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Man Finds Misprinted Five Pound Note Without The Queen's Head

Man Finds Misprinted Five Pound Note Without The Queen's Head

He's now hoping to auction it for charity.

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

A pensioner has found a five pound note missing the Queen's head and is now wondering if it's worth a small fortune or not even legal tender.

Eighty-year-old Ray Harris got the fiver from a building society but when he took a closer look he spotted that Liz's image was missing from the silver oval next to Big Ben.


Ray is my new favourite person, by the way. Credit: SWNS

He reckons that the Bank of England machine must have somehow slipped over that section of the note.

Ray, from Bilston, West Midlands, said: "I think I got it when I went to the building society but I definitely won't spend it.

"I thought to myself, that's got to be unusual.

"The machine that prints them must have either just run over it or spat it out without printing the Queen's face on.

"I don't know if it'll be worth anything, but I think it's quite special - well, to me it is anyway.

Spot the difference. Credit: SWNS

"I just hope it counts as legal tender or if it's one-of-a-kind then it might be worth a few more bob than a fiver hopefully."

Ray, who used to work as a sheet metal worker, is hoping that if the note is worth something he can auction it off for charity. Isn't he ace? He said that when he shows it to people they initially can't see the difference, but eagle-eyed Ray did.

"People seem to not realise what the money in their pocket looks like," Ray continued. "I have to show them what a normal note looks like to demonstrate what my fiver hasn't got.

Credit: SWNS

"If it is worth anything I'd be happy to know to raise a bit a money for a cancer charity, but otherwise, I'll just keep it as an anecdote."

Misprints on notes can be big money, last year one woman flogged a note with a slight misprint for £1,699. She was handed the note in her change and noticed that there was an alignment misprint on a row of 5s on the polymer £5 note. Quick as you like, she had it up for sale on eBay and got herself a £1694 mark-up, not bad, eh?

The happy grandmother said it was the perfect little surprise after a tough year, which saw her diagnosed with cancer, undergoing an operation and finally being given the all-clear.

She said: "It reminds me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with the golden ticket!"

I'll bet. Here's hoping it's a similar story for our pal Ray.

Featured Image Credit: SWNS

Topics: UK News, Bank of England, ebay, Money