A retired couple from Bristol is left speechless on tonight’s Cash In The Attic after their haul of old banknotes sell for £51,000 at auction in a Channel 5 series first.
Ex-builder Vic discovered nine 1916-1918 banknotes while he was renovating his two-bedroom house in Beaminster over 30 years ago.
Little did he know that he’d be raking in a life-changing amount of money after the rare findings are quickly snapped up.
Before going to auction, appraisers David Fergus and Paul Hayes take a look at the banknotes but have difficulty estimating their value due to their rarity.
‘To find one Bank of England white £5 note is unusual, to find this many, and the £10 note it’s unheard of. I’ve never come across this before,’ David says.
‘It’s absolutely incredible.’
When asked how excited he is on a scale of 1-10, antiques expert Paul adds: ‘On a scale of 1-10, it’s 11. I have never seen nine Bank of England white notes in the same place at the same time.’
It’s not long before all nine banknotes are sold at auction, with the first note going for an eye-watering £8,000.
Each of the individual notes sells for a four-figure sum and the three £5 with consecutive serial numbers are sold as one lot for an incredible £16,000.
When the hammer falls on the final lot, the mystery buyer – the President of the International Bank Notes Society – has secured them all.
Janet initially signed up to Cash In The Attic with hopes of raising £3,000 to take her 11 family members from four generations on a holiday, but now it looks like she’ll have a lot more to spend her money on.
‘Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect those notes to get that sort of money,’ she enthuses.
‘And now from a very simple Diamond Wedding celebration with the family, I am hoping I can take them all on a lovely cruise.’
When she is told of the final total raised – a series record of £51,489 – she adds: ‘We can have a cruise and hopefully put some money in our retirement pot. It’s absolutely amazing.’
Yep, it’s time we started looking for antiques in our attics.
Cash in the Attic airs tonight at 6pm on Channel 5.
