Certain £5 notes could be worth thousands - find out what to look for
There are only a few!
Last updated 3rd Aug 2018
Following the excitement of the World Cup, and England's success in getting to the semi-final for the first time in 28 years, we thought World Cup fever was over. However, now it has emerged that some very special £5 notes with the face of England captain, Harry Kane, engraved on them have gone into circulation!
Just SIX £5 notes have been altered by a micro-engraver called Graham Short, who has been travelling around the UK to spend them, sending these special banknotes into circulation. Sky News have reported that Graham was inspired to create these notes after he saw Harry Kane win the Golden Boot in the World Cup saying, "I've done six - one for each goal he scored - for Harry himself, the FA and four to be spent as we did with the Jane Austen notes around the UK and Ireland."
Although an actual value hasn't been released for the Harry Kane note, last year, Graham started a frenzy after releasing some Jane Austen fivers which were valued at around £50,000!
The first Harry Kane £5 note is reported to have been spent in a village in the Midlands, between Solihull and Coventry, with another being spent in the coffee shop famous for where JK Rowling started writing the Harry Potter books, in Edinburgh. The third note has been spent in an off licence in Merthyr Tydfil, the former mining town where Graham's dad was born.
Graham then revealed he would be spending the fourth note in Northern Ireland, at an independent business in the next few days, however no other details have been released.
Now take a look some other special notes and coins...
UK Crowned Shield £1 coin
Although they are fairly common, they can currently fetch around £3 - £5.50. They are one of the oldest £1 coins around having been minted in 1988, just five years after the £1 coin was introduced.
Edinburgh City £1 coin
This was released in 2011 and is thought to be worth £12 - £16.
Scotland's Thistle and Bluebell £1 coin
Even with a mintage of 5.1 million it is worth £3 - £5 to collectors.
Cardiff City £1 coin
This coin features the Coat of Arms of Cardiff as the principal focus to represent Wales. It is thought to be worth £11 - £15.
London City £1 coin
Although more common than the Scottish and Welsh versions it is still worth £5 - £8.
EC and Kew Gardens
Dating back to 1992/3 this larger 50p coin (left) was issued to celebrate the British presidency of the council of Europe. No longer in circulation could be worth around £40.
The Kew Gardens design was minted to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the foundation of the Royal Botanic Gardens. Only 210,000 coins were made and is now expected to sell on eBay for £70 - £100.
2011 WWF and 2012 The Offside Explained
2011 WWF design of the 50p (left) can often sell for around £200 to collectors.
The Offside Explained 50p apparently regularly changes hands for around £10.
2012 Olympics - Swimmer
Early versions of the coin show the swimmer with the water covering their head, however later versions have the lines of water removed.
According to eBay only 600 of the early version are in circulation, fetching up to £3000 when they were first placed on eBay.
New fiver (£5)
The new £5 note was released into circulation on the 13th September 2016. Notes with serial numbers starting with AA or AK 47 sold for much more than than their face value.
New tenner (£10)
The new £10 note, featuring Jane Austen was released on 14th September 2017.
As before many with the serial number AA or AK 47 were highly sought after as well as those with serial numbers relating to Jane Austen's birthday, date of death, or date the Pride and Prejudice was first published.
Peter Rabbit 50p
The Peter Rabbit collectable coin is available to buy from the Royal Mint.
Benjamin Bunny 50p
Benjamin Bunny was released earlier this year (2017).
Tom Kitten 50p
Tom Kitten was released earlier this year (2017).
Jeremy Fisher 50p
Jeremy Fisher was released earlier this year (2017).
If you're wondering what to look for on the special £5 note, then other than the engraving of Harry Kane you'll be able to check the serial numbers:
AC04 487157
AC04 619245
AC06 244707
AL52 603019
AM33 305187
BA26 831255
The new polymer £5 note was introduced in 2016, here are nine things you probably didn't know about the polymer £5 note.