In a lovely act of kindness, a rare £5 note with an estimated value of £49,836 has been discovered in Fermanagh, Ireland, but rather than keep the proceeds for herself, the owner has decided to generously give the money to charity.
The rare fiver is the work of Birmingham artist Graham Short and it’s just one of four ‘new’ five pound notes that were were engraved with a special 5mm picture of Jane Austen.
At the time of its creation, each note was spent and circulated individually in Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.
This particular rare note was initially spent at Charlie’s Bar in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, but after being put into circulation, its most recent owner was an elderly woman from Co Donegal.
After discovering the value of the rare fiver, the elderly lady decided to donate all the money to charity.
Speaking with the BBC, Short (the artist who designed the note) said: “An old lady found it and she said ‘I don’t want my picture in the papers’ and she said ‘if it sells for a lot of money it will be better if young children could benefit from it’.”
It’s the third discovery of the ‘Jane Austin’ note in the last few months. The first one was found in a café in south Wales in December 2016 and the second discovery came in Scotland via a Christmas card.
Check your pockets, folks.
