Brits urged to check wallets for rare £5 notes worth fortune

Recently, Brits have been urged to rummage through their wallets for rare coins which are worth a fortune.

But nowadays, it’s notes which are a hot topic online. Recently, keen collectors have been trawling the internet for £5 notes with specific serial numbers, hoping they’ll increase in value over time.

This sparked a surge in £5 notes being listed on eBay and other online marketplaces. Particularly coveted are notes with the ‘AA01’ prefix, indicating they’re from the first batch ever produced.

However, these aren’t the only £5 notes causing a stir online, as those with the AK47 serial code are currently listed for between £1,000 and £20,000.

However, it’s not just about the serial numbers, as there are also a few limited edition £5 notes featuring a Jane Austen engraving in circulation.

These rare notes could be worth as much as £20,000 – with bidders prepared to part with a house deposit for the prized possession. New £5 notes featuring King Charles have also started popping up on eBay for between £500 and £1,300.

Banknotes bearing a portrait of King Charles III were first issued on 5 June 2024. Those featuring Queen Elizabeth II will remain legal tender and will co-circulate alongside the King Charles III notes.

The Bank of England has issued a statement saying: “The portrait of the King appears on existing designs of all four banknotes (£5, £10, £20, and £50), with no other changes to the existing designs. This means you can check these notes in the same way you can check our polymer banknotes featuring Queen Elizabeth II.

“New King Charles III banknotes will only be printed to replace those that are worn and to meet any overall increase in demand for banknotes. Our approach is in line with guidance from the Royal Household, to minimise the environmental and financial impact of this change.”

Meanwhile, an expert advised checking your £1 coins as there’s a batch out there with two different dates on them, increasing their value to collectors. You need to look for a £1 coin that has two different dates on it.

One date will be easy to find – appearing on the same side as the monarch’s head. The other will be etched into the rim of the other side of the coin in very small print.

If these two dates are different, your coin could be worth putting up for auction. More specifically, the dates you want to be looking out for are 2016 and 2017.

A coin expert, known online as the Coin Collector UK, took to social media platform TikTok to explain exactly what to look for. He said: “£2,500 if you manage to find this error on your 12 sided £1 coin.

“There are a few errors that can be found on your £1 coins. The main ones you want to be looking for is the dual dated £1 coin.”

Speaking about a 2016 £1 piece as an example, he added: “So you can see, when we flip this over on the obverse side this is a 2016 version of the £1 coin. However some were made with the micro-lettering on the side with the date 2017.

“It is an extremely rare error. We only know of one that’s actually being sold to a buyer in Spain, and this sold for £2,500.

“Here’s a close-up of exactly all you want to be looking out for. You can see here the date 2017 around the edge in micro-lettering on every side.”