One of the special £5s remains in circulation 12 months after it was used. "The last note, the one spent in Melton Mowbray, is still out there, somewhere in circulation," confirmed a spokesman for the gallery. A fifth note was gifted to the Jane Austen Museum to mark the 200th anniversary of the novelist's death.
The closer the banknote is to the very first batch produced, the more valuable it could be. These are the notes that start with the 'AA01' prefix. If your note is then followed by a serial code in the low digits, it's likely to be even more attractive.
But even the modern, polymer £5 can also be worth far more than its face value - provided it has something else that makes it valuable to a collector. One such note recently sold for £99 because it had a serial number of AA01 010110, indicating it was one of the first polymer £5 notes to be made.
£5 notes with certain features are being sold for up to £400 on auction platforms, such as eBay. These notes have unique serial numbers with some indicating they were the first batch. Other high-value £5 notes include those with serial numbers that spell out innuendos or contain errors.
Considered collectable due to the machine gun connotations, polymer notes with the prefix AK47 were thought to be worth tens of thousands of pounds following the new £5 release in 2016. This idea emerged after a £5 banknote with the prefix AK47 fetched a winning bid of £80,100 on eBay.
The outline of the golden engraving is visible to the naked eye - but a microscope will be needed to see it properly. When they were released, art experts estimated the fivers could be worth up to £50,000 - as collectors had already forked out thousands to buy notes with unusual serial numbers.
Valuable £5 notes - the signs to watch for
The closer the banknote is to the very first batch produced, the more valuable it could be. These are the notes that start with the 'AA01' prefix. If your note is then followed by a serial code in the low digits, it's likely to be even more attractive.
Some five dollar notes can be particularly valuable with the right serial numbers or if in mint condition, reaching up to $6,500 for the rarest Australian $5 note.
You can no longer use those paper notes as payment anymore, however it isn't too late to swap them for new notes. Around 455million paper notes are currently in circulation, a Freedom of Information request from the BBC to the Bank of England revealed.
A 1969 Philips-Randall $5 note is selling for a whopping $2,250. Source: M.R Roberts Wynyard Coins. These particular banknotes are missing the last serial number, with a '*' in place of it, and command “a huge premium” over the value of a standard note, according to a blog post on The Australian Coin Collecting Blog.
There is no need to worry as withdrawn notes can always be exchanged at the Bank of England for new notes and there is no deadline.
Plastic notes fade faster than paper notes
Not true. The ink on polymer is as long-lasting as that on cotton-based paper.
The bill, which is 15% smaller than the older version, is so strong that it is said it can't be ripped straight down the middle.
The note was introduced on 13 September 2016, with an initial print run of 440 million notes (worth £2.2 billion), over the period of co-circulation. It was announced that there would be a co-circulatory period with the old series E notes, and then on 5 May 2017, the series E would cease to be legal tender.
The first known banknote was first developed in China during the Tang and Song dynasties, starting in the 7th century. Its roots were in merchant receipts of deposit during the Tang dynasty (618–907), as merchants and wholesalers desired to avoid the heavy bulk of copper coinage in large commercial transactions.
All Australian banknotes that have previously been issued into circulation by the Reserve Bank remain legal tender and can continue to be used. New $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 banknotes are now in circulation.
Cash machines which give out £5 notes can be a total lifesaver - especially when payday is still some distance away. Most machines only let customers withdraw £10 or £20 notes, but there are quite a few £5 machines around Belfast.
Torn or ripped banknotes
Generally, payment for an incomplete banknote is proportional to the part of the banknote remaining. In this way, the combined value paid for all the pieces, were they to be presented, would be the face value of the original banknote.
Australian $2 notes were issued from 1966 right up until they were replaced by Australian 2 dollar coins in 1988. Some Australian 2 dollar notes can be particularly valuable with certain serial numbers or if they are in mint condition. Values can reach up to $5,000 for the rarest old Australian two dollar bill.
They are part of the Australian Pound banknotes series. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia started issuing these 1000 Australian Pound banknotes in 1914.
Is there a $500 note in Australia? NO! Did you know, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), there are 300 million $100 notes that are in circulation, almost three times the number of $5 notes. Less than 10 per cent of $100 banknotes ever issued have returned to the RBA as unfit banknotes.
What do I do if I get a counterfeit banknote? Counterfeit banknotes are rare and also worthless. We cannot reimburse you for counterfeit banknotes. If you suspect that you have a counterfeit banknote, please take it to your nearest police station.
But the Bank of England confirmed not all the early £20 notes were reserved, meaning some of the rarest AA notes are in circulation. AA notes are the most valuable, but anything with an A in it could be worth more than the value of the note itself.
This old-style banknote was an example of the jumbo-sized version of the humble fiver. The notes were sized 211mm by 133mm - the largest fiver ever, in circulation from 1945 to 1957.