Rare £500 banknote makes thousands

An extremely rare £500 note from the Bank of England branch in Leeds dated 1936 sold for a hammer price of £24,000 recently by London auction house Noonans in their sale of banknotes. 

Bought by a major collector of Bank of England notes, it was signed by Kenneth O. Peppiatt who was Chief Cashier at the Bank of England. It had been expected to fetch £18,000-£22,000 and was the first one to ever be sold at auction and only the second one known to exist.

Andrew Pattison, Head of Banknote Department at Noonans, commented: “It is indeed a fantastic note. £500 notes are very rare, and in fact only available from three Bank of England branches – London, Liverpool and Leeds, although some were issued in Birmingham and Manchester none have ever come to light. Of those available, Leeds branch, like this one, are the rarest. It came from a long-term collector and is only the second example ever to come to the open market.”