote from: Alan71 on October 22, 2016, 11:51:42 AM
Pardon me for being thick, but what's so significant about an AK47 prefix?

Banknotes having 'AA' prefix will be from the very first batch of print. AA will be followed by AB, AC and so on...

If you ask me, prefix 'AK' isn't as impressive as prefix 'AA' for a collector. 'AA01' would be the toughest and most sought after prefix.

Aditya
It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. -J. K. Rowling.

Figleaf

Quote from: Alan71 on October 22, 2016, 11:51:42 AM
Pardon me for being thick, but what's so significant about an AK47 prefix?

Your terrorist pro's favourite tool for picking his nose.

Quote from: Alan71 on October 22, 2016, 11:51:42 AM
Nice that Gareth was fine about accepting drugs money...

It's also the pro smuggler's favourite walking stick. As Donald Trump would put it: SAD.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

andyg

Quote
New five pound note: Not suitable for vegetarians

The UK's new fiver has won many fans since it was launched in September.
It's tough. It doesn't tear. You can spill beer on it, put it through the washing machine and it will survive to buy another round.
But one thing it turns out it's not, is fat-free.
Because it turns out the plastic polymer it's made from also contains small amounts of tallow, derived from animal waste products - and some vegetarians are not happy.
Familiar to previous generations as the base for every day staples such as soap and candles, tallow is traditionally derived from beef or mutton (but sometimes pork) at the slaughterhouse or later in the food production process.
'Essence of bacon'
Vegans and vegetarians faced with this revelation have taken to social media to voice their concern and over 40,000 people have signed a petition calling for the contents of the notes to be changed.
"We demand that you cease to use animal products in the production of currency that we have to use," the petition reads.
On Twitter annoyed vegetarians and vegans have said it's "not cool" and "disgusting" and asking whether their rights have been considered.
However others have responded with rather more tongue-in-cheek approach, suggesting an "essence of bacon" is desirable in the UK's currency, speculating how many calories a fiver now contains and offering to relieve any affronted vegetarians of their unwanted notes

Jewish leaders, whose religion also embraces several restrictions on the use of animal products, are less concerned about the new banknotes.
A spokesman for the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Simon Round, told the BBC: "The five pound notes wouldn't cause any problem to Jews unless they try to eat them.
"Jews are not allowed to consume tallow but are permitted to handle it."
The Bank of England so far has adopted a sanguine approach to the furore: "We can confirm that the polymer pellet from which the base substrate is made contains a trace of a substance known as tallow," it said in a statement.
But, so far, it has no plans to draw up a new recipe.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38144598
always willing to trade modern UK coins for modern coins from elsewhere....

malj1

Do vegetarians not buy leather shoes belts and bags too?
Malcolm
Have a look at  my tokens and my banknotes.

Bimat

Scottish polymer bank notes are vegan-friendly

1 December 2016

All of the Scottish banks that produce money have confirmed that their polymer £5 notes do not contain animal fat.

Over 100,000 people signed a petition after the Bank of England admitted its notes contained a small amount of tallow - derived from animal products.

The Clydesdale Bank, Bank of Scotland and Royal Bank of Scotland, have said their notes are free of animal products.

The Bank of England said its supplier was working on "potential solutions".

The bank said "an extremely small amount" of tallow was used in an early stage of the production process and that the issue had "only just come to light".

The petition, on the Change.org website, calls on the Bank of England to "cease to use animal products in the production of currency that we have to use".

'Utmost seriousness'

It states that tallow, which is often used in the manufacturing of candles and soap, is "unacceptable to millions of vegans, vegetarians, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and others in the UK".

A number of Sikh and Hindus have also urged the notes be banned from temples, where meat products are forbidden.

Hindus believe cows are holy and sacred, and many do not wear shoes or carry bags made from the skin of cattle that has been slaughtered. Practising Sikhs are strict vegetarians.

The Clydedsale Bank said on Twitter: "We're pleased to confirm our Clydesdale Bank polymernotes are vegan-friendly."

Also on Twitter, the Bank of Scotland said: "We have spoken to the manufacturer and there are no known animal products in our polymer five pound note."

And the Royal Bank of Scotland tweeted: "We can confirm the Royal Bank of Scotland's new £5 polymer note contains no known animal products."

The Bank of England statement said: "We are aware of some people's concerns about traces of tallow in our new £5 note. We respect those concerns and are treating them with the utmost seriousness," its statement said.

"This issue has only just come to light, and the Bank did not know about it when the contract was signed.

"[Supplier] Innovia is now working intensively with its supply chain and will keep the Bank informed on progress towards potential solutions."

Polymer notes are more durable than the paper ones. They are expected to last an an average of five years - compared to two years previously.

Source: BBC
It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. -J. K. Rowling.

chrisild

Good to know that vegans can eat Scottish banknotes without any problems. ;) Does anybody know how the tallow traces in the BoE £5 notes were found? I mean, did some newspaper-or-whatever have them examined at a lab?

Christian