Never-used hand-painted Bank of Scotland note designs among £70,000 collection handed to Scottish charity shop
The collection was donated to a charity shop in Edinburgh
Two hand painted designs for Royal Bank of Scotland notes that were never put into production and an uncirculated note bearing a picture of the young Queen Elizabeth are among a collection of notes donated to a Scottish charity shop expected to raise £70,000 at auction.
Almost 160 lots under the title Specimen Banknotes of the World will be sold on behalf of British Heart Foundation (BHF) at Noonans on 14 October.
The collection, which was donated in albums to a British Heart Foundation store in Edinburgh, is expected to fetch in the region of £70,000.
One of the designs for the never-used Scottish notes from 1967 includes a portrait of Enlightenment-era Scottish industrialist David Dale, as well as a vignette of the University of Glasgow and a statue of Lord Kelvin.
The description with the sale lot states it is: “a remarkable piece of Scottish banknote history, indeed this proposed design has never been seen before, and is likely unique”.
The other features Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, also known as Lord Ilay, as well as a scene of Edinburgh Castle and the Old Town as seen from Salisbury Crags, the New Town and shipping on the Firth of Forth in the background. The description with it praises it as being “notable for its inclusion of Lord Ilay some 20 years before his familiar appearance on the modern Royal Bank series”.
As well as the two hand-painted Scottish note designs from the 1960s, the collection also includes an uncirculated and rare note bearing the portrait of a young Queen Elizabeth II from the Board of Commissioners of Currency Malaya and British Borneo which is estimated at £3,000 to £4,000, while from the National Bank of Iraq is a an extremely rare example of a colour trial 10 Dinars note dating from 1947 with the serial number A000000 that carries an estimate of £3,000 to £4,000.
Meanwhile, other highlights include a rare specimen 100 Riyal note from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, dating from 1961 which is estimated at £2,000 to £3,000 and a particularly rare £100 note dating from 1952 from the South African Reserve Bank bearing the Afrikaans language which is likely to sell for between £1,200 to £1,600.
An example of a colour trial of a £20 note from the Government of Fiji, also featuring a portrait of a young Elizabeth II and dating from 1953, with no serial numbers or signatures is expected to fetch £800 to £1,200.
Allison Swaine-Hughes, chief commercial officer at British Heart Foundation, said: “We’re hugely grateful to the donor for entrusting this extraordinary collection to British Heart Foundation. While donations of this scale and rarity are unusual, many people choose to donate special items to us knowing they can help make a lasting difference.”
The collection was donated to the charity’s Home and Fashion store in Straiton Retail Park.
Andrew Pattison, head of Banknotes Department at auction house Noonans said: “Noonans are greatly honoured to be working with the British Heart Foundation to auction this tremendous group of specimen banknotes. Such a collection comes up so infrequently that collectors are certain to respond extremely positively.
“With rarities on offer from all over the world, we estimate the notes could be making their way to as many as fifty different countries. In addition, we are sure that our bidders will respond well to the fact that the sale proceeds are going to fund vital research and can be relied upon to go that little bit further on the day.”
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