Rare banknotes given to an Edinburgh charity shop raise thousands for heart research

What happened

A collection of almost 160 rare banknotes, given in albums to a British Heart Foundation shop in Edinburgh, has sold at auction for £85,860, the BBC reports (external source).

"Almost 160 notes from around the world were donated in albums to the British Heart Foundation (BHF) shop at Straiton Retail Park."

The notes went to the specialist auction house Noonans, which waived its vendor commission. That is the fee a seller would normally pay the auction house.

"Shop volunteers noticed the potential significance of the collection and it was passed on to specialist auction house Noonans."

What was in the albums

According to the BBC, the albums held specimen and trial banknotes. A specimen is a sample note printed for banks and officials, not for spending. A trial is a test printing of a design or its colours.

Among them was an uncirculated note with a portrait of a young Queen Elizabeth II, issued for Malaya and British Borneo. There was also a 1947 Iraqi colour trial and a 1961 specimen note from Saudi Arabia.

The shop manager, David McCormack, told the BBC that the team did not know much about banknotes when the albums came in.

"When we discovered their potential value, we were flabbergasted."

Our view

This is a lovely outcome. The money will support research into heart and circulatory diseases, and the donor chose to give the collection. We would not wish it otherwise.

Still, the story rests on a lucky moment, when someone in the shop paused over a folder. Many families would rather know what an item is before it goes in a bag. Then giving it away is a choice made knowingly.

Paper money is easy to overlook because it looks so ordinary. The same is true of old letters, a medal at the back of a drawer, or a small tin of badges and buttons.