Buyer of rare £5 note belonging to Telford man fails to pay £60,000 they bid on eBay
The buyer of a rare £5 note that fetched £60,100 has failed to pay up after bidding on an internet auction site.
Seller, Piotr Sobczuk, from Telford, listed the new polymer note on eBay after finding it in his change. He researched serial numbers before realising his note – with the number AA01 444444 – was worth thousands.
Despite selling the crumpled fiver for more than 12,000 times its street value after attracting 136 bids he has not seen a penny.
Now he has placed it back on the market on the same website, but not in the auction. The note is now under the 'buy it now' listing for £20,000 with just under two dozen people 'watching' the sale unfold. Mr Sobczuk can simply sell it and offers can be made in secret.
The auction site will also take more than £250 in fees, according to eBay's fee calculator. At a Bank of England charity auction in October, one new fiver sold for £4,150. The note, with serial number AA01 000017, was the lowest number offered to the public. The lowest numbered note, AA01 000001, was given as a gift to the Queen.
Many examples of the £5 note have been put on auction sites, with unusual numbers proving valuable.
