Off Topic When Hull had it's own money...

Historic Kingston upon Hull bank notes make fives times estimate at auction

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TWO historic bank notes printed in Hull in the 19th century sold for five times their original estimate when they were auctioned at a London saleroom.

The five and ten pound notes were originally estimated to be worth about £200 by auction house Spink in Bloomsbury.

The five and ten pound notes were originally estimated to be worth about £200 by auction house Spink in Bloomsbury.

But following a "huge amount" of interest from collectors, the notes ended up going for an impressive £1,070.

"We tend not to think of £5 or £10 as a lot of money these days, but, back in the 1800s, these would have been a lot of money, making them very collectable today."

So great was the interest in the notes from collectors, they were re-evaluated to be worth £400 each before going under the hammer.

In the end, the £5 note sold for £450 and the £10 note sold for £620.

They were printed in Hull in the 1800s by a bank that was partly owned by the family of William Wilberforce, the famous Hull MP who helped to abolish slavery.

Barnaby Faull, head of the bank notes department at Spink, told the Mail before the auction: "All towns and cities used to issue their own bank notes.

"Merchants would get together and set up their own banks but their notes, which were like IOUs, could only be used locally."

Both notes feature the words "Samuel Smith, Brothers and Co" – as it was the Smith family that founded the bank in 1784.

Family member Abel Smith became the apprentice of William Wilberforce's grandfather at 15 years old. He eventually became a partner with Mr Wilberforce, forming Wilberforce and Smith.

Wilberforce and Smith took over the Hull and Kingston upon Hull Bank at the beginning of the 19th century.

The bank closed in 1902, after keeping its doors open for 118 years, when it became The Union of London and Smiths Bank.

http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Hist...tory-27924328-detail/story.html#ixzz3oeBqdyXj