The new £10 note - can you make money from it?

Updated
Jane Austen bank note
Jane Austen bank note
Can you make money from the new £10?
Can you make money from the new £10?



The rollout of the new plastic banknotes is set to continue, with a new £10 note hitting cashpoints in September this year. While the hype and excitement surrounding the launch of the £5 notes caught many of us by surprise, we can be a bit more prepared for the £10 release, and if we're quick, there's a chance we could make some money from it too.

See also: Is your new Churchill fiver worth hundreds of pounds?

See also: Cheeky eBay sellers asking thousands for 'upside down' £5 notes

See also: Bank of England to keep £5 polymer note despite animal rights activists' worries


The new note will be made of the same tough polymer as the £5 - with the same traces of animal products that caused so much disquiet for vegans. It will feature a portrait of Jane Austen, which has helped to ease concerns of those who have pointed out that with the introduction of the Winston Churchill £5 notes, there were no English banknotes featuring notable women on the reverse.

It will be smaller than the current £10 note, but larger than the new £5 note - a feature that makes it easier for blind customers to tell the difference between the notes. The three Scottish issuing banks will also have new polymer £10 notes - issued between September and October.

Can you make money?

While the £10 may not be in such demand from collectors as the very first polymer notes, those with low serial numbers, beginning AA01, and followed by a low number, should still sell for far more than their face value in online auctions.

If it follows the same pattern as the £5, it's worth checking your notes and getting them up for auction as quickly as possible after the release of the £10. Sellers who are trying to make money from AA01 £5 notes now are lucky to get £70 for them - and the vast majority of them sell for less than £30. This compares to early sales that topped £100.

Even if you don't have a low serial number, you could chance your arm, and try to sell something far less desirable - with a good sales patter. There are plenty of AK47 £5 notes up for sale on eBay, and while none of them are fetching huge sums of money, some are selling for more than their face value.

Likewise, an enterprising soul got £6.99 (plus postage and packaging) for a serial number that ended 999. And those featuring strings of the same numbers sometimes sell - a note with the number AM17 822222 sold for £7. It doesn't always work, however. Someone selling a note with a serial number starting AMI tried to target buyers called Amy, but with no luck: it sold for £5.

It seems, therefore, that the money-spinning potential of the new £10 note is unlikely to bring a life-changing sum of money into your life, but with a bit of brass neck, you could turn £10 into £12 - which is better than nothing.



Advertisement