Watch List notes:

Sold on behalf of Children in Need: Bank of England, 'Jane Austen' £5, serial no. AM32 885552, the current polymer note as issued in the United Kingdom in September 2016, this example bearing an engraved portrait of Jane Austen by micro-artist Graham Short placed on the transparent section of the note beside Big Ben; the portrait encircled by the quotation To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love (from Pride and Prejudice, chapter 3), with a central fold and evidence of light circulation but remaining in excellent condition, one of just four celebrated and widely-publicised examples placed in circulation before Christmas, 2016, in a double-sided glazed display frame. Following the issue of the new polymer British five-pound note in September 2016, Graham Short engraved four consecutively-numbered examples with portraits of Jane Austen surrounded by four different quotations from her novels, making each note unique. Inspired by the 'Golden Tickets' from Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and in collaboration with the Tony Huggins-Haig Gallery in Kelso, Short anonymously released his notes into general circulation, triggering a substantial 'good news' media storm during December 2016. The notes were simply spent at small family-owned businesses at chosen locations in Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales. A fifth and final engraved note was personally presented by Graham Short to the Jane Austen Centre in Bath on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the author's death (in July, 1817). This bicentenary has now been much more widely marked, of course, by the introduction of the new Jane Austen polymer ten pound note which entered general circulation in September 2017. Whilst Graham Short's Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish specimens of the Jane Austen £5 have now been discovered in circulation by members of the public, the English example remains - at the time of writing - at large. The note offered here, serial no. AM32 885552, was found by a lady in Northern Ireland who generously returned it to the Tony Huggins-Haig Gallery with an accompanying letter reading '...£5 note enclosed, I don't need it at my time of life. Please use it to help young people. Kindest regards...' Respecting her wishes, the Tony Huggins-Haig Gallery and Graham Short decided to forward the note to the BBC Children in Need Appeal, 2017. In accordance with the anonymous donor's wishes, all proceeds from the sale of the note will be presented to the BBC Children in Need Appeal.
(5000-10000 GBP)