A rare 1941 Bermuda £5 note is the highlight of the sale of a collection of Bermudan banknotes owned by the country's former premier and minister of finance, Dr David Saul. The auction takes place at Spink in London on October 4.
The note is in mint condition and rarer even than the classic commonwealth rarities, which include the Bermuda green 10 shilling, the Malaya $100, the Seychelles rupee 100 and the Rhodesia £10. It is expected to auction for up to £15,000 ($23,575).
The 1941 Bermuda £5 notes were quickly removed from circulation and shredded when it was realised they closely resembled a 5 shilling note - resulting in just a few remaining today.
 The banknote was thought too similar to the 5 shilling |
The auction house commented: "The David Saul collection of Bermuda is without doubt, the finest collection of Bermuda banknotes ever assembled. It contains all of the greatest rarities, as well as a mind-boggling quantity of serial number 1 notes.
"Also of great interest are a selection of more modern notes which, uniquely, display the hand written signatures of the members of the bank alongside the usual printed examples".
Dr Saul told the Bermuda Sun, a local Bermudan paper, that much of the collection was bought from overseas as many of the notes were taken home by tourists as souvenirs. "Bermudians don't seem to value these things as much. But there are not many people in the currency note business. I've been collecting for 40 years and slowly built up the collection," he said.
All proceeds from the auction will be donated to charity.
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