Rare banknote expected to top £5,000 at auction

Monday 22nd September 2008, 11:30AM BST.

ONE of the rarest and most valuable Guernsey banknotes in existence is expected to fetch up to £5,500 at auction next month.

The States of Guernsey £1 note, printed in black on pink paper, was issued on 1 February 1916 and was the highest denomination Guernsey note available at that time.

Auctioneer Spink has described the note as extremely rare and said that despite its age, it was in fine condition.

‘It is certainly one of the nicest Guernsey notes you can get and is also in a very collectable condition,’ said Barnaby Faull, the head of the company’s banknote department.

The note is hand-signed by two prominent Guernsey figures – John Quertier Le Pelley, assistant supervisor at States Administration, and Jurat John Bonamy Collings.