New £5 note with tiny Jane Austen image worth £50,000 released in Willy Wonka-style ‘Golden Ticket’ giveaway – but there are only FOUR up for grabs
BRITS are being urged to check their wallets, pockets and sofas for new fivers that could make you fortune, after engraved bank notes were circulated in a Willie Wonka-style Golden Ticket giveaway.
Tiny portraits of author Jane Austen have been added to four of the new £5 notes by micro-engraver Graham Short, and if you've got one it could be worth £50,000.
The 70-year-old artist painstakingly carved tiny 5mm portraits of the novelist onto the polymer cash, next to the images of Sir Winston Churchill and Big Ben.
Classic quotes from Emma, Pride and Prejudice, and Mansfield Park have also been engraved on to the rare Bank of England notes, which went into circulation last weekend.
The outline of the golden engraving is visible to the naked eye - but a microscope will be needed to see it properly.
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Art experts are estimating that the four fivers could be worth up to £50,000 after collectors forked out thousands to buy fivers with unusual serial numbers earlier this year.
Graham previously hit headlines when he engraved the words of the Lord's Prayer on the head of a pin.
His last work - a portrait of the Queen engraved on a speck of gold inside the eye of a needle - sold for £100,000.
Graham, from Northfield, Birmingham, said: "I'm always looking to do something different.
"When I saw the new £5 note, I thought, 'Wouldn't it be good if I could engrave something on it.
"I didn't know what at first, but then I found out that next year is going to be the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen's death and her image is also going to be on the new £10 note, which is coming out next year, so it ties in quite nicely with that.
"The beauty of this is that in the right light you can't see the engraving at all, but when you turn the note and the light comes at a different angle, it appears.
"I like to call it invisible engraving. I've no idea how much they will be worth if people try to sell them.
"But previous pieces I have worked on have been insured for more than £50,000.
"If somebody finds one I hope they will maybe put it on eBay. If they can get some extra money for Christmas I'll be thrilled."
Golden Ticket notes
The four notes entering circulation are inscribed with the following quotes and serial numbers - keep your eyes peeled!
"If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more" - Emma
Serial number: AM32 885551
"To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love" - Pride and Prejudice
Serial number: AM32 885552
"A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" - Mansfield Park
Serial number: AM32 885553
"I hope I never ridicule what is wise or good" - Pride and Prejudice
Serial number: AM32 885
Graham has been engraving for more than half a century after starting an apprenticeship when he left school at the age of 15.
He works at night, when traffic vibrations are lower, and uses a stethoscope to monitor his heart and engraves between beats.
Artist Tony Huggins-Haig, who has staged regular exhibitions by Short at his gallery in Kelso, Scotland, believes finding one of the special fivers could make someone rich.
He said: "It's a bit like the Willy Wonka golden tickets.”
The new notes were released in September, and the first off the press started making a fortune.
Fivers with the serial number AK47 have also been fetching high prices on online auctions.
Here's how to tell if your fivers are worth a mint.
With more changes to the currency in store over the next few years there should be plenty more chances to turn your change into a small fortune.
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