A Wirral woman is hoping to receive more than £1,500 after selling a rare £5 note by spotting a misprint on the new plastic currency.
Gail Meikle, from Bromborough, had put the new style fiver on sale on eBay hoping it could pay for a dream Christmas for her and her family.
A printing error first came to Gail’s attention which was just below the queen’s head, where a sequence of the number five was out of line.
After what was set out to be a normal shopping trip, Gail hadn’t realised the profit she could make from the note she had been given by a taxi driver. She told JMU Journalism: “Well it wasn’t planned, it happened out of the blue and I picked up on a curious fact that made me seek more information through a simple conversation in the back of a taxi with the driver.
“He said it was mad, some were on eBay for silly money and that’s where it all began”.
YouTube: ITV News
After being released in September, the new fivers with early serial numbers such as AA have proven very popular amongst collectors looking for notes with a sequence beginning AA01 and ideally followed by a low six-digital serial number.
Mrs Meikle returned home and got on her laptop to investigate more about the craze. She said: “I checked the five pound note I had just received in the shop and the one I had already been given by the taxi driver, compared them both together and they weren’t the same.
“AK serial numbers were popular and AA01 serial numbers were making crazy profits, so I put it on EBay straight away for excitement and something to do. I never thought it would be such a trend until I saw one get sold for £1995 then I knew something was going on so decided to share with everyone”.
However, after a few false bids that fell through , Gail put the fiver back up for auction and finally sold the note at £1,699.