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Edinburgh charity shop staff were 'flabbergasted' after donated banknotes raised £85,860 at auction

A collection of 160 rare banknotes, left anonymously at a British Heart Foundation shop in Edinburgh, fetched £85,860 at auction for the charity's medical research.
A collection of 160 rare banknotes, left anonymously at a British Heart Foundation shop in Edinburgh, fetched £85,860 at auction for the charity's medical research.
Some of the rare specimen banknotes that fetched £85,860 after auction house Noonans waived its vendor commission, meaning the full sum goes directly to British Heart Foundation research.
Some of the rare specimen banknotes that fetched £85,860 after auction house Noonans waived its vendor commission, meaning the full sum goes directly to British Heart Foundation research.

An anonymous donor handed a collection of almost 160 rare specimen banknotes into a British Heart Foundation shop at Straiton Retail Park, Edinburgh, with staff initially having no idea of its value. Shop manager David McCormack said the team sent the albums to their eBay unit in Leeds to investigate before learning the collection was worth thousands. Auction house Noonans, which waived its vendor commission, sold the notes on Wednesday 14 October, raising £85,860 for heart research.

Highlights included a rare uncirculated note bearing a young Queen Elizabeth II portrait, issued for Malaya and British Borneo.

An extremely rare 1947 Iraqi 10 Dinars colour trial and a 1961 Saudi Arabian 100 Riyal specimen were among the top lots.

Noonans waiving its commission means the FULL £85,860 goes directly to British Heart Foundation research.

MoreThe ScotsmanStaff 'flabbergasted' as banknotes donation handed in to charity shop raises £85,000stv.tvRare banknotes donated to charity shop sell for £85,000 at auctionYahoo News UKBanknotes donated to Edinburgh charity shop fetch £85,000 at auctionThe IndependentRare banknotes donated to charity shop sell for more than £85,000
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