Jane Austen £5 note artist confirms FIFTH engraved fiver worth £50,000 has been put into circulation – have you checked your wallet?
A FIFTH fiver engraved with a Jane Austen quote has been put into circulation - worth an estimated £50,000.
Micro-artist Graham Short engraved four £5 notes with a tiny portrait of Austen and a classic line from her books last year.
A spokesman from the centre confirmed the fifth note had been released following the incognito visit by Graham.
He said: "We have been in contact with Mr Short's representative and he has confirmed another £5 note was engraved at the same time as the others.
"We are also now aware of the reason behind his visit and although we cannot disclose if the fifth £5 note was spent that day, now we know the truth, it is very exciting news."
Graham visited the centre's tea room, spent time in the gift shop and paid to go around the exhibition dedicated to the author's time in the city.
The £5 notes are engraved with the line from Pride and Prejudice: "I hope I never ridicule what is wise or good".
Art experts estimate the fivers could be worth up to £50,000 after collectors forked out thousands to buy fivers with unusual serial numbers earlier this year.
General manager Paul Crossey said: "The centre was unaware of Mr Short's visit until he had been to both the tea room and exhibition, and then before he left he handed a business card to a member of staff in the gift shop."
The sneaky artist has had people feverishly checking their wallets for the notes, with it revealed that one was spent in South Wales, another in Leicestershire and a third in Edinburgh.
The 70-year-old had 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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Mr Crossey said previously: "I briefly spoke to Mr Short while he was in the tea room, but did not realise who he was.
"Something about his look made me wonder if he was an artist. I admired his taste in attire, although I'm not sure I could pull off those leopard print shoes.
"The reason for his visit remains a mystery though.We obviously wondered if he had spent another engraved five pound note,
''But we were very busy that day and gave out a lot of change, before we realised who he was and had a chance to check our tills."
The £5 notes are engraved with the line from Pride and Prejudice: "I hope I never ridicule what is wise or good"
Only one of the four engraved £5 notes, which Mr Short made in partnership with The Tony Huggins-Haig Gallery, remains unfound.
By May 2017, the paper notes will no longer be legal tender.
The notes are now being replaced by polymer £5 notes, which were caught up in a storm of controversy after it was revealed they contained small amounts of tallow.
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