Does anybody want to exchange my obviously very real £10 note?

[-]

loopyelly89@reddit

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/withdrawn-banknotes

Reply

[-]

BestEver2003@reddit

Most likely a pre 1945 £10 white. If it’s real but it’s not worth too much in that condition.

Reply

[-]

just_some_guy65@reddit

It doesn't look very similar to the £10 white that was valid between 1759 and 1945 (incredibly). I mean by this the actual details, the stuff that actually matters on banknotes.

Reply

[-]

It looks to me like it says Bank of London as opposed to the Bank of England and is dated 1917 It doesn't look much like those 3rd series banknotes from the 1910s, but it does resemble the older design quite closely. https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/withdrawn-banknotes I guess the question is, was there ever a Bank called the bank of London that was authorised to produce banknotes (similar to banks in Scotland and NI I guess) and was it issuing them in 1917? Maybe someone more knowledgeable than me can answer.

Reply

[-]

dinobug77@reddit

Fuck - there was a £1000 note in 1725. That’s like having £175k in your back pocket!!

Reply

[-]

DoctorOctagonapus@reddit

You should see the notes they use internally. There are £100m notes going round inside there.

Reply

[-]

TeaProgrammatically4@reddit

Some of the toffs back then were REALLY rich, they threw around money like it was inexhaustible.

Reply

[-]

oogletoff2099@reddit

Could literally buy a house with that today. Imagine what it could have bought you back then lol. Commonfolk were buying land like groceries

Reply

[-]

MJLDat@reddit

You’re not from the south, are you?

Reply

[-]

BrightBlue22222@reddit

It was legal tender for 200 years too by the looks of it!

Reply

[-]

Bamtom1234@reddit

It says punds

Reply

[-]

TheMrJacobi@reddit

It's a real £10 note from 1839. Probably worth a few hundred £ to the right collector Google it

Reply

[-]

kaipee@reddit

Pretty sure it says 1917 on it

Reply

[-]

Plantagenesta@reddit

1917th March, 1839.

Reply

[-]

Silvagadron@reddit

Bloody imperial dates again

Reply

[-]

Informal-Tour-8201@reddit

1917 March 24th

Reply

[-]

kaipee@reddit

01839 I guess they were counting 5 digit years back then

Reply

[-]

smoulderstoat@reddit

I think 01839 is a serial number rather than a date. Looks like the Bank of London only existed [between 1855 and 1866.](https://www.natwestgroup.com/heritage/companies/bank-of-london.html)

Reply

[-]

plant-strong@reddit

But the Chartered Bank of London existed from 1853-1969, and this note is dated 1917

Reply

[-]

Christine4321@reddit

They didnt print legal tender. This is the equivalent of Monopoly money.

Reply

[-]

smoulderstoat@reddit

Yes, true.

Reply

[-]

seabutcher@reddit

No chance they'll honour it then?

Reply

[-]

TheMrJacobi@reddit

Good eyes, thanks

Reply

[-]

Nightlightweaver@reddit

Shhhhh, they wanted £10 for it, don't ruin this for me!

Reply

[-]

systemic_empathy@reddit

I can’t find any notes from that time that were produced by ‘bank of London’. I think this must be a reproduction.

Reply

[-]

experfailist@reddit (OP)

Most probably

Reply

[-]

Adam-West@reddit

Still more likely to be accepted than Scottish money

Reply

[-]

experfailist@reddit (OP)

lol testify.

Reply

[-]

SamPlinth@reddit

Genuine "white" £10 notes are worth a couple of hundred quid.

Reply

[-]

HauntingReddit88@reddit

Probably not in this condition though

Reply

[-]

Christine4321@reddit

Cant believe the amount of posters here who think this is real.

Reply

[-]

experfailist@reddit (OP)

Yeah I’m not 💯 convinced but…. It’ll look good in a small frame anyway and people will all questions.

Reply

[-]

Tattycakes@reddit

It looks almost spot on if you look at the notes that were valid from 1759 until 1945, except every image I can find of these bank notes has a woman sitting in the top corner, not a lion

Reply

[-]

QueenSashimi@reddit

It is real. It's just very old. They were created to be money.

Reply

[-]

Christine4321@reddit

Its not. Bank of London is wrong. The dates are wrong. The cashier is wrong. These simply never existed.

Reply

[-]

QueenSashimi@reddit

Fair enough, although it clearly does exist even as a fake - so that's interesting history in itself.

Reply

[-]

therealhairykrishna@reddit

I'll swap you a crisp new £10 for that. Disregard all these other comments.

Reply

[-]

experfailist@reddit (OP)

Dea…. wait a minute……

Reply

[-]

Cyber_Connor@reddit

An entire house from 1860?

Reply

[-]

angel_0f_music@reddit

I'm loving the idea of OP reading this and realising that the note they have is worth more than £10. It certainly looks like a real late 19th/early 20th century bank note. You might want to find someone to authenticate it for you, but if it is genuine (instead of a prop for film/TV/stage), it would be worth a fair bit more. Just out of interest, and according to [this inflation calculator](https://www.in2013dollars.com/uk/inflation/1917?amount=10), the spending power of £10 in 1917 is worth over £886 in 2025 money. If it's from 1839, as someone else suggests, it'd be the equivalent of carrying over £1300 in your pocket. In The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, Sherlock Holmes makes a £5 bet with John Watson as part of a ruse to get information. In the TV adaptation, he loses the bet and hands over a £5 note. Assuming the story is set in 1891, it's the equivalent of betting about £812 today. That's a lot of money on a goose!

Reply

[-]

experfailist@reddit (OP)

I like it already. I’m going to have it framed

Reply

[-]

MadamKitsune@reddit

Thank goodness for that! I was scrolling to see the "I thought it was crap so I've been using it as a coffee coaster!" comment lol.

Reply

[-]

TheOrgazoid88@reddit

That's no a fiver tam. That's a drawing ae a fiver

Reply

[-]

Leostat@reddit

Prop money from the peaky blinders immersive show maybe? Looks very similar to some i have around somewhere. You had to get 50 quid to buy a seat at the table

Reply

[-]

VerbingNoun413@reddit

I'll give you a 50p that says Peace, prosperity, and friendship between all nations.

Reply

[-]

jarvthelegend@reddit

Very nice. If it’s real, just get it framed. It predates the mass produced notes. It’s part of the history of promissory notes. Essentially “I promise to pay the bearer of this bit of paper … x amount”. That’s effectively what today’s bank notes still are … a promise to pay you the cash alternative when you surrender them.

Reply

[-]

shadowfax384@reddit

Its a fake tanner from 1917

Reply

[-]

Sir_Henry_Deadman@reddit

Did you go down an alleyway next to your antique store to get this?

Reply

[-]

experfailist@reddit (OP)

Honestly just found out on the floor next to some old paperwork. No idea where it came from.

Reply

[-]

mjredditacc@reddit

If that is an old bearer certificate that could go for a lot!

Reply

[-]

Roylemail@reddit

I’ll buy it off you for £20. Seriously

Reply

[-]

Ros_c@reddit

Approx £650 in today's money!

Reply

[-]

Whulad@reddit

You’d be fucking annoyed about losing that tenner

Reply

[-]

R-Mutt1@reddit

Yes, it was issued to someone who deposited £10 worth of legal tender at the Bank of London

Reply

[-]

Spirited_Praline637@reddit

If it’s real then it’s a worth a lot. The Bank of England only became the exclusive issuer of bank notes in England in the 19th century. Before that any commercial bank could issue them, and so this predates this. Unless it’s a fake of course. Take it to someone who can tell you what it is.

Reply

[-]

kirkum2020@reddit

Could be a reproduction but this is what a banknote could have looked like then. Go back even further and they were entirely handwritten. Bank of England didn't get the monopoly on English banknotes until 1922.

Reply

[-]

AutoModerator@reddit

**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!** - When repling to submission/post please **make genuine efforts to answer the question given**. Please no jokes, judgements, etc. - **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on. - This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit! Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Reply

Reply to Post

61 Comments