(Image: Noonans.)
A one-of-a-kind Scottish banknote has sold for £11,000 at auction, more than five times its top estimate.
The rare presentation pack was the highest-priced lot in a British and Irish banknote sale held by London auction house Noonans on October 14.
Ms Kayla Robson, the winner of the Bank of Scotland ‘Design a Banknote’ competition in 2015 and the £5 note. (Image: Noonans.)
It was presented to Kayla Robson, winner of the Bank of Scotland’s 2015 Design a Banknote competition, and had been expected to fetch between £1,500 and £2,000.
The pack included a late-stage proof of the note, printed on thin plastic to simulate the polymer material used in the final version. It featured a transparent window and the serial number PUDSEY01.
Bank of Scotland ‘Design a Banknote’ competition £5 note. (Image: Noonans.)
The lot also contained an acrylic presentation trophy branded by banknote printer De La Rue and a photograph of Ms Robson with her winning design.
The item sold for £11,000 to a collector in North America. Its condition and provenance, alongside the rarity of the design, helped make it a standout piece of Scottish banknote history.
Another notable sale was a rare Royal Bank of Scotland £20 note issued for the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference, held in Glasgow in 2021.
Rare Royal Bank of Scotland £20 note issued for the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference. (Image: Noonans)
The commemorative note sold for £5,500, well above its estimate of £500 to £600. It bears the conference logo and the words “Together for our planet”.
Just 350 of the notes were produced, using regular stock awaiting circulation that was overprinted with the conference logo and the slogan handwritten by a pupil at Flora Stevenson School in Edinburgh.
Rare Royal Bank of Scotland £20 note issued for the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference. (Image: Noonans)
The notes were presented to conference delegates in commemorative folders as a demonstration of the environmental credentials of polymer banknotes. The £20 note was bought by a collector from Southeast Asia.
Noonans, based in Mayfair, London, was founded in 1991 and initially focused on medal auctions before expanding into coins, tokens, jewellery and banknotes.
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Andrew Pattison, head of the banknotes department at Noonans, said: "This pack was all entirely as produced and in perfect condition.
"A unique item and likely to be the only proof or specimen that will ever appear for this iconic and ultra-rare design, it came to the market for the first time with an impeccable provenance.
"It was a piece of Scottish banknote history."
Ted Edmunds, banknote specialist at Noonans, said: "The Royal Bank produced a very short run of 350 of these notes for the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) which was held in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November 2021.
"The run was taken from regular stock awaiting issue into circulation and overprinted with the conference logo, as well as the text 'Together for our planet' in the handwriting of a primary school pupil at Flora Stevenson School in Edinburgh - fitting, given that Flora Stevenson features on the £50 from the same series.
"All notes were gifted to conference delegates in the commemorative folder seen in this lot as a demonstration of the environmentally friendly credentials of polymer banknotes.
"It was an exceptionally rare Scottish commemorative note and the first to ever appear on the market as far as we are aware, making it a marvellous modern rarity."