Banknote collectors around New Zealand and Australia are clamouring to get their hands on a rare 1887 Colonial Bank of New Zealand £1 note, which has been valued at $15,000.
Mowbray Collectables coins, banknotes and medals director David Galt said the banknote was printed in London in 1887 and issued by the bank which was headquartered in Dunedin, from 1873 to 1895.
The Colonial Bank was absorbed into the Bank of New Zealand in 1895 following a major financial slump in 1893.
The note is signed by Thomas J McKerrow, who survived the fall of the bank to become a stockbroker, working in Dunedin until the 1920s.
Mr Galt said the note was sold to a private buyer in 2020 for $14,500 plus a buyer premium of 17%, and the auction house was excited
to be auctioning it again.
"It is one of the Crown jewels of New Zealand banknotes.
"The Colonial Bank of New Zealand pound of 1887 is one of only a couple known in private hands.
"The same note sold three years ago, and unusually, the seller is reluctantly offering it again."
The auction is also offering a rare 1903 BNZ £1 note, featuring an idyllic rural scene.
It was issued from the bank’s Oamaru branch and has an estimated value of $12,000.
Mowbray owner John Mowbray said the notes were among more than 1300 lots worth about $1.3 million up for auction in Wellington, this Friday and Saturday.
The top bid was expected to be on a rare 1925 New Zealand 12/6p stamp, which has an estimated value of more than $30,000.
