Twenty-five pence is is considered a small amount ofmoney now, but in Falkirk 200 years ago it was such a temptingsum that someone went to the trouble of forging a banknote toobtain it!.

The proof that this strange incident took place is coming upfor sale at an auction in London next Tuesday when a black andwhite five shillings note purportedly issued by the FalkirkBanking Company on April 6, 1797, is set to fetch between £400and £500.

The note features the words 'Falkirk Banking Co.' and at firstglance it looks genuine. But London auctioneer Spink says it is"probably a contemporary forgery" which means it was replicatedaround 1797 when five shillings - or 25p - was worth considerablymore than it is now.

Despite its age, the allegedly dodgy note is is in "very good"condition and it is "rare" according to Spink. It is one of fourblack and white Falkirk banknotes, all produced between 1797 and1815 when the town was printing its own money, which are expectedto sell for between £950 and £1250 at Spink in Bloomsbury,London, next week.

According to James Douglas in his book Scottish Banknotes ,theFalkirk Union Banking Company "commenced business in 1803 with acapital of £12,000 held by 14 partners''.

It was sequestrated on October 18, 1816, with liabilitiesamounting to £60,000 and its failure led to one of the rareoccasions in Scottish banking historywhere the noteholders werenot paid in full.

The Falkirk notes coming up for sale at Spink are among 400rare mostly 19th century banknotes put up for sale by theEdinburgh-based Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland.

Barnaby Faull, head of the banknotes department at Spink,said:"The collection is the largest single group of Scottish banknoteswe have offered for many years and consists of a wide range ofissued notes, proofs, specimens and other material spanning thefull age and range of Scottish banks."

To read the complete article, see:
Forged five shillings Falkirk banknote could fetch £500(www.falkirkherald.co.uk/news/forged-five-shillings-falkirk-banknote-could-fetch-500-1-4240731)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
SPINK TOSELL RARE BANKNOTES OCTOBER 4, 2016(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v19n39a39.html)

A set of rare Dundee, Perth, Fife and Angus banknotes,produced in an era when the area printed its own money couldfetch thousands of pounds at auction.

One of the most valuable notes in the collection is a onepound note issued by the Dundee Union Bank on November 24, 1835which features, at the top of the note, an image of The ThreeGraces.

It is expected to sell for between £600 and £800 early nextmonth.

Another Dundee one pound note, issued by the Dundee CommercialBank on November 5, 1830 could fetch between £500 and £700.

At the top of the note is an image of Dundee and its harbouras well as a maiden, symbolising abundance.

Although the note is mostly black and white, its value ishighlighted on a blue background.

To read the complete article, see:
Old money to make fresh profits(www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/291097/old-money-to-make-fresh-profits/)